Steve Woolgar: Difference between revisions

Stephen Woolgar
Stephen Woolgar
Born	14 February 1950 (age 74)
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Cambridge (BA/PhD)
Academic work
Main interests	Science & Technology Studies (STS)
Notable works	Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientific Facts

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Stephen William Woolgar (born 14 February 1950)^[1] is a British sociologist. He has worked closely with Bruno Latour, with whom he wrote Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientific Facts (1979).

Education

Stephen Woolgar holds a BA (First Class Honours) in engineering and a PhD in sociology, both at the University of Cambridge.

Career

Woolgar was Professor of Sociology and Head of the Department of Human Sciences and director of CRICT (Centre for Research into Innovation, Culture and Technology) at Brunel University until 2000. He then held the Chair of Sociology and Marketing at the University of Oxford where he was a fellow at Green Templeton College. He is the former director of Science and Technology Studies within Oxford's Institute for Science, Innovation and Society. He is (2022) now Emeritus Professor at Oxford, and also at Linköping University where he worked more briefly in the late 2010s.^[2]

Contributions

Woolgar is a contributor in the fields of science studies, sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) and the science and technology studies (STS) (especially on the topic of sociology of machines). He wrote Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientific Facts (1979), a social constructionist account of the practice of science, together with Bruno Latour, who he first met in California when Latour was conducting hie early ethnographic work in scientific facilities. Woolgar has subsequently adopted an even more relativist stance, for example in his 1988 book Science: The Very Idea.^[3] Woolgar espouses a radically relativist and constructionist position. In 1985 he wrote a paper proposing a sociological approach towards machines and AI, in which he outlined the importance of associating AI with the field of sociology.^[4]

Awards

Recipient of the 2008 John Desmond Bernal Prize, awarded annually by the Society for Social Studies of Science to an individual judged to have made a distinguished contribution to the field.
Fulbright Scholarship and a Fulbright Senior Scholar award.
Academy of Social Sciences, 2010.

Selected bibliography

Books

Woolgar, Steve; Latour, Bruno (1986) [1979]. Laboratory life: the construction of scientific facts. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691094182. Originally published 1979 in Los Angeles, by SAGE Publications
Woolgar, Steve (1993) [1988]. Science: the very idea. London New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780415084758.
Woolgar, Steve (1988). Knowledge and reflexivity: new frontiers in the sociology of knowledge. London: Sage. ISBN 9780803981201.
Woolgar, Steve; Fuller, Steve; de Mey, Marc; Shinn, Terry (1989). The cognitive turn: sociological and psychological perspectives on science. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. ISBN 9789401578257.
Woolgar, Steve; Lynch, Michael (1990). Representation in scientific practice. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 9780262620765.
Woolgar, Steve; Grint, Keith (1997). The machine at work: technology, work, and organization. Cambridge, UK Malden, Massachusetts: Polity Press. ISBN 9780745609256.
Woolgar, Steve (2002). Virtual society? Technology, cyberbole, reality. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191593963.
Woolgar, Steve; Lynch, Michael; Coopmans, Catelijne; Vertesi, Janet (2014). Representation in scientific practice revisited. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 9780262525381.
Nigel Thrift, Adam Tickell, Steve Woolgar, William H. Rupp. (2014) Globalization in Practice. Oxford University Press.
Annamaria Carusi, Aud Sissel Hoel, Timothy Webmoor, Steve Woolgar (eds.). (2020) Visualization in the Age of Computerization. Routledge.
Steve Woolgar, Daniel Neyland (2020). Mundane Governance: Ontology and Accountability. Oxford University Press.
Steve Woolgar, Else Vogel, David Moats and Claes-Fredrik Helgesson (eds. (2022) The Imposter as Social Theory – Thinking with Gatecrashers, Cheats and Charlatans. Bristol University Press. ISBN 978-1529213089

Chapter in books

Woolgar, Steve (1992), "Some remarks about positionism: A reply to Collins and Yearley", in Pickering, Andrew (ed.), Science as practice and culture, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 327–342, ISBN 9780226668017.

Journal articles

Woolgar, Steve; Mulkay, Michael; Gilbert, G. Nigel (May 1975). "Problem areas and research networks in science". Sociology. 9 (2). Sage: 187–203. doi:10.1177/003803857500900201. S2CID 145579542.
Woolgar, Steve (August 1981). "Interests and explanation in the social study of science". Social Studies of Science. 11 (3). Sage: 365–394. doi:10.1177/030631278101100304. S2CID 143629573.
Woolgar, Steve; Pawluch, Dorothy (February 1985). "Ontological gerrymandering: The anatomy of social problems explanations". Social Problems. 32 (3). Oxford University Press: 214–227. doi:10.2307/800680. JSTOR 800680.
Woolgar, Steve (November 1985). "Why not a Sociology of Machines? The Case of Sociology and Artificial Intelligence". Sociology. 19 (4). Sage: 557–572. doi:10.1177/0038038585019004005. S2CID 143156873.

References

^ "Woolgar, Steve". Library of Congress. Retrieved 16 February 2015. data sheet (b. 2-14-50)
^ "Steve Woolgar".
^ Raatikainen, Panu (2004). Ihmistieteet ja filosofia (in Finnish). Helsinki: Gaudeamus. pp. 62–63. ISBN 951-662-898-2.
^ Woolgar, Steve (November 1985). "Why not a Sociology of Machines? The Case of Sociology and Artificial Intelligence". Sociology. 19 (4). Sage: 557–572. doi:10.1177/0038038585019004005. S2CID 143156873.

External links

Archival collections

Steve Woolgar research materials on pulsars, 1973-1976, Niels Bohr Library & Archives

This biography of a British sociologist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[Congress-1] "Woolgar, Steve". Library of Congress. Retrieved 16 February 2015. data sheet (b. 2-14-50)

[2] "Steve Woolgar".

[3] Raatikainen, Panu (2004). Ihmistieteet ja filosofia (in Finnish). Helsinki: Gaudeamus. pp. 62–63. ISBN 951-662-898-2.

[4] Woolgar, Steve (November 1985). "Why not a Sociology of Machines? The Case of Sociology and Artificial Intelligence". Sociology. 19 (4). Sage: 557–572. doi:10.1177/0038038585019004005. S2CID 143156873.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|British sociologist (born 1950)}}
-{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2013}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
 {{Use British English|date=August 2013}}
 {{Infobox scholar
@@ Line 19: / Line 20: @@
 | alma_mater = [[University of Cambridge]] (BA/PhD)
 | school_tradition =
-| main_interests = [[Sociology|Sociologist]]
+| main_interests = [[Science and technology studies|Science & Technology Studies (STS)]]
 | principal_ideas =
 | major_works = ''[[Laboratory Life|Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientific Facts]]''
 | awards =
-| influences = [[Bruno Latour]]
+| influences =
 | influenced =
 | footnotes =
 }}
-'''Stephen William Woolgar''' (born 14 February 1950)<ref name=Congress>{{cite web |title= Woolgar, Steve |url= http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79004601.html |publisher= Library of Congress |accessdate= 16 February 2015 |quote= data sheet (b. 2-14-50) }}</ref> is a British [[Sociology|sociologist]]. He has worked closely with [[Bruno Latour]], with whom he wrote ''[[Laboratory Life|Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientific Facts]]'' (1979).
+'''Stephen William Woolgar''' (born 14 February 1950)<ref name=Congress>{{cite web |title= Woolgar, Steve |url= http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79004601.html |publisher= Library of Congress |access-date= 16 February 2015 |quote= data sheet (b. 2-14-50) }}</ref> is a British [[Sociology|sociologist]]. He has worked closely with [[Bruno Latour]], with whom he wrote ''[[Laboratory Life|Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientific Facts]]'' (1979).
 == Education ==
 Stephen Woolgar holds a BA (First Class Honours) in engineering and a PhD in sociology, both at the [[University of Cambridge]].
-== Career ==
+==Career==
+Woolgar was Professor of Sociology and Head of the Department of Human Sciences and director of CRICT (Centre for Research into Innovation, Culture and Technology) at [[Brunel University]] until 2000. He then held the Chair of Sociology and Marketing at the [[University of Oxford]] where he was a fellow at [[Green Templeton College]]. He is the former director of Science and Technology Studies within Oxford's Institute for Science, Innovation and Society. He is (2022) now Emeritus Professor at Oxford, and also at [[Linköping University]] where he worked more briefly in the late 2010s.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://liu.se/en/employee/stewo07 | title=Steve Woolgar }}</ref>
-Woolgar wrote ''[[Laboratory Life|Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientific Facts]]'' (1979), a [[social constructionist]] account of the practice of science, together with [[Bruno Latour]]. Woolgar has subsequently adopted an even more [[relativist]] stance, for example in his 1988 book ''[[Science: The Very Idea]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Raatikainen|first=Panu|title=Ihmistieteet ja filosofia|year=2004|publisher=Gaudeamus|location=Helsinki|language=fi|isbn=951-662-898-2|pages=62–63}}</ref> Woolgar can be counted among just a handful of academic thinkers who espouse a radically relativist and constructionist position, along with [[Jean-François Lyotard]] and [[Jean Baudrillard]].<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Raatikainen|first=Panu|title=Jordan Peterson: Oikeiston pop-intellektuelli|magazine=Niin & näin|number=99|date=2018|language=fi|issn=1237-1645|pages=97n14}}</ref>
+== Contributions ==
-He has been Professor of Sociology and Head of the Department of Human Sciences and director of CRICT (Centre for Research into Innovation, Culture and Technology) at [[Brunel University]]. He holds the Chair of Sociology and Marketing and is a professor of marketing at the [[University of Oxford]] and a fellow at [[Green Templeton College]]. He is the former director of Science and Technology Studies within Oxford's Institute for Science, Innovation and Society. He is an important contributor in the fields of [[Science Studies|science studies]], [[sociology of scientific knowledge]] (SSK) and the [[science and technology studies]] (STS) (especially on the topic of sociology of machines). Stephen Woolgar is a recipient of the [[John Desmond Bernal Prize]] in 2008 awarded annually by the [[Society for Social Studies of Science]] to an individual judged to have made a distinguished contribution to the field.
+Woolgar is a contributor in the fields of [[Science Studies|science studies]], [[sociology of scientific knowledge]] (SSK) and the [[science and technology studies]] (STS) (especially on the topic of sociology of machines). He wrote ''[[Laboratory Life|Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientific Facts]]'' (1979), a [[social constructionist]] account of the practice of science, together with [[Bruno Latour]], who he first met in California when Latour was conducting hie early ethnographic work in scientific facilities.  Woolgar has subsequently adopted an even more [[relativist]] stance, for example in his 1988 book ''[[Science: The Very Idea]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Raatikainen|first=Panu|title=Ihmistieteet ja filosofia|year=2004|publisher=Gaudeamus|location=Helsinki|language=fi|isbn=951-662-898-2|pages=62–63}}</ref> Woolgar espouses a radically relativist and constructionist position. In 1985 he wrote a paper proposing a sociological approach towards machines and AI, in which he outlined the importance of associating AI with the field of sociology.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Woolgar | first1 = Steve | title = Why not a Sociology of Machines? The Case of Sociology and Artificial Intelligence | journal = [[Sociology]] | volume = 19 | issue = 4 | pages = 557–572 | publisher = [[SAGE Publishing|Sage]] | doi = 10.1177/0038038585019004005 | date = November 1985 | s2cid = 143156873 }}</ref>
+==Awards==
+* Recipient of the 2008 [[John Desmond Bernal Prize]],  awarded annually by the [[Society for Social Studies of Science]] to an individual judged to have made a distinguished contribution to the field.
+* Fulbright Scholarship and a Fulbright Senior Scholar award.
+* Academy of Social Sciences, 2010.
 == Selected bibliography ==
 === Books ===
-* {{cite book | last1 = Woolgar | first1 = Steve | last2 = Latour | first2 = Bruno | author-link2 = Bruno Latour | title = Laboratory life: the construction of scientific facts | publisher = [[Princeton University Press]] | location = Princeton, New Jersey | year = 1986 | origyear = 1979 | isbn = 9780691094182 }} Originally published 1979 in Los Angeles, by [[Sage Publications]]
+* {{cite book | last1 = Woolgar | first1 = Steve | last2 = Latour | first2 = Bruno | author-link2 = Bruno Latour | title = Laboratory life: the construction of scientific facts | publisher = [[Princeton University Press]] | location = Princeton, New Jersey | year = 1986 | orig-year = 1979 | isbn = 9780691094182 }} Originally published 1979 in Los Angeles, by [[SAGE Publications]]
-* {{cite book | last = Woolgar | first = Steve | title = Science: the very idea | publisher = Routledge | location = London New York | year = 1993 | origyear = 1988 | isbn = 9780415084758 }}
+* {{cite book | last = Woolgar | first = Steve | title = Science: the very idea | publisher = Routledge | location = London New York | year = 1993 | orig-year = 1988 | isbn = 9780415084758 }}
 * {{cite book | last = Woolgar | first = Steve | title = Knowledge and reflexivity: new frontiers in the sociology of knowledge | publisher = Sage | location = London | year = 1988 | isbn = 9780803981201 }}
 * {{cite book | last1 = Woolgar | first1 = Steve | last2 = Fuller | first2 = Steve | last3 = de Mey | first3 = Marc  | last4 = Shinn | first4 = Terry | author-link2 = Steve Fuller (sociologist) | title = The cognitive turn: sociological and psychological perspectives on science | publisher = Springer | location = Dordrecht, Netherlands | year = 1989 | isbn = 9789401578257 }}
@@ Line 48: / Line 56: @@
 * {{cite book | last = Woolgar | first = Steve | title = Virtual society? Technology, cyberbole, reality | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Oxford New York | year = 2002 | isbn = 9780191593963 }}
 * {{cite book | last1 = Woolgar | first1 = Steve | last2 = Lynch | first2 = Michael | last3 = Coopmans | first3 = Catelijne | last4 = Vertesi | first4 = Janet | author-link2 = Michael Lynch (ethnomethodologist) | title = Representation in scientific practice revisited | publisher = [[MIT Press]] | location = Cambridge, Massachusetts | year = 2014 | isbn = 9780262525381 }}
+* Nigel Thrift, Adam Tickell, Steve Woolgar, William H. Rupp. (2014) ''Globalization in Practice''. Oxford University Press.
+* Annamaria Carusi, Aud Sissel Hoel, Timothy Webmoor, Steve Woolgar (eds.). (2020) ''Visualization in the Age of Computerization''. Routledge.
+* Steve Woolgar, Daniel Neyland (2020). ''Mundane Governance: Ontology and Accountability''. Oxford University Press.
+* Steve Woolgar, Else Vogel, David Moats and Claes-Fredrik Helgesson (eds. (2022) ''The Imposter as Social Theory – Thinking with Gatecrashers, Cheats and Charlatans''. Bristol University Press. ISBN 978-1529213089
 === Chapter in books ===
-* {{citation | last = Woolgar | first = Steve | contribution = Some remarks about positionism: A reply to Collins and Yearley | editor-last = Pickering | editor-first = Andrew | editor-link = Andrew Pickering | title = Science as practice and culture | pages = 327–342 | publisher = University of Chicago Press | location = Chicago | year = 1992 | isbn = 9780226668017 | ref = harv | postscript = .}}
+* {{citation | last = Woolgar | first = Steve | contribution = Some remarks about positionism: A reply to Collins and Yearley | editor-last = Pickering | editor-first = Andrew | editor-link = Andrew Pickering | title = Science as practice and culture | pages = 327–342 | publisher = University of Chicago Press | location = Chicago | year = 1992 | isbn = 9780226668017 | postscript = .}}
 === Journal articles ===
-* {{Cite journal | last1 = Woolgar | first1 = Steve | last2 = Mulkay | first2 = Michael | last3 = Gilbert | first3 = G. Nigel | author-link2 = Mike Mulkay | title = Problem areas and research networks in science | journal = [[Sociology (journal)|Sociology]] | volume = 9 | issue = 2 | pages = 187–203 | publisher = [[SAGE Publications|Sage]] | doi = 10.1177/003803857500900201 | date = May 1975 | ref = harv }}
+* {{Cite journal | last1 = Woolgar | first1 = Steve | last2 = Mulkay | first2 = Michael | last3 = Gilbert | first3 = G. Nigel | author-link2 = Mike Mulkay | title = Problem areas and research networks in science | journal = [[Sociology (journal)|Sociology]] | volume = 9 | issue = 2 | pages = 187–203 | publisher = [[SAGE Publishing|Sage]] | doi = 10.1177/003803857500900201 | date = May 1975 | s2cid = 145579542 }}
-* {{Cite journal | last1 = Woolgar | first1 = Steve | title = Interests and explanation in the social study of science | journal = [[Social Studies of Science]] | volume = 11 | issue = 3 | pages = 365–394 | publisher = [[SAGE Publications|Sage]] | doi = 10.1177/030631278101100304 | date = August 1981 | ref = harv }}
+* {{Cite journal | last1 = Woolgar | first1 = Steve | title = Interests and explanation in the social study of science | journal = [[Social Studies of Science]] | volume = 11 | issue = 3 | pages = 365–394 | publisher = [[SAGE Publishing|Sage]] | doi = 10.1177/030631278101100304 | date = August 1981 | s2cid = 143629573 }}
-* {{Cite journal | last1 = Woolgar | first1 = Steve | last2 = Pawluch | first2 = Dorothy | title = Ontological gerrymandering: The anatomy of social problems explanations | journal = [[Social Problems]] | volume = 32 | issue = 3 | pages = 214–227 | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | doi = 10.2307/800680 | date = February 1985 | ref = harv | jstor = 800680 }}
+* {{Cite journal | last1 = Woolgar | first1 = Steve | last2 = Pawluch | first2 = Dorothy | title = Ontological gerrymandering: The anatomy of social problems explanations | journal = [[Social Problems]] | volume = 32 | issue = 3 | pages = 214–227 | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | doi = 10.2307/800680 | date = February 1985 | jstor = 800680 | doi-access = free }}
+* {{Cite journal | last1 = Woolgar | first1 = Steve | title = Why not a Sociology of Machines? The Case of Sociology and Artificial Intelligence | journal = [[Sociology]] | volume = 19 | issue = 4 | pages = 557–572 | publisher = [[SAGE Publishing|Sage]] | doi = 10.1177/0038038585019004005 | date = November 1985 | s2cid = 143156873 }}
 ==References==
@@ Line 65: / Line 78: @@
 * [http://www.4sonline.org/index.htm Society for Social Studies of Science]
 * [http://www.insis.ox.ac.uk/ Institute for Science, Innovation and Society]
+=== Archival collections ===
+* [https://libserv.aip.org/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=16Y132799IN19.359325&menu=search&aspect=power&npp=10&ipp=20&spp=20&profile=rev-all&ri=4&source=%7E%21horizon&index=.GW&term=STEPHEN+WOOLGAR+RESEARCH+MATERIALS+ON+PULSARS%2C+1973-1976&x=16&y=9&aspect=power Steve Woolgar research materials on pulsars, 1973-1976, Niels Bohr Library & Archives]
 {{Authority control}}
@@ Line 78: / Line 95: @@
 [[Category:Sociologists of science]]
 [[Category:Social constructionism]]
+[[Category:Philosophers of technology]]

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