Large-Scale Socio-technical Systems and Disaster
STS 6834 (CRN 62116)
Summer 2011, Tuesdays 7-9:45 PM
Room TBA (Falls Church)
Instructor: David Tomblin
Contact: dtomblin@vt.edu
Office Hours: by appointment
Course Background: Recent disasters such as the Gulf BP oil spill or Japan’s nuclear crisis bring to the
fore once again the vulnerability of large-scale socio-technical systems to natural forces and flawed
social policy. Unfortunately, these are not isolated events. Not only are they not unique in history, but
the social, economic, cultural, environmental, and political implications of such atrocities extend well
beyond their immediate geographic circumstances. Adding to the complex, unpredictable nature of
these events, very frequently they generate, reveal, or amplify social justice issues. Despite the broad
sweeping negative consequences that emanate from these disasters and legions of studies that attempt to
offer mitigations against future occurrences, these catastrophes continue to happen, arguably at ever
increasing frequencies. Are such disasters just the cost of progress, as some might contend, or are there
alternative technoscientific pathways that remain unexplored or marginalized that would help build such
systems in more just and sustainable ways? In other words, how can we tap into the potential for
renewal after catastrophe? What is it about the nature of large-scale socio-technical systems and the
policies that undergird them that inevitably invite disaster? Why are people of color, the poor, and
women often disproportionate recipients of their negative impacts? How should the recent disasters in
Japan and the Gulf of Mexico influence the ways we think about the sustainability of large-scale sociotechnical systems? In other words, what lessons can we learn and what lessons do we seem never to
learn?
We will attack these questions through three complimentary approaches: 1) outline the complex
political, economic, environmental, and cultural nature of socio-technical systems and their increasing
interconnectivity within a global society; 2) examine the relationship between power and knowledge that
undergird the institutions and policy decisions that create these systems. Along these same lines, we will
identify the ways that certain forms of knowledge production flourish in the development of large-scale
systems, while others are marginalized (and the consequences of this process); 3) explore alternative
socio-technical narratives that have emerged as a consequence of disasters and evaluate the efficacy of
their visions for a more just and sustainable society.
This discussion based course will cover a broad spectrum of socio-technical disaster case studies and
theoretical positions from environmental history, STS, political science, and anthropology in order to
elucidate the complex relationships and problems that emerge at the interface of nature and society prior
to, during, and after these events. Some potential topics will be, Mississippi River floods, the Dust Bowl,
Hurricane Katrina, Asian Tsunami of 2005, Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, earthquakes in developed
and developing nations, 9/11, Bhopal chemical accident, and wildfires in built environments in the
Western United States. We will also breakdown disasters that seem to be occurring in slow motion right
before our eyes: mountaintop removal and climate change. Finally, we will use knowledge gained
through observations of previous disasters and analyze the ongoing socio-technical crises emanating
from BP Gulf oil spill and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Sendai, Japan.
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Course Readings (Required Texts): You need to procure the following books. Additional readings will
be posted on Blackboard.
Shirley Stewart Burns (2007). Bringing Down the Mountains: The Impact of Mountaintop Removal on
Southern West Virginia Communities
Kim Fortun (2001). Advocacy after Bhopal: Environmentalism, Disasters, and a New Global Order
Thomas Homer-Dixon (2006). The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization
Adriana Petryna (2002). Life Exposed: Biological Citizens after Chernobyl
Stephen Pyne (2004). Tending Fire: Coping with America’s Wildland Fires
Ted Steinberg (2000). Acts of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America
Note: I reserve the right to change readings on the syllabus. I promise that we will use all the books I
asked you to purchase. If changes occur, it will be with the assigned articles. I will announce these
changes the week before they are due.
Student Responsibilities and Class Format:
The bulk of the course will involve instructor facilitated discussion or student-driven discussion,
however, occasionally I will deliver brief lectures that cover necessary background information left out
of the readings. I encourage you to ask questions and bring your own experiences, concerns, and biases
into the course dialogue. Your final grade is based on your performance in the responsibilities outlined
below:
Participation (30%): I expect you to regularly attend classes and carefully read each week’s assigned
readings. You should at least be familiar enough with the material to participate in discussions. All interactions
with your peers should be conducted in a professional manner. Please engage the ideas of your peers and
instructor critically, but respectfully. This grade is based on a variety of activities, which include class
discussion, student-led instruction sessions, careful reading, and attendance.
Book Review (20%): We will have a chance to read a book in production. The author has asked for feedback, so I
will ask each of you to write a book review on the chapters assigned for class.
Semester-long Research Project (50%): You will produce an original scholarly work of 15-20 pages
that addresses some aspect of the interface between the “public” and technoscience. You are free to
choose a topic that helps you complete your thesis work or helps you think about your own research in a
different way. The project involves four stages during the semester designed to give you multiple points
of feedback: (1) idea development – June 14, (2) proposal – July 5, (3) oral presentation – August 9,
and (5) final draft – Due Exam Week. I will explain in more detail the purpose of each of these stages
in class.
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Course Schedule
Week 1 (May 24) - Introduction/Origins of Large-scale Socio-technical Systems
Leo Marx (1994), “The Idea of ‘Technology’ and Postmodern Pessimism” in Does Technology Drive
History? (Blackboard)
Thomas Hughes (2009), “Technological Momentum” (Blackboard)
David Nye (2002), “Technology, Nature, and American Origin Stories” (Blackboard)
Week 2 (May 31) – Large-scale Socio-technical Systems in Action
John McPhee (1990). The Control of Nature - “Atchafalaya” (Blackboard)
Donald Worster (1979). Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s (Intro, Chs. 1 & 5) (Blackboard)
Ulrich Beck (1992). Risk Society (Preface, Ch. 1, Intro Part II) (Blackboard)
Gary Bowden (2011), “Disasters as System Accidents: A Socio-ecological Framework,” in Dynamics of Disaster
(Blackboard)
Week 3 (June 7) – Political, Economic and Epistemological Foundations
Ted Steinberg (2000). Acts of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America
Week 4 (June 14) – Expertise and Disaster
Scott Knowles – Title TBA. I am getting permission from the author to use his forthcoming book on expertise and
disaster in class (not yet published). We will use this opportunity to develop constructive feedback for the author.
Allen Batteau (2010), “Technological Peripheralization,” Science Technology Human Values 35: 554
(Blackboard)
Wiebe Bijker (2007). “American and Dutch Coastal Engineering: Differences in Risk Conception and
Technological Culture,” Social Studies of Science 37: 143-151. (Blackboard)
Week 5 (June 21) – Earthquakes and Tsunamis
Daniel Sarewitz and Roger Pielke, “Managing the Next Disaster,” Los Angeles Times, September 23,
2005. (Blackboard)
Rebecca Solnit (2009). A Paradise Built in Hell (Ch. 3 - San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, Ch. 8 – Mexico City,
1985) (Blackboard)
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Vivian Y. Choi (2011). “After Disasters: Emergences of National Insecurity in Sri Lanka,” in Dynamics of
Disaster
Reflections on Japan
Week 6 (June 28) – Fire
Mike Davis (1999). “The Case for letting Malibu Burn,” in Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the
Imagination of Disaster (Blackboard)
Stephen Pyne (2004). Tending Fire
Week 7 (July 5) – Hurricanes
Readings from Rachel Dowty and Barbara Allen, eds. (2011). Dynamics of Disaster: Lessons on Risk,
Response and Recovery (Blackboard)
Rachel A. Dowty, Peter May, William Wallace and Colin Beech, “Organizational Culture and the Katrina
Response in Louisiana”
Edward Woodhouse, “Conceptualizing Disasters as Extreme Versions of Everyday Life”
Kathryn Henderson, “Mind Maps, Memory and Relocation after Hurricane Katrina”
Robert E. Barrios, “Post-Katrina Neighbourhood Recovery Planning in New Orleans”
Barbara L. Allen and Isabelle Thomas Maret, “Rebuilding the Historic Tremé Neighbourhood:
Lessons in the Repatriation of New Orleans”
Week 8 (July 12) – Radiation
Adriana Petryna (2002). Life Exposed: Biological Citizens after Chernobyl
Andrew L. Jenks (2010). “Chernobyl,” in Perils of Progress (Blackboard)
Thoughts on Japan
Week 9 (July 19) – Chemicals
Kim Fortun (2001). Advocacy after Bhopal: Environmentalism, Disasters, and a New Global Order
Reflections on BP Oil Spill
Week 10 (July 26) – Disasters in Slow Motion
Shirley Stewart Burns (2007). Bringing Down the Mountains: The Impact of Mountaintop
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Week 11 (July 27) – The Long View: BP Oil Spill and the Nuclear Crisis in Context
Thomas Homer-Dixon (2006). The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization
(Selected Chapters TBA)
“Environmental Historians Respond to Gulf Oil Spill”
http://aseh.net/teaching-research/environmental-historians-respond-to-the-gulf-oilspill/copy_of_ehresponsetoGulfOilSpill.pdf
Week 12 (August 9) – Student Presentations
Final Paper Due Exam Week
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