Paper short abstract:

4S is undergoing increasing internationalization, in its governance structure and the Annual Conference attendance. This communication examines this transnationalization process and its potential and challenges for the integration of diverse global STS strands.

Paper long abstract:

The Society for Social Studies of Science is about to complete half a century, with 49 conferences organized, counting the current one. Starting as a small and mostly North American meeting, the event has grown in attendance and geographical diversity. The site of the conference moved first to Europe (every four years since 1984) and later Tokio (2010), Buenos Aires (2014), Sydney (2018), and Cholula (2022). The Governance of the Society also became more international, with Council members coming from diverse regions and the first non-Euro-American president appointed in 2022. This process evidences the vitality of the STS field and organizations around the world and, also, a policy for transnationalization promoted by the Society. In previous work (Invernizzi et al., 2022) we have demonstrated that peripheral STS has a low visibility in core STS journals. Are conferences and scientific societies a first step or a more open space to promote the acknowledgment and dialogue between the diverse, worldwide STS strands? How far has 4S transnationalization has gone? This communication is an unpretentious account of 4S’ transnationalization process view from a series of indicators regarding the Society governance (Past Presidents’ country of affiliation; Council members’ country of affiliation) and its conferences (conference venues, themes, chairs, plenary speakers, and (from a sample of conferences) the country affiliation of the participants). Although the data shows a relevant trend towards transnationalization and STS diversity, at the same time makes evident certain barriers to a more significant integration of STS scholars outside canonical STS centers.