Unhastening science : autonomy and reflexivity in the social theory of knowledge / [electronic resource]
Pels, Dick,1948-author.
This book offers a new account of what makes science special among other human pursuits, critically engaging with a variety of approaches, especially constructivist and relativist studies of science and technology. It focuses on the studied 'lack of haste' of science, its relative stress-freeness and its socially sanctioned withdrawal from the swift pace of ordinary life. Unhastening Science offers a balanced and thoughtful argument which emphasises the dangers of cosseting science from the 'scourge' of internal competition while at the same time highlighting the need for 'distance' between the process of scientific thought and the faster machinery of politics, business, sports, and the media.
Title Page; Contents; Acknowledgments; 1: The Timescape of Science; 2: What (Again) is So Special about Science?; 3: Two Traditions in the Social Theory of Knowledge; 4: The Natural Proximity of Facts and Values; 5: Knowledge Politics and Anti-Politics: Bourdieu on Science and Intellectuals; 6: The Politics of Symmetry; 7: Reflexivity: One Step Up; 8: Intellectual Autonomy and the Politics of Slow Motion; Epilogue: Weak Social Theory; Notes; Bibliography; Index
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 11 Aug 2017).
This book offers a new account of what makes science special among other human pursuits, critically engaging with a variety of approaches, especially constructivist and relativist studies of science and technology. It focuses on the studied 'lack of haste' of science, its relative stress-freeness and its socially sanctioned withdrawal from the swift pace of ordinary life. Unhastening Science offers a balanced and thoughtful argument which emphasises the dangers of cosseting science from the 'scourge' of internal competition while at the same time highlighting the need for 'distance' between the process of scientific thought and the faster machinery of politics, business, sports, and the media.
Knowledge, Sociology of.
Science