What is 4S?

The Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) is an international, nonprofit scholarly society founded in 1975. 4S fosters interdisciplinary and engaged scholarship in social studies of science, technology, and medicine (a field often referred to as STS). Membership in the society is open to anyone interested in understanding developments in science, technology, or medicine in relation to their social contexts.

All About 4S Membership

For renewals, the member directory, and meeting registration, visit the Member Portal.

4S News

President’s Message, 15 April, 2020

04/15/2020

Fleck Prize announced. ESTS editorial change. Virtual meeting update.

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4S/EASST Conference to Go All Virtual

04/04/2020

Given future scenarios of the current pandemic and related restrictions in global mobility, we concluded that it is not reasonable any longer to (techno)optimistically keep organizing the physical event in Prague. From the three options on the table – to cancel, postpone or go virtual, we decided on the third option. We will migrate the event to the virtual timespace and it will take place in the planned dates of August 18-21, 2020.

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New: Technoscience Podcast

03/20/2020

Listen to the first of a new series of STS podcasts with Andrea Ballestero (Rice University) being interviewed by Alison Kenner (Drexel University).

Andrea Ballestero's new book, A Future History of Water, is available open access here. See Andrea's keynote lecture for the 2020 Anthro in Transit conference at the...

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President’s Message, 15 March 2020

03/15/2020

Dear STSers,

I am writing only about COVID-19 today. Our Wisconsin governor has canceled all schools K-12, public and private. The university is still teaching and meeting, but only online. All the students who can leave have left. We have no face-to-face faculty meetings, job interviews, etc. All...

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Backchannels

Backchannels provides an outlet for alternative-format scholarly communications, publishing shorter, timelier, media-rich communiques of interest to the global STS community.

A slow conversation on COVID-19

Reflections / Mascha Gugganig and Nina Klimburg-Witjes

This piece is a recollection of phone conversations between two STS researchers on academic pace and research writing amid the global pandemic.

Doing STS research in a Covid-19 world: Voices from the global South

Reflections / Joseph Satish Vedanayagam

In this collective post, Gloria Baigorrotegui, Editor of the Backchannels (Global South) introduces the team of Assistant Editors and turns to each one of them, eliciting their reflections on doing STS research in the times of Covid-19.

Promoting health access and the technological vacuum in the coronavirus pandemic: a persistent dilemma in Brazil

Reflections / Renan Gonçalves Leonel da Silva

Does Brazil meet the conditions to be a country that will develop a COVID-19 vaccine?

COVID-19 related podcasts and blog posts

Projects / Ellen K Foster

A reblog of various podcasts and STS-related posts engaging the COVID-19 topic.

STS Futures Symposium in Toronto, Canada

Report-backs / Dayna Jeffrey and Michelle Charette

This paper highlights discussions and conversations that took place at York University’ STS Futures Symposium on February 7, 2020.

Electronic Waste and the Global South

Reflections / Anwesha Borthakur

Anwesha Borthakur writes that the growth of E-waste over the years, and its effects on the global South, have been alarming, and thus necessitates immediate policy and research attention.

Informal Financial Markets: History, Ethnography, Technology

Report-backs / Daivi Rodima-Taylor and Elise Dermineur Reuterswärd

A report on a recent interdisciplinary symposium on informal financial markets that brought together historical and comparative perspectives.

Bridging Science, Religion and STS in India: An interview with Renny Thomas

Reflections / Joseph Satish Vedanayagam

In this post, Joseph Satish interviews Renny Thomas on the challenges of bridging science, religion and STS in India. Thomas' ethnographic work is unique to the exploration of caste, religion and atheism in the Indian laboratory.

Coronavirus - Call for Contributions from STS, Technoscience and Beyond

Reflections / Amanda Windle

Call for contributions from the 4S community in response to COVID-19. We are looking to put together a rough and iterative toolkit and a range of sources for 4S readers to think together around issues raised by the current coronavirus pandemic. Expected publication date for April 2020.