Sociology Of Scientific Knowledge

How to Map and Explain the Diversity of Research Programs in the Field of Science Studies

by Andrey Kozhanov

report for Society of Social Studies of Science Annual Meeting, 2011.
This project is in progress...

Technologie et pratiques bibliographiques en milieu universitaire

by Gerald Kembellec

Science Studies in France: A Sociological View

by Gad Freudenthal

Work notes on the Tavola Eugubine, Script Q278-Q453

by Mel Copeland

The Tavola Eugubine is a series of bronze tablets found near the city of Gubbio. There are seven tablets, some of which are written on both sides. The tablets are said to be written in the Umbrian language and in Latin. The texts of the group tend to follow a common theme, that of an oration. This text is of a funeral oration delivered by a knight who calls himself Soverus, of Fescennia. Greek Hera, as presiding over childbirth and being a protector goddess. As in the case of the Pyrgi Gold Tablets, a goddess named Aph appears to play a significant role. Aph may be another aspect of the goddess Aphrodite. The Etruscan name of Aphrodite is Turan (TVRAN). It may be that both Aph and Turan served the Venus role, of love and childbirth, just as we can see the virgin huntress role of Artemis shared with a goddess named Mean (MEAN- See the Divine Mirror, Script DM). Edward Tripp (The Meridian Handbook of Classical Mythology) says that the Greeks have always known that Aphrodite was an Asiatic goddess, and that there is little doubt that Aphrodite, like Artemis, was originally a mother-goddess, of a type almost universally worshiped in the Near East and perhaps best known under the name of Ishtar or Astarte. Astarte is also known as a warlike goddess and is mentioned in the Assyrian Chronicles as leading the armies that continuously sacked the cities of eastern Anatolia. Aphrodite and the Greek god of War, Ares, produced Deimus and Phobus (Fear and Panic) who were Ares' constant companions in battle.

This is an update of our work on the Tavola Eugubine, (III) - http://www.maravot.com/Translation_EugubineQ.html. Changes produced on this page will be added to our Etruscan GlossaryA.pdf. All of the words in the glossary follow a grammar similar to Latin. One can easily discover that the several hundred texts on Etruscan Phrases all share a common language and grammar. This controverts the prevailing theory that the Etruscan language is not an Indo-European language. It also warrants further examination of the prevailing conclusion that the Tavola Eugubine is written in the Umbrian language.

Etruscan GlossaryA.xls /pdf. is an index to about 2,300 Etruscan words that are similar to Latin, French, Italian and Romanian. Declension patterns follow those in Latin. The 2,500 words = the repeated words in 6,000 words of the major extant texts. The texts have been frozen in time, covering ~700-400 B.C., representing a lens to understanding the early formation of Indo-European languages, particularly the early Italic-Latin-Celtic languages, such as Italian, French & Romanian / Dacian. (By 45 BC. the language was a dead language - no one understood or could write Etruscan)

This GlossaryA works together with Indo-European Table 1 which refutes theories by the Pallottino school of thought that the Etruscan language is not Indo-European and an isolate, unlike any other language. It is very close to Latin and, curiously, Romanian, Italian and French. The Latin suffix, "us" shifts to "o" as in Italian (Titus vs Tito); first person conjugation patterns are similar to French and Romanian. This GlossaryA provides a quick look at the grammatical structure of the Etruscan language, how closely it coincides with Latin. A more detailed Declension Table can be seen on the Etruscan Phrases website. These PDF documents facilitate independent confirmation of the words in GlossaryA.xls , the Grammar and Declension Table. All words can be examined from actual images of texts on the Etruscan Phrases website. Over 150 texts, with about 6,000 words can be examined at Etruscan Phrases.

The Etruscans surfaced in Italy about 1,000 B.C., reputed to have arrived from Lydia / Phrygia. The Phrygians originated near Macedonia in Thrace, according to Herodotus. One may therefore inquire whether the ancient Thracians (Dacians, Gettae, modern Romanians), spoke a language common to the Phrygians, at the time of the Trojan War and after (~1180 B.C.). The Thracians, Phrygians and Lydians (also dead languages) were allies of the Trojans, according to the Iliad. Etruscan Phrases finds a common vocabulary among Latin, Italian, French, Romanian, Etruscan and Phrygian. While French, Spanish, Italian and Romanian are considered Romance languages, showing a similar Latin heritage, Etruscan is not, of course, a Romance language, as it preceded Latin, at least in the written form (giving Rome its alphabet).

Resolution of the Etruscan Mystery may be likened to Michael Ventris' decipherment of Linear B and Jean-François Champollion's decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics using the Rosetta Stone - written in Egyptian hieroglypics, Demotic and Greek. The decipherment of Etruscan is a bit more challenging, since we have no multilingual Rosetta Stone, but we do have enough vocabulary and grammar to establish that Etruscan is similar to Latin, French, Italian and Romanian. (Certainly far more vocabulary and a more extensive grammar is provided in Etruscan Phrases than that used by Ventris to claim translation of Linear B as an old form of Greek.)

We look forward to the time when a peer review of these Work Notes will warrant corrections to the prevailing record, showing that the Etruscan language was similar to Latin and decry the theory that the "Etruscan language is unlike any other and not an Indo-European language;" that the theory is absolutely false.

The Educational Process in Chico Bento's Stories: Representations About Education in the Brazilian Rural Universe

by Joao Batista Martins

with Cintia Weber Biazi - Athenea Digital - núm. 17: 179-205 (marzo 2010)

In this work we use Cultural Studies to identify and understand the representations that are transmitted about the... more In this work we use Cultural Studies to identify and understand the representations that are transmitted about the educational process in Chico Bento's stories - a character of a comic strip in Brazil. He is a personage who lives in the Brazilian rural zone and was created by Maurício de Sousa. The trajectory of this work included an ethnography of the magazines about Chico Bento, characterizing the rural universe where he lives, focusing on the educational practices and especially his school
experiences. Since the delimitation of that universe, it was possible to analyze in which ways Chico Bento's creators articulate the relationship between scientific knowledge x popular knowledge, emphasizing the pedagogic practices of the teacher, Miss Marocas.

“Tyfus, wszy, klatki, karmiciele i II wojna światowa” [“Typhus, Lice, Cages, Feeders and the Second World War“]

by Adam F. Kola

“Tyfus, wszy, klatki, karmiciele i II wojna światowa” [“Typhus, Lice, Cages, Feeders and the Second World War“], in: "Rzeczy i ludzie. Humanistyka wobec materialności" ["Things and Humans. The Humanities Towards Materiality"], eds. J. Kowalewski, W. Piasek, M. Śliwa, Olsztyn: Colloquia Humaniorum 2008, pp. 299-318 [PL].

This is a story of typhus, lice, cages, feeders in the scenery of Lviv (present in western Ukraine) during WWII.... more This is a story of typhus, lice, cages, feeders in the scenery of Lviv (present in western Ukraine) during WWII. Herein I take into consideration Bruno Latour guideline, that one of the most important methodological principle of Actor-Network Theory (ANT) is following the actors, both human and non-human. However, we should be conscious that such a story is usually focused on the role of Rudolf Weigl (called Polish Oskar Schindler), a biologist and inventor of the vaccine for epidemic typhus, who leads institute in Lviv in that time, and saved a great number of intellectuals, Jews, Polish resistance soldiers, etc., against Nazi Germans and Soviet Russians (among the others, we should mentioned Ludwik Fleck, Zbigniew Herbert, Stefan Banach, etc.). Hence, in this detailed description I am trying to follow all actors of that story, especially in the Weigl’s laboratory. As a conclusion of the text, it should be underlined, that in perspective presented here ANT is only a complementation of humanistic perspective, not totally different field of interests. That is why this article could not be treated as an “orthodox” Latourian approach, but rather one of the voices in the discussion about non-anthropocentric knowledge (I would rather say: not-only-anthropocentric knowledge).

Evolved cognitive biases and the epistemic status of scientific beliefs

by Helen De Cruz

Co-authored with Johan De Smedt, Philosophical Studies, 2012

Our ability for scientific reasoning is a byproduct of cognitive faculties that evolved in response to problems... more Our ability for scientific reasoning is a byproduct of cognitive faculties that evolved in response to problems related to survival and reproduction. Does this observation increase the epistemic standing of science, or should we treat scientific knowledge with suspicion? The conclusions one draws from applying evolutionary theory to scientific beliefs depend to an important extent on the validity of evolutionary arguments (EAs) or evolutionary debunking arguments (EDAs). In this paper we show through an analytical model that cultural transmission of scientific knowledge can lead toward representations that are more truth-approximating or more efficient at solving science-related problems under a broad range of circumstances, even under conditions where human cognitive faculties would be further off the mark than they actually are.

Critical realism and the social sciences: methodological and epistemological preliminaries

by Jon Frauley

with Frank Pearce in Critical Realism and the Social Sciences: Heterodox Elaborations, J. Frauley and F. Pearce (eds.), Toronto, Univ. of Toronto Press, 2007, Pp. 3-29

A Small Company of Actors: a Critique of Style

by Robin Boast

“Technologized Science: Representational Theories vs. Epistemological Engines”

by Byron Kaldis

Proceedings of the 12th ICHSC Conference, TONG Qingjun & WANG Ying (Eds.), Chinese Academy of Science

Can the UN Convention to Combat Desertification guide sustainable use of the world's soils?

by Lindsay Stringer

Stringer, L.C. (2008) Can the UN Convention to Combat Desertification guide sustainable use of the world's soils? , Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 6, pp.138-144.

Soils are a vital substrate for agricultural production, play a central role in regulating the global carbon budget,... more Soils are a vital substrate for agricultural production, play a central role in regulating the global carbon budget, and are a valuable source of biodiversity. Yet estimates of the global area affected by soil and land degradation are continuing to increase. For decades, soil scientists have called for a legally binding, international policy framework to guide the sustainable use of soils, but a piecemeal legislative approach has prevailed instead. With over 200 international environmental agreements currently in force, there is political reluctance for another one. Here, I suggest that one way of ending this impasse would be for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) to focus more explicitly on soil ecosystems and degradation processes, both within and beyond the drylands. This could promote synergy among the international conventions on desertification, biodiversity, and climate change, and could yield multiple global benefits for social–environmental systems.

The role of science in the global governance of desertification.

by Lindsay Stringer

Bauer S, Stringer LC 2009. The role of science in the global governance of desertification. Journal of Environment and Development 18 (3) 248-267

The problem of desertification sits at the interface of environmental and developmental
concerns. In this... more The problem of desertification sits at the interface of environmental and developmental
concerns. In this article, we examine the institutional relationship between desertification
science and policy through focus on the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD) and its subsidiary body, the Committee on Science and
Technology. We argue that the UNCCD’s limited impact on fighting desertification to
date may be partly attributed—among other factors—to an inadequate institutional
interface between the political convention process and the scientific community. A huge
body of international scientific expertise could help to further operationalize the normative
provisions of the convention for on-the-ground implementation; yet the institutional
architecture for ideational interplay between the UNCCD and scientific community
concerned with desertification restricts the extent to which this potential is harnessed.
Decisions adopted at the most recent Conference of the Parties of the UNCCD in 2007
seek to rectify this, and although these mark an important step forward, it remains
doubtful whether they are sufficient to curb the root causes of the convention’s underlying
problems.

Beyond Geography and Social Structure: Disciplinary Sociologies of Power in International Relations

by Kevin McMillan

Draft copy.

Journal of International Relations and Development 15, 1 (2012).

ABSTRACT (does not appear in published version):

Much has been written in the past two decades about the... more ABSTRACT (does not appear in published version):

Much has been written in the past two decades about the sociological and geographic dimensions of knowledge and power in the IR discipline — research funding patterns, social networks, national academic communities, institutions, academe-policy connections, leading journals and patterns of publication and citation. Such elements have been the dominant focus of efforts to describe and explain the “hegemony” of American/Western scholarship within the global IR discipline. While recognising the great value of this work, this essay argues that its success in identifying, characterising and explaining the phenomenon of disciplinary “hegemony” in academic IR has been partial at best.

Geographical and social-structural accounts have largely ignored the epistemic aspects of disciplinary hegemony; as a result, we lack precise, rigorous, in-depth and up-to-date analyses of the type, content and style of scholarship that constitutes hegemonic IR theory. Moreover, the powerful allure of measurable and seemingly comparable data about large-scale, structural features of the discipline has led to a lack of detailed and discriminating attention to its practices — to the variety of specific, concrete things that hegemonic scholars actually, and regularly, do.

The result is that we still lack a very precise idea of what the hegemony in IR theory actually is, who it involves, where it extends and, particularly, how it functions. This essay briefly suggests an alternative way of characterising disciplinary hegemony and of identifying and analysing the socio-epistemic (and other) practices which compose it, and outlines certain benefits we might be able to expect from such an approach.

Arrangements der Wissensproduktion. Akademische Ausgründungen zwischen Forschung und Markt <2005>

by Joerg Potthast

Sozialwissenschaften und Berufspraxis 28, 2, 214-230

together with Martin Lengwiler

LANDMARKS. A Project based on transnational and interdisciplinary scientific co-operation

by Guillermo S. Reher

Co-authored with Almudena Orejas, published in The Cultural Landscape and Heritage Paradox: Protection and Development of the Dutch Archaeological-Historical Landscape and Its European Dimension, edited by Tom Bloemers, Henk Kars, Arnold van der Valk and Mies Wijnen (Landscape and Heritage Studies-Proceedings). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2010: 545-555. ISBN 978 90 8964 155 7.

Action COST A27 ‘Landmarks’ has been a successful attempt at establishing an effective transnational interdisciplinary... more Action COST A27 ‘Landmarks’ has been a successful attempt at establishing an effective transnational interdisciplinary project around the theme of landscapes. Running from 2004 to 2007, and coordinated from Madrid, A27 has proven extremely fruitful: 17 conferences and workshops, 13 edited publications. The best result, however, has been the establishment of working networks across fields and national borders.
In this chapter we revise the scientific environment in which this project was conceived and generated, as well as the internal organisation it adopted. Our intention, though, is not to congratulate ourselves for our good work. We want to go over the important challenges faced, how they were met, and what lessons can be learned for future collaborative European projects.
In order to achieve transnational and interdisciplinary integration, the internal structure of the project was organised around objectives and work packages which required side-by-side collaboration. Some problems, though, were encountered, particularly relating to the different degree of involvement of different partners, which tended to be self-defeating. Another problem is the lack of visibility of that research given the nature of COST publishing.
In conclusion, landscapes as a theme are a good way to push interdisciplinarity and transnationality forward in a field which is still being created and which requires these two to be in full swing.

Reassembling and Dissecting: IR Practice from a Science Studies Perspective.

by Christian Bueger

(with Frank Gadinger), published in International Studies Perspectives 8 (1):90-110

What does it take to be an international relations (IR) scholar? IR discourses have tackled this question with focus... more What does it take to be an international relations (IR) scholar? IR discourses have tackled this question with focus on very different problems: the role and function of IR scholars for policy; the (ir)relevance and impact of IR knowledge and expertise in world politics; disciplinary history; or in studying IR's institutions. We argue that all these "disciplinary sociology" debates struggle with the relation between an internal scientific IR world and an external social context (policy, society). We reject this distinction and argue that science studies can help us to address these problems more adequately by treating IR as a scientific practice that is closely tied to its social environment. The article sets out to explore science studies' possible contributions. Based on science studies key assumptions, we develop a heuristic by which the relations between IR and its environment can be grasped systematically. From this perspective, IR is pivotally a culture constituted by different domains of practice. Hence, understanding IR scholars in "doing IR" requires taking into account their daily and sometimes trivial practices. For instance, writing an article in IR means much more than only thinking theoretically at a desk. We systematize the different domains of practices as the articulation of knowledge claims, mobilizing the world, autonomy seeking, alliance building, and public representation. "Being an IR scholar" and "producing IR knowledge" depends inevitably on these sets of practices and IR is intrinsically interwoven with its environment through these.

From Epistemology to Practice: A Sociology of Science for International Relations

by Christian Bueger

Journal of International Relations and Development 15(1): 97-109.

A nascent number of studies have re-told the early history of the discipline, providing different readings of its... more A nascent number of studies have re-told the early history of the discipline, providing different readings of its birth and evolution. Scholars have become concerned with how the structure, mechanisms and practices of the discipline have shaped the way the international is thought. Moreover, researchers have increasingly seen the discipline not only as a cognitively isolated one, but as a project shaped by institutions and structural and environmental factors. Taken together, these studies present a new, more advanced and broader project of social reflexivity. Disciplinary sociology as a significant field of inquiry and as supplement and alternative to epistemological reflections has emerged. It would be, however, an exaggeration to claim that disciplinary sociology has reached adolescence or even the core of the discipline’s curricula.
One of the reasons is that the majority of studies fall short in demonstrating the need for and potential of sociological reflexivity. Instead, a sub-disciplinary niche has been created. To contribute to the debate of the purposes and usefulness of sociological reflexivity, I shall draw in the following on the work of contemporary social theorists, and firstly reconstruct the main objectives of a sociology of science for IR. Secondly, I shall outline some of the options for pursuing such a project in future research. I argue for the promises of a “cultural studies of science” perspective and suggest focusing on practice, organizations and concepts.

Can science tell us what's objectively true?

by Brian Earp

Earp, B. D. (2011). Can science tell us what’s objectively true? The New Collection, Vol. 6., No. 1, 1-9. Featured article in the graduate journal of New College, Oxford.

Can science tell us what’s objectively true? Or is it merely a clever way to cure doubt – to give us something to... more Can science tell us what’s objectively true? Or is it merely a clever way to cure doubt – to give us something to believe in, whether it’s true or not? In this essay, I look at the pragmatist account of science expounded by Charles Sanders Peirce in his 1877 essay, ‘The Fixation of Belief’. Against Peirce, I argue that science does not come naturally to our species, nor does the doubting open-mindedness upon which its practice relies. To the extent that science is successful in ‘curing’ doubt, it’s because it tracks the real state of the world; and I argue that Peirce himself – his pragmatist narrative notwithstanding – is implicitly committed to this view as well.

Jakten på den verksamma vården. Kunskapssträvanden och målsättningar inom den svenska missbrukarvården under ett sekel.

by Johan Edman

Co-authored with Jan Blomqvist. Published in: "Narkotika. Om problem och politik" (Börje Olsson, ed.), Stockholm 2011. http://www.nj.se/produkt/9789139014157

On “ Distance lends enchantment” and decision-making in science: an analysis of a phenomenon from the point of view of communitarian epistemology

by Haris Shekeris

draft only