CfP: Cold War Science, Technology, and Policy: the Americas on a Global Perspective

Panel Sessions: Cold War Science, Technology, and Policy: the Americas on a Global Perspective, 2017, Boston, MA

Organized by Barbara Silva (Universidad Catolica de Chile) & William San Martin (MIT / University of California Davis)

As part of a broader public concern regarding the intersections between science and politics, approaches from the social sciences and humanities to the study of knowledge production and transfer have increased during the last decades. Cold War historians have expanded traditional political and social histories and integrated scientific knowledge as a critical element shaping the geopolitical dimension of the Cold War on a local and global perspective. Similarly, History of Science, STS, and Policy Studies have uncovered new questions about the means and mechanisms that produce, transfer, and transform expert knowledge within communities and political systems at different scales.

While entering a post-Cold War global order, these approaches raise several interrogations about the intersections between science, technology, and policy in the 21st century. Examining Cold War politics and its aftermath can bring significant insights to understanding the origins and developments of current issues concerning science, technology, and policy. How STS, History of Science, and Cold War Studies can better contribute to ongoing debates on public policy in a national and transnational level? What interdisciplinary dialogues and bridges are still needed to inform citizens and decision-makers on a local and global scale? Using the Americas as a case study, this panel examines theoretical, methodological, and epistemological problems combining History and STS to the transnational study of science, technology, and policy during the 20th and 21st century.

Abstracts must be submitted no later than March 1, 2017.

Submission information can be found at http://www.4sonline.org/meeting, Panel #15.