SOCb2503 Social Responsibility: business, research and innovation

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2023
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. Róbert Braun (lecturer)
doc. PhDr. Csaba Szaló, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Csaba Szaló, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Soňa Enenkelová
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Fri 20. 10. 10:00–17:40 U34, Fri 3. 11. 10:00–17:40 U34, Fri 8. 12. 10:00–17:40 U34
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 5/25, only registered: 0/25, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/25
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 8 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
This course will focus on what technology means in our current society from a social construc$vist perspective. Its main focus is on the socio-poli$cal nature of technology. It will take as its starting point Mar$n Heidegger’s famous text on ‘The ques$on concerning technology’ and show how a new understanding of technology and its embeddedness in social affairs in the second half of the 20th century emerged. The course will offer an introduction to by now classic texts and authors of STS, including Winner, Bijker, Latour and Jasanoff. From this theore$cal grounding, the course will look at ‘automobility’ as a specific sociotechnical setup and present how this sociotechnical frame is understood by a variety of scholars – as ‘system’, ‘regime’, ‘disposi$f’ or ‘imaginary’. This will lead us to the introduction of yet another concept – the ‘nomos of automobility’, which offers a different explanatory tool to understand automobility and sociotechnical setups in general. The course will conclude with an analysis and discussion of what this means for the current $me of technology transi$ons, including autonomous mobility, ar$ficial intelligence and biotechnology.
Learning outcomes
Students a?er comple@ng this course will: - Have a general awareness of what the rela@onship of technology and society is - Understand the concept of o STS (Science and Technology studies) o SCOT (The social construc@on of technology) o Sociotechnical imaginaries o RRI (Responsible Research and Innova@on) - The rela@onship of these concepts to the philosophy of science and sociology - Understand the concept and methodology of social phenomenology - Have sufficient knowledge of different conceptualiza@ons of technology, of automobility, of research and innova@on - Have prac@ce in theore@cal argumenta@on, understanding complex sociotechnical problems and conceptualiza@ons.
Syllabus
  • The course will be presented in 3 blocks, each with four (4) 90 minutes sessions. Each day will start at 10:00 am and finish at 17:30. The dates of the classes are: - 21 October, 2022 (10:00-17:30) - 11 November, 2022 (10:00-17:30) - 25 November, 2022 (10:00-17:30) Session 1: Society, responsibility & technology 10:00-11:30 Introduc$on, general concept, theme, administra$ve issues 11:45:13:15 Business, Responsibility & Innova$on Reading: 13:45-15:15 What is CSR/pCSR? Reading: Braun R.: Corporate Stakeholder Democracy (Introduc$on) 15:15:17:00 What is STS (Society and Technology Studies)? Reading: Latour, B.: Technology is society made durable 17:00-17:30 Q&A ************************************ Jarmai K. et al (2020) Responsible Innovation in Business. In: Jarmai K. (eds) Responsible Innovation. Springer, Dordrecht. Session 2: The concept of automobility 10:00-11:30 What are sociotechnical systems? Reading: Bijker: Of bycicles, bakelites and bulbs (an introduc$on) 11:45:13:15 What is the concept of the car? Reading: Sheller: The city and the car 13:45-15:15 Automobility as ‘system’ & ‘regime’ and its social consequences Reading: Urry: The system of automobility 15:15:17:00 Automobility as ‘nomos’ Reading: Braun-Randell: The nomos of automobility 17:00-17:30 Q&A ******************************** Session 3: The future of technology and society 10:00-11:30 What is responsible research and innova$on? Reading: Owen et al: responsible research and innova$on 11:45:13:15 What would a post-car world look like? Reading: Braun: The future of road transport (democracy, privacy and social inclusion) 13:45-15:15 The trouble of ar$ficial intelligence Reading: Deleuze, G.: Postscript on the Socie$es of Control 15:15:17:00 Biotech and biopoli$cs Reading: Agamben: Homo Sacer (What is a camp?) 17:00-17:30 Closing & summary
Literature
    required literature
  • Bijker, Wiebe E. Of bicycles, bakelites, and bulbs: Toward a theory of sociotechnical change. MIT press, 1997.
  • Urry, John. "The ‘system’of automobility." Theory, culture & society 21.4-5 (2004): 25-39.
  • Heidegger, Martin. "The question concerning technology." Technology and values: Essential readings 99 (1954): 113. APA
  • Latour, Bruno. "Technology is society made durable." The Sociological Review 38.1_suppl (1990): 103-131.
  • Sheller, Mimi, and John Urry. "The city and the car." International journal of urban and regional research 24.4 (2000): 737-757.
  • Jasanoff, Sheila, and Sang-Hyun Kim, eds. Dreamscapes of modernity: Sociotechnical imaginaries and the fabrication of power. University of Chicago Press, 2015.
  • Owen, Richard, and Mario Pansera. "Responsible innovation and responsible research and innovation." Handbook on Science and Public Policy. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019.
Teaching methods
intensive whole day seminar format
Assessment methods
Mode of instruc@on will be: online seminar format. Students will have to write one academic blog post and a final course paper. The academic blog should reflect some current sociotechnical challenge, addressed via learnings acquired in the course (250-500 words); the final paper will address a specific ques@on within the realm of STS and analyze it according to general academic prac@ce, based on literature review and secondary research (but not independent primary research) (2500-3000 words).
Language of instruction
English
Teacher's information
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89753590042?pwd=cndDamoyenVpVDFVeEdMaFppMXpZUT09
Evaluation transformed from IHS to MU scale: A+: Excellent -> A A: Very good - > A A-: Good -> B B+: OK -> C B-: Satisfactory -> D C: Acceptable –> E F: Unacceptable/Fail -> F
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2019, Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2023, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/autumn2023/SOCb2503