ValueS: Science, Technology & Valuation Practices

ValueS is a new research program at Tema T. At the centre of the program is research on values and valuation practices as part of the development and diffusion of technology and scientific knowledge. This concerns not the least the roles that economic values and valuations have in such processes and how these, in turn, might be shaped in different technological and scientific settings. The program also directs its interest at how different valuation practices in different contexts of science and technology contributes to shape society.

The program is rooted in the interdisciplinary field of science and technology studies (STS), but does also relate to other approaches and disciplines such as economic sociology, political science, political economy and organisation studies. A recurrent theme is to avoid making a sharp distinction between the imperative of economic values and other forms of value such as justice, human dignity or eco friendliness. A related theme concerns the roles played by values and valuations in the many different epistemic cultures and organisational forms within which scientific and technological work may take place. The program aims to formulate contributions that develop theory as well as has societal relevance.