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A Toolbox for Studying the Global Politics of Science and Technology

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The Global Politics of Science and Technology - Vol. 2

Part of the book series: Global Power Shift ((GLOBAL))

Abstract

The growing preeminence of science and technology in today’s world no longer fits into most existing analytical frameworks. Material elements, technical instruments, and scientific practices are intertwined with basically every aspect of global politics. Nevertheless, the discipline of International Relations (IR) as a whole tends to conceptualize this topic as an exogenous phenomenon. By adopting the notion of techno-politics, we argue that it is neither sufficient to treat sciences and technologies as external to “social” relations, nor as dominating human behavior and determining political outcomes. We propose rather to open up a middle zone in order to study the intersection of science and technology with international and global affairs. Conceptually, the notion of techno-politics involves two broad sets of approaches: interaction and co-production. This introductory chapter presents the chapters of the volume as examples of how the global politics of science and technology might be studied. As a toolbox of methodological insights, the contributions also point towards pathways for future research that enhances the global politics of science and technology as subfield of IR.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For instance, different studies of the global techno-politics may well employ Patrick Jackson’s four methodological positions (2011).

  2. 2.

    Castells (2011), Mowlana (1997), Drezner and Farrell (2004), Eriksson and Giacomello (2009), Mueller (2010).

  3. 3.

    For example, Eriksson and Giacomello (2006), Kremer and Müller (2013) see Deibert and Rohozinski (2010).

  4. 4.

    See Bousquet (2009), Halpin et al. (2006), Edwards (1996), Manjikian (2010), Deibert et al. (2012).

  5. 5.

    Warkentin and Mingst (2000), Deibert and Crete-Nishihata (2013), Mueller et al. (2013), Costigan and Perry (2012).

  6. 6.

    See e.g. Boas (2004), Mueller and Chango (2008), Diamond (2010), Anduiza et al. (2012), Hussain and Howard (2013), Deibert et al. (2010).

  7. 7.

    Der Derian (2009), Singer (2009), Stroeken (2013), Wall (2011).

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Douglas Howland and Anna Agathangelou for their insightful comments and helpful suggestions that were instrumental for writing this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CGS, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Maximilian Mayer

  2. GIGA, Hamburg, Germany

    Mariana Carpes

  3. IPWS, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Ruth Knoblich

  4. IEE, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Ruth Knoblich

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  1. Maximilian Mayer
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  2. Mariana Carpes
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  3. Ruth Knoblich
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Correspondence to Maximilian Mayer .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bonn Center for Global Studies, Bonn, Germany

    Maximilian Mayer

  2. GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, Germany

    Mariana Carpes

  3. Institute of Political Science and Sociology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany, Institute of Development Research and Development Policy (IEE), Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany, Bochum, Bonn, Germany

    Ruth Knoblich

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Mayer, M., Carpes, M., Knoblich, R. (2014). A Toolbox for Studying the Global Politics of Science and Technology. In: Mayer, M., Carpes, M., Knoblich, R. (eds) The Global Politics of Science and Technology - Vol. 2. Global Power Shift. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55010-2_1

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