ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

A wave into the field: questioning science from within as women in the 1960s and 1970s

• In Event: Contested Science (and Technology Studies): Histories of STS and Its Forerunners, Interlocutors, Competitors, Targets, and Patrons

English Abstract

When an unprecedented number of women entered the natural sciences during the 1960s and 1970s, they did so at a time of profound social and political turbulence. The emergence of many interconnected activist movements made the second half of the 20th century a fervent and multifaceted period, with dynamics whose legacies remain central to current discussions on the role of science in society. Among other societal partners, some scientists began to question the alliance between science and sociocultural structures. In particular, while second-wave feminists were taking over the streets, some scientists started questioning the influence of patriarchal structures both in the content and in the practice of biology. In this paper, I will analyse this debate through the contributions of two scientists who played an important part in this process. Through the narration of Ruth Hubbard’s case, I will present a story from “the inside”, emphasising the challenges and negotiations required to express her political agenda while part of institutionalised science at Harvard University. By presenting the case of the Canadian biologist Anne Innis Dagg, I will talk about the contestation of science from “the outside”, talking about the challenges and advantages of contesting science after having fallen out of grace with its institutions. The stories of these pioneers of STS provide a good example not only of the transactions that were required for the institutionalisation of critical debates surrounding the relationship between science and society, but they also serve as a reminder of the strong relationship the field has with activist movements that demand science be held accountable from a societal perspective and to hold on to the responsibilities of being citizen scientists in the original sense of the term, as practitioners who see their professional role as being directed by their concerns as citizens.

Author

• Paola Altomonte, Maastricht University