+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Posted Thu, 13 Jan 2005 15:59:28
This message was forwarded through MEDSOCNEWS.
If you wish to make an announcement or publicise
an event then please send the text to:
[log in to unmask]

MEDSOCNEWS is the electronic companion to
Medical Sociology News - published 3 times a year
by the Medical Sociology Group of the BSA.
Please subscribe to this publication - details below
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Subject: CfP ESA Conference Torun: Science, Technology and the Public
From: "Brzoska, Maike" <[log in to unmask]>

Dear  colleagues,
we invite you to submit paper proposals for the stream of sessions of
the Research Network Sociology of Science and Technology in Torun, Poland.


Please find the Call for Papers below and forward it to interested colleagues


I apologize for cross posting


Best Wishes for 2005


Raymund Werle





  7th Conference of the European Sociological Association (ESA)
"Rethinking Inequalities"
September 9-12, 2005, Torun, Poland


Research Network Sociology of Science and Technology (SSTNET) of the ESA


Call for papers


Science, Technology and the Public


Changes in society and in science and technology have led to an erosion of 
traditional institutional boundaries between these spheres. Nowotny, Scott 
and Gibbons use the term Agora to describe an emerging new public space 
"where science and society, the market and politics co-mingle." The Agora 
denotes a space in which knowledge is contextualized. What is emphasized 
here for scientific knowledge is not completely different with technical 
knowledge. Boundaries of science and technology are transgressed by 
politics, economics and the civil society.


This phenomenon is not completely new. But more than in the past science 
and technology are evaluated by utilitarian standards and expected to 
produce novelty and innovation. At the same time, however, the social 
impact of these innovations is critically assessed. Frequently the 
evaluation process includes the public communication of the products and 
results science and technology deliver - their potential risks as well as 
their benefits. Among these issues are those concerning a redefinition of 
certainty and uncertainty, the known and the unknown, as well as questions 
of societal inequality and equality. If (scientific) knowledge is a 
building block of contemporary (knowledge) societies how can public access 
and participation in the process of knowledge generation and diffusion be 
facilitated? Do new technologies such as the Internet mitigate societal 
divides or do they create new ones.


Generally, the public plays a more decisive role with respect to issues of 
accountability, responsibility and legitimacy or transparency and 
democratic control in the process of development of science and technology. 
Public communication and understanding of science and technology also 
encompasses visions, values and ethics conveyed in funding programs, in 
academic journals and by news journalists.


Papers are invited which tackle specific aspects of the relationship and 
interaction of science/technology and the public or which offer a more 
general discussion of the subject matter.


Paper proposals (abstracts)
According to the rules of the ESA, title and abstract of the proposed 
papers must not exceed 250 words. Please send your abstract to Luísa 
Oliveira or one of the other  conveners by February 15, 2005. The 
notification of acceptance/rejection of abstracts will be made by the 
conveners by March 31, 2005. Complete papers should be made available by 
Sept. 1, 2005.


Conveners:
Luísa Oliveira (DINÂMIA/ISCTE Lisboa, Portugal), also local organizer
[log in to unmask]
Franc Mali (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)
[log in to unmask]
Aaro Tupasela (University of Helsinki, Finland)
[log in to unmask]
Raymund Werle (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Köln, Germany)
[log in to unmask]


SSTNET website: http://sstnet.iscte.pt/
ESA conference website: http://www.7thesaconference.umk.pl/

**********************************************************************
1. For general enquires or problems with the list or to CHANGE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS send a message to:

[log in to unmask]

2. To suspend yourself from the list, whilst on leave, for example,
send an email to [log in to unmask] with the following message:

set medsocnews nomail

3. To resume email from the list, send the following message:

set medsocnews mail

4. To leave MedSocNews, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the message (leave the subject line blank and do not include a signature):

leave medsocnews

5. To join or subscribe to MedSocNews, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the message (leave the subject line blank and do not include a signature):

SUBSCRIBE medsocnews firstname lastname

6. Further information about the medsocnews discussion list (including
list archive and how to subscribe to or leave the list) can be found
at the list web site:

http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medsocnews.html

To subscribe to the paper version of Medical Sociology News - published 3 times a year by the Medical Sociology Group of the BSA please
email Maureen Porter at:

[log in to unmask]

**********************************************************************