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Maastricht University
Faculty of Arts & Culture
The specialization
Governance and Cultures of
Innovation – Technological cultures in the global North and South is
offered at the
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS) of
Maastricht University
(UM).
Governance and Cultures of Innovation
Vulnerability of
Technological Cultures in the global North and South
Contact person: Ragna Zeiss :
r.zeiss@maastrichtuniversity.nl
General description
This specialization on the vulnerability of
technological cultures in the global North and South challenges "common
sense" views of the making and use of technology. Technologies do not
merely assist us in our everyday lives; they are also powerful forces
acting to reshape our activities and their meanings. The introduction of
a robot in an industrial workplace not only increases productivity, but,
often, radically changes the process of production, redefining what
"work" means in that setting. When a sophisticated new technique or
instrument is adopted in medical practice, it transforms not only what
doctors do, but also the way people think about health, illness and
medical care. Moreover, science and technologies do not only reshape
individual societies or societies in the global North. What happens for
example with the introduction of nanotechnologies societies in the
global North and South? How do science and technology relate to the gap
between the global North and the global South?
One of the main problems we will focus on in this
specialization is the vulnerability of technological cultures. During
the 1980s, the Challenger space shuttle explosion, the
In our teaching program, different theoretical
approaches to the causes and consequences of living in vulnerable
technical societies in the global North and South will be analyzed and
discussed. Theoretically, this specialization draws on literary theory,
history, sociology and philosophy of science, and technology, as well as
on recent constructivist work in technology studies. Empirically it
builds on philosophical and literary research of technological utopias
and modern science fiction, and on historical and sociological research
of medical, social and civil engineering technologies.
In addition to the theme of vulnerability, the specialization also
concentrates extensively on issues related to methodology and the
writing of a thesis (proposal).
Schedule of introductory course
The specialization
on
the vulnerability of technological cultures in the global North and
South
is divided into two parts. The first part consists of nine intensive
weeks of lectures, self-organized tutor groups and seminars (February -
April). In the second part of the course, between April and September,
students will be given time to do individual research and write their
thesis. Students will have their own supervisor, one of the academic
staff members. They will help students on a one-to-one basis to carve
out a thesis project that, in most cases, will involve both empirical
work and theoretical reflection
Language of instruction
The specialization will be given
in English. All literature for the core sessions and the sessions
themselves are in English and all Faculty members speak English.
Minimum and maximum number of students
Minimum: 4
Maximum: to be decided
Core literature
(These references
are only given as a taster and must not be considered as an exhaustive
list of references)
- Aronowitz, S., Martinsons, B., &
Menser, M. (Eds.). (1996). Technoscience and cyberculture.
- Asselt, M. van (2005) ‘The
complex significance of uncertainty in a risk era: Logics, manners, and
strategies in use’. International Journal for Risk Assessment and
Management, 5
(2/3/4), 125-158.
- Bijker, W. E. (2001). Understanding Technological Culture through a Constructivist View of Science, Technology, and Society. In S. H. Cutcliffe & C.
- Mitcham
(Eds.), Visions of STS. Counterpoints in Science, Technology, and
Society Studies (pp. 19-34).
- Bijker, W. E. (2006). The Vulnerability of
Technological Culture. Cultures of Technology and the Quest for
Innovation. H. Nowotny.
- Haynes,
R. (1994). From Faust to Strangelove: representations of the
scientist in western literature.
- Owen, C., Wackers, G. and Béguin (eds.) (forthcoming) Risky Work Environments. Reappraising Human Work with-in Fallible Systems.
- Perrow,
C. (1999/1984). Normal Accidents. Living with High-Risk Technologies
(With a New Afterword and a Postscript on the Y2K Problem). Chapter
3: Complexity, decoupling and catastrophes.
- Schwarz, M. (1996). The Technological Culture: Challenges for Technology
Assessment and Policy. In H. Nowotny & H. Taschwer (Eds), The
Sociology of the Sciences Vol.II (pp. 203-210).
- Snook,
S. A. (2000). Friendly Fire. The Accidental Shootdown of
- Tiles,
M., & Oberdiek, H. (1995). Living in a technological culture: Human
tools and values.
Examples (past) thesis topics
- “Promises and expectations” in the promotion of
genomics research
- Vulnerability of the information society
- ICT in urban space: the construction of 'smart
cities'
- Remembering Disaster.
- Dreams of the future: the utopian content of
technological innovations
- Standardized artifacts in the pathology
laboratory
-
The sound of consumer
products
-
Media on risk and
nanotechnology:
-
A Contextual Study of
ICT Based Knowledge Networks in Developing Countries – The Case of the
-
Who gets to count as a
rational Actor in the Courts and Cases of GMOs?
-
Is Technology the
Problem? Politics and Cotton Cultivation in Far-West
-
Biotechnology and
Developmental Aid. How Democratic can Technology be?
Name and email address specialization
coordinator
Dr. Ragna Zeiss
Department of Technology and
Society Studies
r.zeiss@maastrichtuniversity.nl
List of involved staff members
Dr. Anique Hommels:
vulnerability of ICT-infrastructure / standardization / emergency
communication / obduracy of sociotechnology
Main research projects:
- EUROCRIT: The emergence and
governance of
-
Complex
interactions between national innovation and international
standardization projects (NWO funded, 2007-2011)
Research themes for theses
on which I can provide supervision
- the relations between
standardization and vulnerability
- vulnerability in technological
cultures
- technical standardization,
setting standards, negotiation processes
- standard implementation (the
tensions between standardization and local use of technologies)
- regulation and drift in
organizations (to what extent do deviations from formal rules (drift)
lead to a more vulnerable organization?)
- emergency communication
(police, fire, ambulance), Tetra standard, transnational cooperation
between emergency services, emergency communication in a historical
perspective
- decision making on large
technological projects
Dr. Jessica Mesman:
ethnography of Knowledge
Practices; Risk and Safety Studies; Patient Safety; Intensive Care Unit,
Innovation - Exnovation;
Main research project:
- Diagnostic work in complex practices
- Spatial analysis of safety activities
- The role of temporal
reasoning in saety argumentation
Main research topics for thesis supervision:
1.An conceptual analysis of the relation between innovation and exnovation
2.An analysis of the underlying assumptions about medical practice in the dominant patient safety approaches
3.The notion of
affordances in relation to resources of safety
resilience
safety / uncertainty / medical practices / high risk practices / patient
safety / neonatology / intensive care units
Dr. Geert Somsen:
ideological
uses of science / history of scientific internationalism / science and
nationalism / science and socialism / politically active scientists /
history of conferences
Main research
projects:
- “The Science, Politics and Culture of Neutrality” (Swedish funding)
- Science in World War II propaganda
Research themes for
theses on which I can provide supervision
- Science in World War I propaganda: During the Great War, scientists on
both sides were very busy issuing manifestoes condemning the other party
in the name of morality and of good science. How did they make these
arguments? How did they combine them with an aura of scientific
objectivity?
- Science in World War II propaganda: In the Second World War, science
was not only used for making weapons, but also for making propaganda.
Many scientists cooperated with this, often through top-secret
organizations the archives of which are now open.
- Science and arbitration: Science has often been seen as inherently
international and therefore a good instrument for making peace. Although
this idea is questionable, it was picked up by important pacifists, some
of whom stood at the cradle of
- Scientific
- Science and the Clash of Civilizations: After 9/11 a lot of talk and writing on fundamental East/West
oppositions has emerged. In this, science is often considered as a proud
product of the West. Nobel laureates like Steve Weinberg also contribute
to this discourse. How are these science wars being fought?
Dr. R. Zeiss:
standardization, regulation and governance / uncertain risks / science &
technology in/for developing countries / science-policy boundary work
and knowledge brokerage/ regulatory and regulated science / water /
sanitation / public health / environment
Main research projects:
-
‘Science, Ethics and Technological Responsibility in Developing and
Emerging Countries’ (SET-DEV; EU-FP7)
-
‘Nanotechnologies for development in
-
‘Brokering Environmentally Sustainable Sanitation for
Research themes for theses on which I can provide supervision
-
Water and sanitation: Exporting expertise: water knowledge as export
product; (inter)nationalization of the water industry; how do different
countries/water companies/water authorities deal with the European water
framework directive?
-
Knowledge brokerage: Further developing the concept of knowledge
brokerage in relation to i.e. water or nanotechnology
-
Risk governance of nanotechnologies
-
Sociology of expectations: Research into the relation between
expectations and emerging technologies (and regulations)
-
Standards, regulation, certification: On any given terrain the number of
standards seem to increase (in natural resource management policies,
such as the Forest Stewardship Council; in accountancy practices –
Accountability; with regard to Fair Trade organizations; food labeling).
I am interested in research where these standards come from, how they
gain legitimacy, how they relate to uncertainty, how they may clash
and/or ‘colonize’ other fields and standards. How do these standards
relate local to global, how do they relate to each other and how do they
order our society?
Key words all:
Prof. Dr. Marjolein van Asselt: risk governance / future studies,
foresight, scenario-analysis / dealing with uncertainty
Prof. Dr. Karin Bijsterveld: history and sociology of science and
technology / contemporary history / history of sound and noise /
technology and music / gender and technology / elderly and technology /
history of old age / network society
Prof. Dr. Ernst Homburg: SMEs / (chemical and
pharmaceutical) industry / corporate history / Research & Development /
environmental history / innovation policy / material culture (plastics,
textiles, etc.)
Dr. Jens Lachmund: environment / cities / nature /
Dr. S. Parto
Dr. E. Shah
Web link to
For
housing, you can directly
contact the UM Guesthouse through their website
www.unimaas.nl/guesthouseum
. There you will find information on renting rooms, prices, etc. In
order to make a reservation you have to go to ‘reservations’ on the
website of the Guesthouse. You have to make reservations for a room via the internet yourself, so
please make sure you do this in time, as the demand for rooms is
quite high.
You can also try
to find housing by
www.huisvesting.nl (only in Dutch),
http://www.kamernet.nl/dsp_english
and www.kamerburo.unimaas.nl.
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