How Transnational is 4S? Institutional Scaffolding and the Long Road to a Global STS
Abstract
This article examines the transnationalization of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S), analyzing its evolution from a predominantly North American and Eurocentric organization to a more globally inclusive scholarly community. Drawing on data from governance structures, conference participation, scholarly recognition, and editorial work, the study highlights key trends and challenges in 4S’s efforts to diversify its membership and perspectives. Findings reveal gradual progress, such as increased representation from Latin America, East Asia, and Oceania in conferences and governance, alongside persistent disparities in prestigious awards like the Bernal Prize, which remains dominated by Euro-American scholars. The article underscores the tension between 4S’s foundational Euro-American identity and its aspirations for epistemic diversity, particularly in light of critiques from postcolonial and feminist STS scholars. By exploring how 4S scaffolds transnationalization – through multilingual conferences, regional collaborations, and editorial policies – the study argues that these efforts are crucial for fostering a more diverse and globally engaged STS field. The analysis concludes that while 4S has made strides in broadening participation, there is still a long road ahead to enrich STS scholarship and to fully accomplish the global scope of the Society’s mission.
References
Acker, Sandra, Mika Rekola, and Gina Wisker. 2022. “Editing a Higher Education Journal: Gatekeeping or Development?” Innovations in Education and Teaching International 59(1): 104–14.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2021.2004909.
Anderson, Warwick. 2002. “Introduction: Postcolonial Technoscience.” Social Studies of Science 32(5/6): 643–58.
⸻. 2017. “Postcolonial Specters of STS.” East Asian Science, Technology and Society 11(2): 229–33.
https://doi.org/10.1215/18752160-3828937.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 2009. “The Social Conditions of the International Circulation of Ideas.” In Bourdieu: A Critical Reader, edited by Richard Shusterman, 220–28. Critical Readers. Oxford: Blackwell.
Callon, Michel. 1999. “1998 J. D. Bernal Prize Citation.” Science, Technology, & Human Values 24(3): 373–75.
https://doi.org/10.1177/016224399902400303.
Chen, Ruey-Lin. 2012. “Discovering Distinctive East Asian STS: An Introduction.” East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Journal 6(4): 441–43.
https://doi.org/10.1215/18752160-1904753.
Crane, Diana. 1967. “The Gatekeepers of Science: Some Factors Affecting the Selection of Articles for Scientific Journals.” The American Sociologist 2(4): 195–201.
Dagnino, Renato, Amilcar Davyt, and Hernán Thomas. 1996. “El pensamiento en ciencia, tecnología y sociedad en Latinoamérica: Una interpretación política de su trayectoria” [Latin American thought on science, technology and society: A political interpretation of its trajectory]. Redes 7(6): 13–51.
Dumoulin Kervran, David, Mina Kleiche-Dray, and Mathieu Quet. 2017. “Going South. How STS Could Think Science in and with the South?” Revue d’anthropologie des connaissances [Journal of the anthropology of knowledge] 11(3).
https://doi.org/10.3917/rac.036.0423.
Frenken, Koen, Jarno Hoekman, and Sjoerd Hardeman. 2010. “The Globalization of Research Collaboration.” In World Social Science Report: Knowledge Divides, edited by UNESCO, 144–8. Paris.
Fu, Daiwie. 2007. “How Far Can East Asian STS Go?: A Position Paper.” East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Journal 1(1): 1–14.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12280-007-9000-y.
González-Santos, Sandra P., and Rebecca Dimond. 2015. “Medical and Scientific Conferences as Sites of Sociological Interest: A Review of the Field.” Sociology Compass 9(3): 235–45.
https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12250.
Harding, Sandra G. [1998] 2002. Is Science Multicultural? Postcolonialisms, Feminisms, and Epistemologies. (Race, Gender, and Science). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
⸻, ed. 2011. “Introduction—Beyond Postcolonial Theory: Two Undertheorized Perspectives on Science and Technology.” In The Postcolonial Science and Technology Studies Reader, 1–30. Durham: Duke University Press.
Invernizzi, Noela, Amílcar Davyt, Pablo Kreimer, and Leandro Rodriguez Medina. 2022. “STS Between Centers and Peripheries: How Transnational Are Leading STS Journals?” Engaging Science, Technology, and Society 8(3): 31–62.
https://doi.org/10.17351/ests2022.1005.
Invernizzi, Noela, and Sofía Foladori-Invernizzi. 2025. Data for “How Transnational Is 4S?”: Annex 1 and 2. Tabular Data. Engaging Science, Technology, and Society. STS Infrastructures (Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography). December 28, 2025, last modified December 29, 2025, accessed December 29, 2025.
https://n2t.net/ark:/81416/p41306.
Jasanoff, Sheila, Gerald E. Markle, James C. Petersen, and Trevor Pinch, eds. 1994. Handbook of Science and Technology Studies. Revised Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Kreimer, Pablo. 2022. “Constructivist Paradoxes Part 1: Critical Thoughts about Provincializing, Globalizing, and Localizing STS from a Non-Hegemonic Perspective.” Engaging Science, Technology, and Society 8(2): 159–75.
https://doi.org/10.17351/ests2022.1109.
Kreimer, Pablo, and Hernán Thomas. 2004. “Un Poco de Reflexividad o ¿de Dónde Venimos? Estudios Sociales de La Ciencia y La Tecnología En América Latina.” [A Little Reflexivity or Where do we Come From? Social Studies of Science and Technology in Latin America] In Producción y Uso Social de Conocimientos. Estudios de Sociología de La Ciencia y La Tecnología En América Latina [Production and Social Use of Knowledge. Studies in the Sociology of Science and Technology in Latin America], edited by Pablo Kreimer and Hernán Thomas. Quilmes: Universidad Nacional de Quilmes.
Kreimer, Pablo, and Hebe Vessuri. 2017. “Latin American Science, Technology, and Society: A Historical and Reflexive Approach.” Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society 1 (1): 17–37.
https://doi.org/10.1080/25729861.2017.1368622.
Kumar, Deepak. 2000. “Science and Society in Colonial India: Exploring an Agenda.” Social Scientist 28 (5–6): 24–46.
https://doi.org/10.2307/3518179.
Law, John, and Wen-yuan Lin. 2017. “Provincializing STS: Postcoloniality, Symmetry, and Method.” East Asian Science, Technology and Society 11(2): 211–27.
https://doi.org/10.1215/18752160-3823859.
Mody, Cyrus C. M. 2014. “Conferences and the Emergence of Nanoscience.” In The Social Life of Nanotechnology, edited by Barbara Herr Harthorn and John W Mohr. New York: Routledge.
Morita, Atsuro. 2017. “Encounters, Trajectories, and the Ethnographic Moment: Why ‘Asia as Method’ Still Matters.” East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Journal 11(2): 239–50.
https://doi.org/10.1215/18752160-3825820.
Nandy, Ashis, ed. 1988. Science, Hegemony, and Violence: A Requiem for Modernity. Delhi: Oxford University Press and United Nations University.
Ortiz, Renato. 2016. “Internationalization of the Social Sciences: A Reflection.” Sociologies in Dialogue 2(1): 31–45.
https://doi.org/10.20336/sid.v2i1.21.
Rajão, Raoni, Ricardo B. Duque, and Rahul De’. 2014. “Introduction: Voices from within and Outside the South—Defying STS Epistemologies, Boundaries, and Theories.” Science, Technology, & Human Values 39(6): 767–72.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0162243914542161.
Ramasubban, Radhika. 1991. “Science, Technology and Society’s Studies in India: An Introduction.” Sociological Bulletin 40(1–2): 69–75.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0038022919910104.
Rodríguez Medina, Leandro, and Noela Invernizzi. 2025. “From Grand and Middle-Range Theories to Theorizing in STS: Introducing a Latin American Journey.” In Latin American Breakthroughs in STS Theory (Transnationalizing Theory in Science and Technology Studies), edited by Noela Invernizzi and Leandro Rodríguez Medina, 1–39. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
Science, Technology, & Human Values. 2025. “Submission Guidelines.” Accessed December 29, 2025.
https://journals.sagepub.com/author-instructions/STH.
Society for Social Studies of Science (4S). 2010. 4S Annual Meeting program, Toyko, Japan.
https://www.4sonline.org/docs/print_program0903.pdf.
Society for Social Studies of Science (4S). 2018. 4S Annual Meeting program, Toyko, Japan.
https://4sonline.org/4s_sydney_2018.php.
Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S). 2025. Homepage. Accessed December 29, 2025.
Sismondo, Sergio. 2007. “Science and Techonology Studies and an Engaged Program.” In The Handbook of Science and Technology Studies, edited by Edward J. Hackett, Olga Amsterdamska, Michael Lynch, and Judith Wajcman. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Spiegel-Rösing, Ina, and Derek J. De Solla Price, eds. 1977. Science, Technology, and Society: A Cross-Disciplinary Perspective. London: Sage Publications.
Vessuri, Hebe. 1987. “The Social Study of Science in Latin America.” Social Studies of Science 17(3): 519–554.
Whitley, Richard. 2000. The Intellectual and Social Organization of the Sciences. Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wu, Chia-Ling. 2017. “Body-Head Separation, or a Multihanded/Multiheaded Guanyin: Note on the Birth of the ‘Provincializing STS’ Forum.” East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Journal 11(2): 209–10.
