The Need for Public Intellectuals: A Space for STS

Abstract

In this address to the president's plenary at the 2001 annual meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the author reflected on then recent international events and their possible implications for the research and teaching agendas of the social studies of science, technology, and medicine. He proposed the political engagement of science, technology, and society (STS) institutions and individual STS researchers while maintaining a strong commitment to the scholarly studies of science and technology. Drawing on the work of René Gabriëls, the author elaborated a role for STS scholars as the new generation of “public intellectuals.”