Science, Technology, and Society Studies

A small tradition of science and technology studies (STS) has developed primarily in the three Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden). It has, in parallel with working life science, attempted to focus more on the development of than on the impact of technology. In Norway two STS institutions have been created that serve as examples of this work.

One is the Center for Technology and Human Values (now the Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture), which was headed by Francis Se jested in the period 1988–1998. Se jested (1993) examined how a special form of capitalism has developed in Norway that is anchored in democratic, egalitarian, and local values in contrast to Chandlers (1990) notions of corporate and competitive capitalism in Germany and United States. Other researchers at this institution have shown how the transfer of technology to Norway as well as innovation processes can be seen as being intertwined with regional social structures and local values, leading to special forms of localized innovation (Wicked 1998).

A second STS institution is at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, headed by Knut H. Sorensen. In his research Sorensen has been occupied with studying what he calls the domestication and cultural appropriation of technology in everyday life, which may be seen as part of a deontological, no teleological tradition (Lie and Sorensen 1996, Sorensen 1994, Andersen and Sorensen 1992). In Sweden several STS units have been created, such as Tema T in Linkoping and Science and Technology Studies at Goteborg University.

Those groups conduct research on various aspects of technology and ethics, such as the role of expertise, technology in everyday life, technology and gender, technology and identity, technology and large technological systems, and public engagements with science. These institutions focus largely on technology development rather than the consequences of technology, and in terms of ethics they may be seen to underline mostly a deontological approach in which social values come first and technology comes second.

In Denmark and later in Norway a tradition of technology assessment has developed. The most important contribution in this field is probably the Danish ‘‘consensus conference,’’ which involves laypeople in the ethical assessment of technology. The laypeople are appointed much as a jury is appointed in a court. They question experts during a three-day session. Afterward they withdraw and formulate a verdict in the form of a consensus report. This approach can be associated with a no teleological or deontological approach to ethics and technology.


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