Stephen William Woolgar (born 14 February 1950)
is a British
sociologist. He has worked closely with
Bruno Latour
Bruno Latour (; 22 June 1947 – 9 October 2022) was a French philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist.Wheeler, Will. ''Bruno Latour: Documenting Human and Nonhuman Associations'' Critical Theory for Library and Information Science. Libraries ...
, 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
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
.
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
Brunel University London is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It was founded in 1966 and named after the Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In June 1 ...
until 2000. He then held the Chair of Sociology and Marketing at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
where he was a fellow at
Green Templeton College
Green Templeton College (GTC) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. The college is located on the previous Green College site on Woodstock Road next to the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter in North Oxford and ...
. He is the former director of Science and Technology Studies within Oxford's Institute for Science, Innovation and Society. He is (2022) now retired from Oxford, and also from
Linköping University
Linköping University (, LiU) is a public research university based in Linköping, Sweden. Originally established in 1969, it was granted full university status in 1975 and is one of Sweden's largest academic institutions. The university has fou ...
where he worked more briefly in the late 2010s.
Contributions
Woolgar is an important contributor in the fields of
science studies
Science studies is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary research area that seeks to situate scientific expertise in broad social, historical, and philosophical contexts. It uses various methods to analyze the production, representation an ...
,
sociology of scientific knowledge
The sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) is the study of science as a social activity, especially dealing with "the social conditions and effects of science, and with the social structures and processes of scientific activity." The sociolog ...
(SSK) and the
science and technology studies
Science and technology studies (STS) is an interdisciplinary field that examines the creation, development, and consequences of science and technology in their historical, cultural, and social contexts.
History
Like most interdisciplinary fie ...
(STS) (especially on the topic of sociology of machines). He wrote ''
Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientific Facts'' (1979), a
social constructionist
Social constructionism is a theory in sociology, social ontology, and communication theory which proposes that certain ideas about physical reality arise from collaborative consensus, instead of pure observation of said reality. The theory ...
account of the practice of science, together with
Bruno Latour
Bruno Latour (; 22 June 1947 – 9 October 2022) was a French philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist.Wheeler, Will. ''Bruno Latour: Documenting Human and Nonhuman Associations'' Critical Theory for Library and Information Science. Libraries ...
, 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
Relativism is a family of philosophical views which deny claims to objectivity within a particular domain and assert that valuations in that domain are relative to the perspective of an observer or the context in which they are assessed. Ther ...
stance, for example in his 1988 book ''
Science: The Very Idea''. 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 tacking AI from the field of Sociology
Awards
* Recipient of the 2008
John Desmond Bernal Prize
The John Desmond Bernal Prize is an award given annually by the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) to scholars judged to have made a distinguished contribution to the interdisciplinary field of Science and Technology Studies (STS).About the ...
, awarded annually by the
Society for Social Studies of Science
The Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) is a non-profit scholarly association devoted to the social studies of science and technology (STS). It was founded in 1975 and as of 2008 its international membership exceeds 1,200. In 2016, over 2 ...
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
* Originally published 1979 in Los Angeles, by
Sage Publications
SAGE Publishing, formerly SAGE Publications, is an American independent publishing company founded in 1965 in New York by Sara Miller McCune and now based in Newbury Park, California.
It publishes more than 1,000 journals, more than 800 books ...
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* 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
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Journal articles
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References
External links
Oxford home pageInstitute for Science, Innovation and Society
1950 births
British sociologists
Academics of Brunel University London
Academics of the University of Oxford
Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Fellows of Green Templeton College, Oxford
Living people
Sociologists of science
Social constructionism
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