Science and technology in society

"This text challenges the widely held notion of science as somehow outside of society, and the idea that technology proceeds automatically down a singular and inevitable path. Through specific case studies involving contemporary debates, this book shows that science and technology are fundamentally part of society and are shaped by it." "Drawing on concepts from political sociology, organizational analysis, and contemporary social theory, this book is a first-rate study of technoscience that places power, stratification, and discourse at its center. The author shows how actors (typically social groups or organizations) in powerful positions shape developments in technoscience in significant ways, and how new developments affect people differently depending on class, race, gender, and geographical location."--Jacket.