East Asia

We Have Never Been Latecomers!?: Making Knowledge Spaces for East Asian Technosocial Practices

Wen-yuan Lin and John Law argue in this 2015 article that to highlight practices from East Asia or other locations is possible but problematic because emphasis on locality surfaces histories of area studies and evolutionary narratives.Read more

Theoretical Challenges for the Current Sociology of Science and Technology: A Prospect for its Future Development

Resisting the conventional framing of "Western" versus "non-Western" frameworks, Matsumoto discusses challenges facing the sociology of science and technology, with a special emphasis on "theoretical challenges from the viewpoint of a scholar who is embedded in the East Asian locality." (130) ...Read more

The History of Japanese Science: Recent Developments

Low provides a brief overview of the state of the field of history of science in Japan, and of the history of Japan abroad. Focusing on key figures and institutional resources, Low concludes that though there are promising developments in the history of science, there "less positive signs" for...Read more

Work in Progress: Proposal for Comparative Studies on East Asia

The authors of this article use bibliometric techniques to analyze the prevalence of specific themes and approaches in the Journal of Science and Technology Studies (Kagaku Gijutsu Shakai-ron Kenkyū) and East Asian Science, Technology and Society.  

The Butterfly and the Frigate: Social Studies of Science in Japan

In this 1989 "Country Report," Low argues that "despite some exceptions, much of the stimulating work on Japanese science has come from outside the country."  (313) Low explains that literature in Japan on Japanese science serves to mystify science and perpetuate stereotypical banaries such as "...Read more

A Voyage to East Asian STS Theories; or, What Might Make an STS Theory East Asian

This 2012 article by Ruey-Lin Chen seeks to build a methodology of East Asian STS theories.Read more

Discovering Distinctive East Asian STS: An Introduction

Ruey-Lin Chen introduces the 2011 special issue of EASTS that asks whether and how East Asian STS might be distinctive from STS practiced in the West.Read more

STS in Japan and East Asia: Governance of Science and Technology and Public Engagement

This 2009 article by Yuko Fujigaki describes the development of Japanese STS from the 1980s up to the planning processes for the 2010 4S Meeting in Tokyo. The article also focuses on analyzing historical case studies (Minamata disease, itai-itai disease, the Monju nuclear power plant incidents)...Read more

Introduction (1): Japanese STS in Global, East Asian, and Local Contexts

This article by Togo Tsukahara introduces a set of articles published in East Asian Science, Technology and Society in 2009, and asks what constitutes "Asian STS" broadly and Japanese STS specifically. These articles are products of the workshop "Toward a Trans-Asian...Read more

The History of Technology in Japan and East Asia

Historian Gregory Clancey reflects on the institutionalization of the discipline of the history of technology in Japan and East Asia, in relation to the history of science, STS, and developments in the West. Read more

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