THE WARP AND WOOF OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY STUDIES IN THE UNITED-STATES

The interdisciplinary field of Science, Technology, and Society (STS) Studies-also sometimes called Science and Technology Studies-is genera lly acknowledged to be approximately two decades old. As the field has evolved, its central focus has come to be the analysis and explicatio n of science and technology as complex ''social constructs'' entailing a host of political, ethical, and general theoretical questions. In t his view we have come to recognize science and technology as neither a utonomous juggernauts nor simply as neutral tools ready for just any u tilization. Rather science and technology are perceived as value-laden social processes that take place in specific contexts shaped by, and in turn shaping, human values as reflected in cultural, political, and economic institutions. As such, their understanding requires an inter disciplinary and holistic conceptualization of the attendant complex i nterrelations (Cutcliffe 1989a, 1989b, 1990).