Andrew Feenberg, in his book "Questioning Technology", offers his theory of "democratized rationalization" as a critical alternative to Jacques Ellul's essentialist perspective. Feenberg argues that Ellul has confused the tendency toward efficiency in technological discourse with the essence of technology, thereby disallowing for a "positive…

Everyone is living in a time in which science and technology have become pervasive and have caused the world of "nature" to be removed from one's direct senses. The rhythms of the world are beat to the cycle of machines rather than the circling of the sun. One feels the distance between old rituals grounded in myth and nature and the new and…

Although at one level Jean-Pierre Jeunets "Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain" is a sweet, attractive film about a young Parisian doing good deeds, it also offers a compelling analysis of the role of technology in our modern lives. The film paints a world where machines and a mechanistic worldview are appealing because humans have a desire to…

Technology's influences on thought patterns include specialization, narrowly confined research environments, control, causation, science equals technology, and neglect of instinct. Taken to the extreme that it becomes a world view and is uncritically accepted, the technological mindset can be dangerous. (SK)

Ways in which the special theoretical significance of the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) is affected by attempts to apply relativist-constructivism to technology are discussed. The injunction to consider "technology as text" is critically examined. Also discussed are the status, structure, potential, and implications of SSK. (KR)

The article explores how four different theories have been used to investigate technology. It highlights the worth and limitations of each theory and argues that an eclectic, ever-evolving approach to the study of technology is warranted. (Contains 1 table.)

In this essay, Clayton Pierce examines the epistemological standpoints of Intelligent Design (ID) and evolutionary science education, focusing specifically on the pedagogical question of how ID and modern science-based education fail to promote democratic relations in how students learn, think, and associate with science and technology in society.…

Provides a brief overview of social studies of military science and technology and their limitations. Describes social defense, a nonviolent community resistance to aggression, and some of its implications for science and technology. Presents illustrative findings concerning the kinds of science and technology that would serve a system of social…

The genetically-modified-organism (GMO) experience has been prominent in motivating science, industry, and regulatory communities to address the social and ethical dimensions of nanotechnology. However, there are some significant problems with the GMO-nanotech analogy. First, it overstates the likelihood of a GMO-like backlash against…

In the field of library and information science, also known as information studies, critical theory is often not included in debates about the discipline's theoretical foundations. This paper argues that the critical theory of Herbert Marcuse, in particular, has a significant contribution to make to the field of information studies. Marcuse's…

Argues that political science has much to add to the emerging literature on science, technology, and society (STS). Reviews existing literature, notes deficiencies, and concludes with a list of five STS topics which could be addressed by political science. (JDH)

The five aphorisms are training is a "style" or aesthetic and its messages reflect organizational cliches; trainers' messages are part of the organizational consensus--what trainees already believe; training to improve social interaction lessens individual action; technologized work is psychologically suffocating; and training influences…

In everyday life people have to interpret and negotiate scientific knowledge in conjunction with other forms of knowledge. Three levels of public understanding of science are described, including its intellectual contents, its research methods, and its organizational forms of ownership and control. (KR)

Highlights the importance of the Human Genome Project in educating the public about genetics. Discusses four challenges that science educators must address: teaching for conceptual understanding, the nature of science, the personal and social impact of science and technology, and the principles of technology. Contains 45 references. (JRH)

This article articulates the groundwork for a new understanding of the concept of technique through a critical engagement with Herbert Marcuse's critical theory of technology. To this end, it identifies and engages three expressions of technique in Marcuse's work: mimesis, reified labor, and the happy consciousness. It is argued that this mapping…