Alternative Pathways in Science and Industry: Activism, Innovation, and the Environment in an Era of Globalization (Urban and Industrial Environments)

345 Pages·2007·1.69 MB·English

by  David J. Hess

Alternative Pathways in Science and Industry
Urban and Industrial Environments
Series editor: Robert Gottlieb, Henry R. Luce Professor of Urban
and Environmental Policy, Occidental College
For a list of the series, see pages 329–330.
Alternative Pathways in Science and Industry
Activism, Innovation, and the Environment in an
Era of Globalization
David J. Hess
The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
© 2007 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any
electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or informa-
tion storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information on quantity discounts, email [email protected].
Set in Sabon by The MIT Press. Printed and bound in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hess, David J.
Pathways in science and industry : activism, innovation, and the environment in
an era of globalization / David J. Hess.
p. cm. — (Urban and industrial environments)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-262-08359-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-262-58272-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Science—Social aspects. 2. Technology—Social aspects. 3. Science and
industry. I. Title.
Q175.5.H469 2007
303.48'3—dc22
2006030374
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowedgments vii
Introduction 1
1 Retheorizing Scientific Change 21
2 Science in an Era of Globalization 43
3 The Transformation of Technological Fields 69
4 Industrial Opposition Movements 87
5 Technology- and Product-Oriented Movements 123
6 The Localization of Activism and Innovation 171
Conclusion 235
Notes 249
Bibliography 285
Series List 329
Index 331

Acknowledgments
My long-term affiliation with the Department of Science and Technology
Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the remarkable interdisci-
plinary conversations that have occurred there over the years are,
without a doubt, my first debt. I mention in particular the many conver-
sations over the years with my colleague Langdon Winner and our
collaboration on the National Science Foundation grant “Sustainable
Technology, the Politics of Design, and Localism” (SES-00425039).
The grant gave me extra time that was helpful for finishing this book,
and it also allowed me to work on a sibling project with Langdon on
the intersections of sustainability projects with localism, democracy, and
justice. Four graduate students (Richard Arias-Hernández, Colin Beech,
Rachel Dowty, and Govind Gopakumar) also participated in the grant,
and their specific contributions are noted in the by-lines of the case
studies available on the project’s website (http://www.davidjhess.org).
I have also benefited from conversations over the years with Sal Restivo
about science studies; Kate Boyer, Frances Bronet, Linnda Caporael, Ron
Eglash, Ray Fouche, Gary Gabriele, Ted Krueger, Mark Mistur, Michael
Oatman, Mark Steiner, Dan Walczyk, and Ken Warriner about design;
Steve Breyman, Carl McDaniel, and Ned Woodhouse about technology
and the environment; and Nancy Campbell about the welfare state. I
also appreciate the opportunity to have worked with Steve Breyman,
Nancy Campbell, and Brian Martin on a related review essay titled
“Science, Technology, and Social Movements,” which is forthcoming
in the Handbook of Science and Technology Studies (MIT Press).
Additional support to the department and the university comes from two
National Science Foundation grants: “An STS Focus on Design” (SES
9818207) and “Product Design and Innovation” (CCLI 9950931).
viii Acknowledgments
Of the many colleagues in science and technology studies and related
fields, I mention in particular recent conversations with and work by
Julian Agyeman, Phil Brown, Maurie Cohen, Arturo Escobar, Frank
Fischer, Scott Frickel, Ken Gould, Sandra Harding, Krista Harper, Andy
Jamison, Ulrik Jørgensen, Daniel Kleinman, Brian Martin, Arthur Mol,
Kelly Moore, Steven Moore, and Roddey Reid, who share similar inter-
ests in social movements, the environment, and/or science and
technology. Much earlier in my career, Davydd Greenwood introduced
me to Weber’s The City, Jim Boon and David Holmberg opened the door
to Weber’s comparative religious studies, and Roberto DaMatta taught
me a Brazilian structuralist reading of Weber. Tom Holloway introduced
me to the comparative literature on Latin America. They have left an
imprint that will be evident in the comparativist methodology that I con-
tinue to use.
Numerous conversations with Rensselaer’s former and current doc-
toral students and visiting students—and the privilege of accompanying
and sharing in their dissertations, graduate study, and careers—influ-
enced this volume. They include, in addition to the students mentioned
above, Barbara Allen, Sulfikar Amir, Dikoh Chen, Ayala Cnaan, Seval
Dulgeroglu, Maral Erol, Virginia Eubanks, Nicole Farkus, Patrick Feng,
James Fenimore, Jenrose Fitzgerald, Jill Fisher, Ken Fleischmann, Noelle
Foster, Jaime Radesi Galayda, Andy Karvonen, Natasha Lettis, David
Levinger, Lisa McLoughlin, Torin Monahan, Rosana Monteiro, Casey
O’Donnell, Tolu Odumosu, Steve Pierce, Hector Postigo, Lorna Ronald,
Emily Valerio, Roli Varma, Electra Weeks, and Margaret Wooddell. I
have pointed to their work in the notes. Various sections benefited from
suggestions and conversations with people with expertise in the area,
including Jason Patton, Kate Boyer, Michael Buser, and Jeff Hannigan on
New Urbanism and Melanie Dupuis and Neiva Hassanein on agricul-
ture. I also appreciate the comments from faculty and students in the
seminars given at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food
Systems at the University of California at Santa Cruz and the Center for
Sustainable Development at the University of Texas at Austin. I am also
grateful for the help and guidance of my editor at The MIT Press, Clay
Morgan.
An earlier work containing material that now appears in chapters 1–3
was published electronically on my website, with a few print copies cir-
Acknowledgments ix
culated to colleagues and libraries (Hess 2001c). The experiment in elec-
tronic publication brought the luxury and curse of allowing me to revise,
and the end result is the present book. There may be also some limited
overlap in content with the following publications:
“Technology- and Product-Oriented Movements: Approximating Social
Movement Studies and STS,” Science, Technology, and Human Values
30 (2005), no. 4: 515–535
“Medical Modernization, Scientific Research Fields, and the Movement
for Complementary and Alternative Cancer Therapies,” Sociology of
Health and Illness 26 (2004), no. 6: 695–709
“Object Conflicts in a Health-Environmental Social Movement: The
Movement for Organic Food and Agriculture in the U.S.,” Science as
Culture 13 (2004), no. 4: 493–514.
In all cases contractual agreements provide permission for republication
of portions of the previously published work in this book.
Finally, I wish to thank Gretchen for helping me to juggle the time that
has made writing this book possible.