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Long abstract:

Recently, the Chinese official department announced the latest discipline system for graduate degrees in China. Among them, "Science, Technology and Society" (STS) is listed as one of the eight secondary disciplines of "History of Science and Technology" （a primary discipline of science）. This reminds us of the unique association between the research on the history of science and STS in China. Embedded in the academic context of China, STS has rich and expansive connotations, and the history of science is sometimes understood within its framework, thus being endowed with unusual meanings. For instance, research on the history of science is encouraged in China as a way to promote scientific research. This may sound a bit strange. But it actually shows the legitimacy of STS to be incorporated into the “history of science and technology” discipline in China.

Conventionally, utilising the history of science to advance scientific knowledge is “not at the forefront of historians’ thinking”. However, with the prosperity of internalism and the unestablished disciplinary boundaries, historians of science in twentieth-century China did adopt a highly ‘technical’ approach, which accelerated scientific advancement in China. In this process, the history of science served as material, enlightenment, experience, and literature review for studies in hard sciences. Yet, in recent decades, this kind of ‘technical’ tradition in the historiography of science has been marginalised in China. This was induced by multiple dynamics including academic systems, social-cultural thoughts, and research financing.

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Long abstract:

Science, Technology, and Society (STS), as an interdisciplinary discipline, originated from paradigm shift theory and postmodernism in the mid-20th century. In the process of building a world science and technology powerhouse in China, STS research that focuses on exploring issues related to technology and social development is increasingly receiving attention. However, unlike the disciplinary construction in the West, STS research in China is scattered across public management, management, higher education, and social sciences, and has yet to form a relatively unified and mature first-level disciplinary system. In 2023, science and technology policy became a secondary discipline under the history of science and technology. The construction of STS disciplines in China is gradually moving towards the right track, integrating content such as Technology Assessment, Science and Technology Policy, and Public Understanding of Science. This study focuses on "What stages have China's STS discipline construction gone through? What driving forces have promoted the development of STS discipline?" Through content analysis and focus group discussion, a detailed review of China's STS discipline construction is conducted, integrating and forming a theoretical framework for China's STS discipline construction. Thus, further promoting dialogue between the Chinese STS field and international STS research, and accelerating the overall development of Chinese STS research.

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Short abstract:

The paradigm of Politics of Science in China is yet to be established. The discipline of Politics of Science should adopt a political science research approach beyond STS. Efforts should be made to establish a research agenda focusing on the “two-way relationship” between science and politics.

Long abstract:

STS scholars argue that science have political origins, implications, or effects, and thus be political (Brown, 2015). The political aspect of science has inspired STS studies of both interactions between science and politics and their mutual constitution (Jasanoff, 2004). Although several studies on Politics of Science have been conducted in China, they are largely scattered across diverse academic disciplines such as STS, Science Policy, Philosophy of Science, Science Communication, and Sociology of Scientific Knowledge. Ironically, the scholar who wrote the only PhD dissertation on Politics of Science in China (Hu, 2006) has changed her research field after graduation. Consequently, a mature academic community and a universally recognized and distinct paradigm are yet to be established. This article first reviewed the progress and development of Politics of Science in China, and then proposes that the discipline of Politics of Science should adopt a political science research approach beyond STS. Efforts should be made to establish a research agenda focusing on the “two-way relationship” between science and politics. The agenda should include the political analysis of the history of science, deepening the political philosophical study of the relationship between science and power, extending empirical studies in Politics of Science, and establishing a Chinese independent knowledge system school of thought in Politics of Science. My previous study of social history of high-temperature superconductivity research in China is illustrated as a case for the political analysis of the history of science.

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Long abstract:

From 2009 to 2023, 1048 Science and Technology Backyards (STBs) have been established nationwide in China, its founders regard it as a grassroots science and technology service platform covering agricultural science and technology innovation, agricultural socialization services and training of agricultural specialists,and has became one of the most energetic and effective organizational models in China today.

Since there is still no special research on the development history of STB and its science dissemination mechanism in the academic community. In this paper, through anthropological survey and cyber ethnography, (1)we explored the actor network of STB from the perspective of ANT.The translation behaviour of multiple actors, such as governments, universities, social organizations and science and technology associations, based on common interests, is the key to the connection of the network of actors.(2)we also elaborated the history of STB that led to the formation of the current actor network. China Agricultural University's techno-social interaction process in the last century laid the organizational foundation of the STB. The change of core actors is the main reason for the rapid expansion of STB in China today.

(3)In the pattern of synergistic participation of multiple actors, the science communication mechanism of STB has formed a situation in which agricultural technological innovation and science communication are mutually integrated, and the construction of multiple links of actors and contextualized science communication scenarios has accelerated the process of technological innovation and diffusion.

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Long abstract:

Technology is masculine? It is the core issue of Feminist STS. This paper explores the relationship between AI technology and gender in the Chinese context. After conducting on a six-month ethnography in a child-rearing robotics manufacturing company in China, we find that the landscape of AI in China’s parenting domain remains predominantly masculine and it is reflected among AI robot design, labor’s daily technical practices and gendered labor division in technology, leading to the birth of boy robots. However, the design of child-rear robots reveals a pronounced dependence on the childcare experience of female engineers, bringing challenges to the male engineers who have conventionally spearheaded technological initiatives, hence altering gender division and practices among AI engineers. This paper not only resonates Judy Wajcman’s argument that “technology and gender are mutually shaped”, but also affects the longstanding relationship between masculinity and technology through posing an experiential perspective to the discourse on gender politics within the AI production of parenting robots, adding a novel dimension to the current understanding between gender and technology.

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At the end of the 19th century and the dawn of the 20th century, the introduction of Western scientific beekeeping methods, characterized by the utilization of movable-frame beehives, along with the importation of Italian bees (Apis mellifera L.), opening the prelude to modern apiculture in China. Embedded within the socio-historical evolution of modern China, this article explores the interplay between foreign bee species, scientific beekeeping techniques and indigenous beekeeping practices in China, as well as the changes in agricultural production systems. It discusses the roles played and obstacles faced by various agents, including beekeepers, social elites, beekeeping associations, local and central governments in the process of constructing and promoting a network of modern beekeeping knowledge. The localization of Western scientific beekeeping practice in China involves not only the transfer of knowledge and technology but also reflects an interface of interactions among humans, bees, and the environment. This article undertakes an ecological analysis of these dynamics. As Italian bees replace the indigenous Chinese bees (Apis cerana Fab.) as the dominant species in Chinese apiculture, they instigate a crisis in the survival of native bees through population hybridization, disease transmission and competition for nectar plants. Simultaneously, the scale-driven modern beekeeping practices engender a transformation in the intricate relationship between beekeepers and their colonies.

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Long abstract:

Peter Sloterdijk argues that the principle of design was implicated in 20th-century gas warfare. To him, the assault on the enemy’s environment, rather than the body, is a regional atmospheric design. The air purifier would be the perfect solution to the deadly toxic air. It offers a customized personal space for the user: through a simple on and off, one takes control of his or her environment.

In this essay, I engage with scholarship in media theory, the history of technology and design, and environmental humanities. I delve into two case studies of various scales of air purifiers: the Anti-Smog Tower in Xi’an, Shaanxi and the air-purifying system of the City of Jinchang, Gansu. I investigate the cultural and political tensions among the users, policymakers, operators, and designers of the air purifier. I argue that within a market economy, the principles of air purifier design ultimately lead to the commodification of air. The purification of air, guided by design principles such as “Design Thinking”, is the classification of air. The air purifier, in a capitalist world where profit is prioritized, is not a solution, but a charismatic design: it converts the problem of burning fossil fuels into the floating particles in the air. In other words, air purifiers treat the symptoms, not the disease. It converts the problem of air pollution into individual work

of operating air purifiers. Regrettably, this is the greatest trick of the global neoliberal economy.

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Long abstract:

Situated against the backdrop of Chinese technology innovation and higher education, this presentation uses STS as a methodological approach to investigate overlooked aspects of teacher expertise. Drawing in the social context of educational practices challenged established models of expertise, which mainly focus on individual knowledge, by incorporating interactions between teachers and students, nonhuman elements in their educational environments and institutional politics.

To explore teacher expertise, I conducted a three-month long ethnographic study as a teaching assistant within a Chinese university. Focusing on breakdowns as moments where conventional expectations are interrupted, my analysis generated insights into invisible aspects of the pedagogical practices and materials that shape teaching in Chinese higher education.

I focus on five breakdowns, including students’ disengagement, their rejection of conventional assessment, and teachers’ conflicts with their institution. Each breakdown was analysed using Ebeltoft and Beck’s framework (2023) of breakdown, remobilization (repair), and restabilisation. This showed that teacher expertise is adaptive, situated in the navigation of classroom environments, digital technologies, institutional policies, and the broader socio-political context of Chinese higher education.

This research contributes to STS by extending its application to the field of education and turning a lens on the “micro” day-to-day practices in unique Chinese university classrooms. This investigation not only enriches the STS literature but also has practical implications for educational policy and teacher professional development in China and beyond.

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Long abstract:

The concept of "Two Cultures" discussed by C.P. Snow reveals the potential divide between the sciences and humanities. And the segregated education system for science and humanity in China may further exacerbate this divide. Although interdisciplinary education has gained importance in recent years, clear strategies for cultivating cross-disciplinary talents are not yet established, and specific challenges and difficulties faced by interdisciplinary in a Chinese context are rarely researched. This study seeks to illuminate the distinctive milieu and challenges of interdisciplinary practice within the Chinese cultural context, thereby furnishing theoretical underpinnings for the development of interdisciplinary education. Adopting an autoethnographic approach, this research offers a unique introspective perspective on the interdisciplinary trajectory, drawing from the researcher's personal academic journey from philosophy to psychiatry. The research points out that the difference between humanity and science lies in the emphasis on collaboration versus individual research in education system, which affects students’paradigms and problem-solving strategies. The tacit knowledge also plays a key role in this process. Moreover, discipline-specific terminologies act both as barriers to inter-disciplinary communication and as bridges for cross-disciplinary thresholds. Consequently, interdisciplinary practitioners may face challenges both in knowledge and “culture”.

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Long abstract:

Shinjo Shinzo is a pioneer historian of science in Japan and he has influenced his successors as "Shinjo School" in Kyoto University through the 20th century. Previous study has revealed his essential efforts of setting up modern astronomy and inheriting traditional Chinese history of astronomy in Japan. Most of these scholars rely on Japanese materials but few of them notice Shinjo's transnational communications with Chinese scholars, which this study will attach importance to. In this study, the part of the background will give a brief introduction about the traditional studies of the Chinese and Japanese scientific community in the inter-war period. Then it will describe the history research contexts of Shinjo from 1910 to 1920s and focus on Wang Guo-wei's inspiration to Shinjo in 1926. Thirdly, it will show 3 Tsinghua scholars' reviews for Shinjo, who are Chen Yin-ke, Dai Jia-xiang and Wu Qi-chang, all of whom are influential historians in China. Finally the conclusion will analyze the cultural factors in these transnational communications. The most important factor is their common pursuit for seeking the local modernity by tracing back to East Asian tradition. Such a modernity includes both East Asian civilization and academic knowledge, by which they aims to have an equal status with the West. But in these conversations they still have potential divergence especially in national politics, which predicts the frailty of such a transnational "common ideal".

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Long abstract:

This paper argues that although the STS methodology was only formalized in modern times, some STS approach was found to be applied in China during the activities of Li Shanlan's translation of the Compendium of Astronomy. He made the foreign text conform to Chinese values according to the intention of traditional Chinese culture. Therefore, this paper explores the influence of three factors on Li Shanlan's translation activities.

Firstly, socio-economic conditions played a crucial role in Li Shanlan's decision to translate Outline of Astronomy. During the foreign affairs movement (Qing Dynasty), China faced an influx of scientific knowledge from the West, providing Li Shanlan with an opportunity to translate the work. Secondly, personal factors were also significant. As an individual with translation skills and an interest in science, Li Shanlan's personal inclinations, combined with the social background, propelled his translation activities. Lastly, social-historical conditions influenced Li Shanlan's translation activities. After the Opium Wars, some intellectuals Chinese began learning Western culture, leading individuals like Li Shanlan to adopt an objective attitude towards Western science knowledge.

Above all, these factors together shaped the background and impact of Li Shanlan's translation and research. Here, Li Shanlan's translation of Outline of Astronomy is not only a translation and research, but also an important milestone in the exchange and integration of Chinese and Western cultures, which lays a solid foundation for future scientific research and academic exchanges, and is an example of the process of applying and adapting STS in China.