Interdisciplinary research needs innovation. As an action-oriented intervention, this Manifesto begins from the authors’ experiences as social scientists working within interdisciplinary science and technology collaborations in agriculture and food. We draw from these experiences to: 1) explain what social scientists contribute to interdisciplinary agri-food tech collaborations; (2) describe barriers to substantive and meaningful collaboration; and (3) propose ways to overcome these barriers. We encourage funding bodies to develop mechanisms that ensure funded projects respect the integrity of social (...) science expertise and incorporate its insights. We also call for the integration of social scientific questions and methods in interdisciplinary projects from the outset, and for a genuine curiosity on the part of STEM and social science researchers alike about the knowledge and skills each of us has to offer. We contend that cultivating such integration and curiosity within interdisciplinary collaborations will make them more enriching for all researchers involved, and more likely to generate socially beneficial outcomes. (shrink)

Scholarship flourishes in inclusive environments where open deliberations and generative feedback expand both individual and collective thinking. Many researchers, however, have limited access to such settings, and most conventional academic conferences fall short of promises to provide them. We have written this Field Report to share our methods for cultivating a vibrant intellectual community within the Science and Technology Studies Food and Agriculture Network (STSFAN). This is paired with insights from 21 network members on aspects that have (...) allowed STSFAN to thrive, even amid a global pandemic. Our hope is that these insights will encourage others to cultivate their own intellectual communities, where they too can receive the support they need to deepen their scholarship and strengthen their intellectual relationships. (shrink)

The challenge of producing sufficient food to feed a growing world population cannot now be met by industrialized and green revolution agriculture as production is currently at or above a sustainable level. Future growth has to occur on resource-poor and marginal lands, where farmers have little or no access to external resources or research and extension support. A precedent for such growth occurred during the agricultural revolution in Britain. Over a period of two centuries crop and livestock production increased (...) 3–4 fold as innovative technologies and techniques developed by farmers were extended to other farmers through tours, farmer groups, open days, and publications, and then adapted to local conditions by rigorous experimentation. These technologies maximized the use of on-farm resources at a time when there was no government ministry of agriculture, no research stations, and no extension institutions. But at the same time as this revolution in on-farm resource use, agriculture also expanded into uncultivated lands, increasing aggregate production but destroying common property resources and so threatening the livelihoods of the poor. (shrink)

Study of obstacles to creative thinking in science in developing countries - analyses the history of science in Europe; examines science and technology prior to colonialism, focusing on South Asia, and the spread and dominance of Western physical and social sciences in the Third World; considers the impact of social development and independence on scientific development and dependence, and the social implications of technology transfer, esp. Agricultural technology. Bibliography.

Because of their being science-based and because they have sparked off an extended debate on how technologies are conceived and developed, biotechnologies represent a particularly useful point of departure for a more general discussion about the evolution of agricultural techniques, as regards the origin and the distinguishing characteristics of different forms of knowledge and know-how.This article seeks to discuss how “knowledge” from different sources (agricultural, industrial, and scientific) on the one hand, and how the abstract and concrete elements that (...) enter into the knowledge acquisition process, on the other hand, come together and become linked as determinants of different technical paths of development. The growing recourse to biotechnologies tends progressively to modify the common knowledge base mobilized for agro-food production. Even though at present the development of biotechnologies seems to be set in a model of continuity in relation to the current techniques, their full potential could express itself in redefining the relations between Man and Nature, ultimately reconciling the production of agricultural consumer goods and the reproduction of the agro-ecosystems. (shrink)

Analysis of a European Union funded biotechnology project on plant genomics and marker assisted selection in Solanaceous crops shows that the organization of a dialogue between science and society to accompany technological innovations in plant breeding faces practical challenges. Semi-structured interviews with project participants and a survey among representatives of consumer and other non-governmental organizations show that the professed commitment to dialogue on science and biotechnology is rather shallow and has had limited application for all involved. Ultimately, other (...) priorities tend to prevail because of high workload. The paper recommends including results from previous debates and input from societal groups in the research design phase (prior to communication), to use appropriate media to disseminate information and to make explicit how societal feedback is used in research, in order to facilitate true dialogue between science and society on biotechnology. (shrink)

The rural general, work, polytechnic school holds a prominent place in the life of the modern socialist village. As one of the sources from which collective and state farms get trained personnel, equipment operators, for example, the rural school is meant to train a comprehensively developed younger generation capable of creatively applying to its work the latest achievements of science, engineering, and progressive technology and of presenting models of a communist attitude toward work.

Analysis of a European Union funded biotechnology project on plant genomics and marker assisted selection in Solanaceous crops shows that the organization of a dialogue between science and society to accompany technological innovations in plant breeding faces practical challenges. Semi-structured interviews with project participants and a survey among representatives of consumer and other non-governmental organizations show that the professed commitment to dialogue on science and biotechnology is rather shallow and has had limited application for all involved. Ultimately, other (...) priorities tend to prevail because of high workload. The paper recommends including results from previous debates and input from societal groups in the research design phase (prior to communication), to use appropriate media to disseminate information and to make explicit how societal feedback is used in research, in order to facilitate true dialogue between science and society on biotechnology. (shrink)

In the 1950s and 1960s, prominent institutional economists in the United States offered what became the orthodox theory on the obstacles to commercializing scientific knowledge. According to this theory, scientific knowledge has inherent qualities that make it a public good. Since the 1970s, however, neoliberalism has emphasized the need to convert public goods to private goods to enhance economic growth, and this theory has had global impacts on policies governing the generation and diffusion of scientific research and innovation. We critique (...) the foundational conceptualizations of scientific knowledge as either public or private by examining Germany’s treatment of scientific outputs as club goods. We then compare the relative impacts on social welfare of distinct United States and German approaches to food and agricultural research and innovation. We conclude with reflections on how these findings might contribute to a democratic debate on how best to manage scientific knowledge to enhance social welfare. (shrink)

Foot-and-mouth disease was the event which led to the increased and improved training of veterinarians able to produce through their research new veterinary knowledge for practical application.It led to the transformation of the Mexican veterinary profession. It changed the kind of knowledge veterinarians received at university, and it also changed the work they did as professionals. Veterinarians gradually began to perform a much wider range of tasks: they did research, taught, worked as civil servants, or assumed positions as academic administrators (...) and as high governmental officials with a large amount of influence on governmental agricultural activities. They also engaged directly in animal husbandry and in food production.In parallel with these changes, the National University, and within it the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Husbandry, underwent a concomitant series of changes which ran hand-in-hand with the growth of the Mexican state. The university provided training for specialised research workers by offering scholarships and programmes of graduate study. This consolidated the activities of an academic community working on applied veterinary medicine. The beneficiaries of these efforts take part in and influence, to varying degrees, the planning and programming of agricultural policies in a way that would not formerly have been possible. (shrink)

There is a gap between the methods and techniques discussed in planning and management literature, and practitioners’ experiences of agricultural research and extension. This gap is attributable to the fact that outcomes of research and extension (R&E) initiatives are shaped by the interactions of contending coalitions that form around issues or approaches and promote or oppose them. This framework is used to elucidate the development of technologies and methodologies in the past. Implications are drawn for future planning and management, based (...) on seeing the use of methods and techniques in terms of the broader social and political contexts of research and development. (shrink)

At a time when agri-food biotechnologies are receiving a surge of investment, innovation, and public interest in the United States, it is common to hear both supporters and critics call for open and inclusive dialogue on the topic. Social scientists have a potentially important role to play in these discursive engagements, but the legacy of the intractable genetically modified (GM) food debate calls for some reflection regarding the best ways to shape the norms of that conversation. This commentary argues that (...) agri-food scholars interested in promoting a more constructive agri-food biotechnology discussion could do so by blending key insights, as well as guarding against key shortcomings, from the fields of science communication and science and technology studies (STS). Science communication’s collaborative and translational approach to the public understanding of science has proven pragmatically valuable to scientists in academia, government, and private industry, but it has too often remained wedded to deficit model approaches and struggled to explore deeper questions of public values and corporate power. STS’s critical approach has highlighted the need for multi-stakeholder power-sharing and the integration of diverse knowledge systems into public engagement, but it has done little to grapple with the prevalence of misinformation in movements against GM foods and other agri-food biotechnologies. Ultimately, a better agri-food biotechnology conversation will require a strong foundation in scientific literacy as well as conceptual grounding in the social studies of science. The paper concludes by describing how, with attention to the structure, content, and style of public engagement in the agri-food biotechnology debates, social scientists can play a productive conversational role across a variety of academic, institutional, community-level, and mediated contexts. (shrink)

Agriculture’s dominant focus is feeding the human population. From an ethical perspective, this is clearly very positive, but it does not absolve agriculture from critical, ethical examination of the totality of agriculture’s effects. To earn the public’s ongoing support, agriculture must be trusted to vigilantly examine its full range of effects and be sure they align with the highest ethical values. Agriculture’s record is enviable in the science and technology associated with its primary (...) ethical concern, but we need to do more to address the broader ethical issues that are the public’s increasing concern. The entire agricultural community needs to become engaged in the discussion. The classroom offers an effective starting place. Yet, curricular offerings are rarely available at public universities. Opportunity for ethics study should become a key component of agricultural education. (shrink)

This essay considers gender in relation toBrazilian science and technology. It reviewsleading studies in the field, and offers briefbiographies of pioneering women in science.While there is still much room for improvement,the essay suggests that the situation of womenin science experienced significant progressduring the closing decades of the twentiethcentury.

A series of decisions covering agriculture as well as industrial and regional policy fundamentally affect the very own interests of the dependently employed. For some years, the trade unions of all European countries have been on the defensive, undergoing a legitimation crisis. The improvement of the social charter and of the rights of the European Parliament are not sufficient to overcome this crisis and to secure a human, social, ecological and democratic future. For this reason, the order of the (...) day must not only be a socially and ecologically compatible design for technology, but a socially and ecologically oriented one. There is certainly an enormous quantity of accompanying research within the European Community, but it is doubtful in how far this research takes into account the requirements of the majority of the population. (shrink)

The scientific life in mid-seventeenth-century Europe was characterised by numerous academies of sciences and scientific associations whose aim was to propagate the development of the sciences, art and literature. Some have called it “the new Age of Academies all over Europe”. These institutions brought together not only educated professionals but also a large number of amateur scientists. They called for the deliberate abandonment of verbal dispute in favour of visual demonstration/experimentation, and for the creation of paid scientific professionals who would (...) devote their full time to the enterprise. These scientists conducted numerous experiments, the results of which were demonstrated at academic sessions. Franciszek Bieliński became Grand Marshal of the Crown in 1742. During the many years of his public service, he aimed to improve the well-being of Warsaw inhabitants, especially by paving the streets and creating a modern sewerage system. In the light of recent scholarly studies, Franciszek Bieliński is perceived as a figure of very wide horizons, striving to join the Parisian academic scientific discourse in order to transfer knowledge and technology to Poland. Bieliński exchanged letters with the eminent member and three-time president of the Paris Academy of Sciences, Henri Louis Duhamel du Monceau, who among numerous other projects tested new methods of horticulture, agriculture and forestry. The article aims to discuss the scientific research undertaken by Bieliński in regards to technology transfer in the area of agriculture, on the basis of unanalysed documents. Recently found correspondence shows that Grand Marshal Bieliński was involved in experimental research supervised by Duhamel du Monceau, under the aegis of the Paris Academy of Sciences. It pertained to modern agricultural crops and the application of new technologies. The agricultural experiments that Bieliński carried out on his private lands in Otwock over many years focused on improving and increasing agricultural production in accordance with the instructions given by Duhamel du Monceau. An interesting research finding was the detailed description of one of the earliest transfers of advanced technology in the field of agricultural machinery. Reports of the work conducted in Poland, which were sent to Duhamel du Monceau, proved to be so useful and important that the latter mentioned these in the proceedings of the Paris Academy of Sciences. (shrink)

In many developing countries people and livestock suffer from preventable or curable diseases, and their agriculture is vulnerable to natural disasters. A considerable amount of technical aid is directed at alleviating these problems using modern science and technology, and yet most of these efforts either fail or even leave peasants and pastoralists worse off than before. In this paper we consider some of the problems that arise in relation to development projects, focusing our attention on the savannah (...) regions of Africa and, in particular, on the control of tsetse flies, which are the vectors of the African trypanosomiases, called nagana in cattle and sleeping sickness in people. We present a detailed case study of a project designed to enable a Maasai community in Kenya to carry out their own tsetse fly control. We examine the complex set of relationships and power structures that mediate the actions of the players in development: scientists, local communities, governmental and nongovernmental institutions, and development agencies. The purpose of this paper is not to present solutions to complex and difficult problems but rather to raise questions that should provide a framework for a debate concerning the role of science and technology in the development process. (shrink)

Traditional forms of farming, herding, and fishing are remarkably adapted to African conditions but these traditional approaches are being overtaken by modern pressures, particularly population growth. According to a report published by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), a nonpartisan analytical support agency of the U. S. Congress, one promising way to help African farmers and herders would be for development assistance organizations to focus more attention on the various forms of low-resource agriculture that predominate in Africa.In keeping (...) with OTA's mission and primary audience, “Enhancing Agriculture in Africa: A Role for U. S. Development Assistance” (1988) is a policy-oriented synthesis of available technical information. The report provides Congress with a range of options that, if pursued, could help Africans enhance agriculture, increase their food security, and improve their lives.This paper is drawn from the larger OTA report, and it focuses on the role technology might play in enhancing low-resource agriculture. Readers should see the full assessment (OTA, 1988) for more information on policy considerations; the specific technologies mentioned; or a complete list of advisory panel members, workshops and participants, and commissioned papers.OTA's report comes at a critical time: for a variety of reasons—ranging from changing values to increased budget constraints—U. S. foreign assistance policy is undergoing a fundamental reevaluation. This review of the potential of low-resource agriculture, and options the United States might pursue to enhance this approach, was intended to aid in this reevaluation. (shrink)

(1996). Science and technology in the discourse of Sayyid Qutb. Social Epistemology: Vol. 10, Islamic Social Epistemology, pp. 289-304. doi: 10.1080/02691729608578820.

Although digital technologies often receive the bulk of media and academic attention, there is another crucial aspect of the data revolution in agriculture: governance frameworks for collecting and analyzing data. Metrics are increasingly being used to facilitate the collection of data and convert it into useful forms. While there is growing interest in using metrics and data to enhance the sustainability of food and agriculture, there is a lack of research on how metrics are put into practice and (...) to what degree their use leads to improved sustainability. To address this knowledge gap, this article examines the implementation of sustainability metrics in produce agriculture in the United States. Specifically, the focus is on the processes of on-farm metrics use– data generation, data analysis, and data-based decision-making. We find that implementing metrics involves several tensions for farmers, including metrics’ ability to capture the complexity of produce agriculture, how metrics align with farmers’ tacit and experiential knowledge, and the impact of metrics on farmer autonomy. Our findings suggest that for the use of metrics to improve sustainability it is crucial to understand how social, cultural, and material conditions intersect with metrics. To better account for such conditions, farmers need more voice in how metrics are implemented and data is used. (shrink)

Science and technology plays a critical role, but not the only role, in realizing the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Not only must we observe the cultural context of scientific and technological interventions, we must respect and support the innovative capacity of those with different backgrounds. To help understand these concerns, this book puts forth the concept of generative justice in science and technology for development. This book presents community case studies concerning technological interventions in global (...) health, the environment, agriculture, and their ethics. Discusses issues around science, technology, and development in the Global South. Describes the redesign of lab-inspired prototypes after field testing with project partners. Identifies basic science/engineering principles utilized in development solutions. (shrink)

Seline's edited volume relevates non‐Western interaction between religious and scientific domains of human intellectual history. Middle Eastern, South Asian, and Chinese thinkers have played central roles in pursuing intellectual inquiry into topics of broad human concern. Although copious and nuanced literary collections in Arabic, Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan languages document non‐Western contributions, these primary sources often are inaccessible to Western scholars, creating the false illusion that members of non‐Western cultures have offered only marginal contributions to the rigorous investigation of the (...) natural world. This illusion is dispelled thoroughly by a number of excellent articles contained in Seline's volume. (shrink)

This thoughtful and engaging text challenges the widely held notion of science as somehow outside of society, and the idea that technology proceeds automatically down a singular and inevitable path. Through specific case studies involving contemporary debates, this book shows that science and technology are fundamentally part of society and are shaped by it. Draws on concepts from political sociology, organizational analysis, and contemporary social theory. Avoids dense theoretical debate. Includes case studies and concluding chapter summaries (...) for students and scholars. (shrink)

This paper spells out and discusses four assumptions of the deficit model type of thinking. The assumptions are: First, the public is ignorant of science. Second, the public has negative attitudes towards (specific instances of) science and technology. Third, ignorance is at the root of these negative attitudes. Fourth, the public’s knowledge deficit can be remedied by one-way science communication from scientists to citizens. It is argued that there is nothing wrong with ignorance-based explanations per se. (...) Ignorance accounts at least partially for many cases of opposition to specific instances of science and technology. Furthermore, more attention needs to be paid to the issue of relevance. In regard to the evaluation of a scientific experiment, a technology, or a product, the question is not only who knows best?, but also what knowledge is relevant and to what extent?. Examples are drawn primarily from the debate on genetic engineering in agriculture. (shrink)

Since its development, scientists have proclaimed that the novel gene editing technology CRISPR-Cas will allow them to modify organisms with unprecedented speed and accuracy. In agriculture, CRISPR-Cas is said to significantly extend the possibilities to genetically modify common livestock animals. Genetic targets in livestock include edits to optimize yield, minimize environmental impacts, and improve animal health, among other targets that could be environmentally, medically, and economically beneficial. In Germany, a transdisciplinary research consortium consisting of geneticists, local animal breeding (...) organizations, social scientists and legal scholars co-developed a “vanguard vision” (Hilgartner in Science and democracy: Making knowledge and making power in the biosciences and beyond, Routledge, London, 2015) for CRISPR-Cas edits in livestock that would improve animal health and benefit local small- to medium-scale farmers. Part of our social science work in this consortium was to discuss these specific application scenarios with members of the public in focus group settings. In this article, we trace how the public engaged with the consortium’s vision of gene editing in smaller-scale animal agriculture. We found that instead of engaging with the vision proposed, a majority of participants held an entrenched “sociotechnical imaginary” (Jasanoff and Kim in Minerva 47:119–146, 2009) that was rooted in “storylines” (Hajer in The politics of environmental discourse: Ecological modernization and the policy process, Clarendon, Oxford, 1995) focused on factory farming, drawing upon arguments from German public and media discourses, NGO campaigning, and political decision-making about genetically modified organisms in the early 2000s. Our analysis points to the difficulties of establishing alternative visions of technology use once a specific sociotechnical imaginary has been established in a distinct national context, and raises questions regarding the possibilities of responsible research and innovation for highly contested technologies. (shrink)

Science and technology studies (STS) research challenges the concept of technological determinism by investigating how the end users of a technology influence that technology’s trajectory. STS critiques of determinism are needed in studies of agricultural technology. However, we contend that focusing on the agency of end users may mask the role of political-economic factors which influence technology developments and applications. This paper seeks to mesh STS insights with political-economic perspectives by accounting for relationships between (...) availability of diverse technologies, variations in political-economic structures, and farmer interests and characteristics. We present the results of an analysis on the recent development of three wheat varieties: (a) a wheat variety that was modified genetically to tolerate the herbicide glyphosate, (b) wheat varieties with characteristics selected to serve specific markets, (c) and emerging research and development of perennial wheat varieties. Using data obtained through a survey of wheat growers in Washington State, we analyzed whether farmer interest in these three clusters of wheat varieties was associated with distinct individual characteristics and attitudes and whether those characteristics and attitudes are consistent with political economic structures. Although our analysis did not allow us to assess the degree of direct influence that farmers have on the technological development trajectory for these types of wheat, we were able to document variation in technological alternatives and farmer characteristics related to different political-economic trends. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Jahrbuch für Wissenschaft und Ethik Jahrgang: 20 Heft: 1 Seiten: 237-240.

Agriculture is facing unprecedented scrutiny for its social and environmental impacts. Many of the key choices it must make are fundamentally about ethics. Key issues in agricultural ethics explores key ethical debates surrounding agriculture and agri-food supply chains.These include issues such as animal welfare, use of labour, the effects of new technologies and the overall impact of agriculture on the environment. It considers the ways these ethical dilemmas may be better understood and potentially resolved. Edited by a (...) leading researcher in the field, Key issues in agricultural ethics will be a standard reference for researchers in agriculture and environmental science, government and other private sector agencies responsible for monitoring good agricultural practice, as well as researchers involved in the social sciences with a focus on ethics. (shrink)

The twentieth century has been called the age of science. Indeed, one of its most salient features is a continuous and accelerating advance in our knowledge of nature, accompanied by progress in technology and engineering. The middle of the century witnessed a new revolution in science and technology which brought about radical changes in economic production and everyday life, which brought nature under further control on our planet and ventured into outer space. These advances in (...) class='Hi'>science and technology in an age of automation and electronic "brains," of nuclear energy and artificial satellites, exercise a growing influence on all aspects of social life, including the way in which art develops. (shrink)

The complex problems facing developing countries have often been attributed to the tendency of their people to maintain traditional beliefs and practices. Many contemporary philosophers have criticized traditional thought for failing to match the levels of efficiency and effectiveness achieved by modern science. However, other contemporary philosophers have suggested that modern science embodies tendencies that are as likely to exacerbate as relieve the problems of the developing world. I conclude that philosophers must be as wary of modern practices (...) and beliefs as they are of traditional practices and beliefs. Modernity rather than tradition is undoubtably a principal source of Africa's problems. Philosophers discussed include Kwame Gyekye, Robin Horton, Godwin Sogolo, Charles Taylor, Karl Popper, Joseph Rouse, Justen Habermas, and Segun Gbadegesun.. (shrink)