Science and Technology in Society From Biotechnology to the Internet

This thoughtful and engaging text challenges the widely held notions that science exists outside of society, and 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 fundamental parts of, and undeniably shaped by, society. Drawing on concepts from political sociology, organizational analysis, and contemporary social theory, this book is a first-rate study of technoscience that places power, stratification, and discourse at its center. The author shows how social groups and organizations in powerful positions shape developments in technoscience in significant ways, and how new developments affect people differently depending on class, race, gender, and geographical location. Avoiding dense theoretical debate, this book is ideal for those seeking a fresh approach to science and technology studies.

Daniel Lee Kleinman is Professor of Rural Sociology at the University of Wisconsin--Madison. He is the author most recently of Impure Cultures: University Biology and the World of Commerce (2003).