This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. Please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable, independent, third-party sources. (June 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines for companies and organizations. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted.Find sources: "Society for Social Studies of Science" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Society for Social Studies of Science
Abbreviation4S
Formation1975; 48 years ago (1975)
TypeINGO
Region served
Worldwide
Official language
English
President
Emma Kowal
Main organ
Science, Technology, & Human Values
Parent organization
International Social Science Council (ISSC)
Website4S Official website

The Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) is a non-profit scholarly association devoted to the social studies of science and technology (STS).[1] It was founded in 1975 and as of 2008 its international membership exceeds 1,200. In 2016, over 2,000 people attended the society's annual meeting in Barcelona, co-hosted by the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST). Its 40th anniversary celebration at Cornell University was attended by notable STS scholars such as Trevor Pinch, Sheila Jasanoff, and Bruno Latour.[2]

Its charter was drafted in 1975,[3] and its first President was the American sociologist Robert K. Merton.[4] It is currently based out of the Department of Sociology at Louisiana State University. It publishes the quarterly academic journal Science, Technology, & Human Values and has a large annual conference attended by hundreds of scholars from a diverse range of fields, including Science and technology studies, sociology of science, science studies, history of science, philosophy of science, anthropology of science, economics, political science, psychology, as well as science educators and scientists.

It gives out the Ludwik Fleck Prize annually for "best book in the area of science and technology studies", the Rachel Carson Prize for "a work of social or political relevance", the John Desmond Bernal Prize for an individual who made "a distinguished contribution to the field", and the Nicholas C. Mullins Award for "outstanding scholarship in science and technology studies" by a graduate student.[5]

As of 2020, the President of the society is Joan Fujimura, Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin - Madison. 4S is governed by a nine-person council as well as its president.[6]

References

  1. ^ About the Society for Social Studies of Science.
  2. ^ "Society for Social Studies of Science celebrates 40 years". sts.cornell.edu. 2016-10-11. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
  3. ^ Arnold Thackray, "Many Happy Returns," 4S Review 1, no. 1 (Spring 1983): p. 2.
  4. ^ 4S Past Officers.
  5. ^ Prizes and Awards, 4S.
  6. ^ "Current Officers and Council", 4S Website. Accessed: 26 October 2020.