Search

Discusses issues pertaining to professionalism in science brought about by China's strategy of development. Robert Merton's four sociological principles to govern science; Pre-communist normative structure; Chinese scientific community's definition of the norms of science.

The article reports on the misconceptions about mass science in China. It presents a precise definition of mass science attempting to clarify the confusion about the term as western scientists and scholars have seldom understood its meanings, implications and limitations in the Chinese context. It presents a balanced assessment of the uses and abuses of mass science in China in the Cultural Revolution decade during which it played an important role in China's science policy and development strategy. It also presents an analysis on the future of mass science in China.

The article focuses on the importance of science and education in developing a new type of society in China. It enumerates the official objectives or policy goals that has been considered by educational institutions in the country. It also discusses the ways and means of implementing the policies related to science and education and has mentioned on the three distinct types of education that affects the educational objectives. Furthermore, it explores the organization and the development of science and technology which have changed the Chinese society.

This article examines the historical development of the study of science, technology, and society (STS) in China in relation to the features of contemporary Chinese society and the influence of Marxism tradition, the opening up of China, the system reform, and the evolving state of science and technology (S&T) and its history and cultural tradition. Marxism, especially natural dialectics, had a profound impact on China's STS knowledge system, research team, and disciplinary building. Since 1978, with the opening up of China, Western theories about the sociology of science have been introduced into China and have formed an ever-changing relationship with Marxism (natural dialectics). The system reform in China not only raised questions for STS scholars but also provided an opportunity to rethink relevant STS issues and possibilities for participatory research. At the same time, the conditions of China as an evolving state in S&T--along with its history, cultural traditions, and the particularity of Chinese society--have raised additional intriguing questions for STS research. This article considers the relationship and the paradox between Marxism andWestern academic tradition, the object and nature of STS study, as well as the significance of STS research in East Asia and China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science has been institutionalized as a legitimate basis for decision-making at the World Trade Organization (WTO). This raises a critical question: how does the scientization of decision-making shape the construction of new governance arrangements? Using the case of negotiations between the Chinese state and the US state over the harmonization of cotton quality classification, I consider three approaches to scientization in world politics: the world polity approach, the world-systems approach and the political sociology of science. Evidence from the case demonstrates the need to largely reject the world polity approach while integrating the world-systems approach with the finer-grained analyses of the political sociology of science. This analysis yields two key arguments regarding the implications of science-based decision-making as an institutionalized global norm. First, scientization can formalize existing power inequalities given the uneven historical terrain of research legacies. Second, as scientization channels politics through science, powerful actors are better situated to legitimate their own interests in scientific terms and to define what makes science legitimate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article describes the influence of historian and scientist Thomas S. Kuhn's book "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" on science, technology and society (STS) studies in mainland China. A symposium on his philosophy of science was organized by scholars from several fields in 1981, where his concepts of "paradigm," "scientific community" and "mode of scientific change," as well as his scientific epistemology and methodology, were discussed. Criticisms against his ideas are also cited.

I explore the question of whether scientific changes can induce mutations in our ordinary notion of existence. I conclude that they can't, partially on the grounds that some of the proposed alternative-notions of existence are only terminologically-distinct from our ordinary notion, and so don't provide genuine metaphysical alternatives, and partially on the grounds that the ordinary notion of existence is criterion-transcendent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific contact lies at the heart of research and that between China and the U.K. is an important example of how it can come about. In 1911, when the Biochemical Society began, U.K. science was developing fast with profound discoveries in physics (the Rutherford atomic model) and biochemistry (the discovery of vitamins). In China, however, there was great social and political instability and a revolution. Since then, the turbulence of two world wars and a variety of deep global political tensions meant that the contacts between China and U.K. did not reflect the prodigious growth of biochemistry. There was, however, one particular and remarkable contact, that made by Joseph Needham, an outstanding biochemist. He visited China between 1943 and 1946, contacting many Chinese universities that were severely dislocated by war. Showing remarkable diplomatic abilities, Needham managed to arrange delivery of research and teaching equipment. His activities helped the universities to carry out their functions under near-impossible conditions and reminded them that they had friends abroad. Most remarkably, Joseph Needham developed an extraordinary grasp of Chinese culture, science and history and he opened the West to the extent and importance of Chinese science. Formal scientific and intellectual contacts between the scientific academic bodies in China and U.K., notably the Chinese Academy of Science and the Royal Society, resumed after British recognition of the Chinese Communist government in 1950. The delegations included outstanding scientists in biochemistry and related disciplines. Research activities, such as that concerning influenza, were soon established, whereas institutions, such as the Royal Society and the Wellcome Trust, acted a little later to support research. The outcomes have been long-term collaborations in such areas as insulin structure and function. There are now numerous joint activities in biochemistry and biomedicine supported by the MRC (Medical Research Council), BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council), NERC (Natural Environment Research Council), EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) and UKRC (UK Research Councils). The present contacts and the associated research are very considerable and growing. It is clear that biochemistry in both countries has much to offer each other, and there is every reason to believe that these contacts will continue to expand in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current approaches to science-technology-society (STS) education focus primarily on the controversial socio-scientific issues that arise from the application of science in modern technology. This paper argues for an interdisciplinary approach to STS education that embraces science, technology, history, and social and cultural studies. By employing a case study of traditional papermaking technology, it investigates how the interactions between technology and science can be explored in an authentic societal and cultural context across a historical time span. The term technology-society-science (TSS) is used to represent an alternative approach to linking technology, society, and science that aims to redress the imbalance between science and technology, and to resolve the tension between two diverging goals of STS education. The educational implications of this alternative approach to STS education are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is commonly perceived that the 'globalization of science' may result in a 'Westernization of science'. In this paper, however, I use the case of stem cell science in China to demonstrate that developing countries are sometimes able to effectively shape the norms of global / local scientific exchange. Based on interviews with 38 stem cell scientists in six Chinese cities in early 2008, this paper elucidates Chinese scientists' outlook towards cross-border collaborations and the effects that the internationalization of science has had on everyday laboratory operations. Findings suggest that although there still exists an asymmetry of scientific influence, and in many aspects China is still 'catching-up' to the West, there is also a changing nature of communication beyond borders. One key aspect of recent international scientific development is the growing necessity for local stakeholders to acquire a global mindset and to compare, reflect and accommodate diverse interests. This is what I define as the 'cosmopolitization of science'. The study empirically examines the sociological and methodological implications of the cosmopolitization process and further develops Ulrich Beck's cosmopolitan theory by delineating four main features of the 'cosmopolitization of science': shared future benefits, passive ethicization, reflexive negotiation, and continuous performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Estudios de Asia y África is the property of El Colegio de Mexico AC and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

After three decades of reform, the reform of our nation is facing a new complicated situation and severe challenges. To deepen the reform must follow the guidance of the Scientific Outlook on Development and should be adjusted overall. In terms of the purpose of reform, we have to change from the "three favorables" to a people-oriented reform; in terms of the contents of reform, while continuing to reform economically and politically, we have to accelerate the social reform with the focus on improving people's livelihood; in terms of the mode of reform, we have to shift from the construction of an advanced institutional system to fostering a new type of culture; in terms of the strategy for the reform, we have to pursue a comprehensive, balanced and sustainable development instead of a gradual one. Only under the guidance of the Scientific Outlook on Development can the deepening of reform achieve the great goal of comprehensively constructing a moderately prosperous society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study contrasts public views of the value of biotechnology applications in China and Europe. The most striking result is that biotechnology applications get more consistent acceptance and support in China than in Europe. The Chinese people are extremely positive in their evaluation of the usefulness and moral acceptability of various applications of biotechnology, whereas the European public has broader and firmer understanding of the risks involved. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the public's perception of benefit might be a prerequisite to supporting the development of biotechnology; nevertheless, moral acceptance is the key to gaining public support. Conversely, public perceptions of high risk may not necessarily reduce the level of support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examines the practice of empirical psychology in China during the Republican period using a content analysis of its journals. By seeking answers to questions of what kinds of psychology from the West first attracted the Chinese; whether they found a way of developing a psychology more in tune to their own cultural assumptions of selfhood; and to what uses they felt the new discipline could be put, it shows the extent to which its journal content adopted a Western or an indigenous orientation. It thus contributes to the recent debate about indigenization of psychology globally and situates the origins of these issues in China much earlier than has been envisaged by contemporary Chinese indigenous psychologists. Throughout this period, indigenous concerns informed the research agenda, the dominant practice being psychometrics. But because of a lack of social support, they remained largely confined to the pages of psychology journals. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: It was not until the latter part of the 19th century that the people of China acknowledged the importance of science and technology. The revolution in 1911, ensuing civil wars, and the war against the Japanese invasion took up another half century. Thus, a serious move to develop science and technological enterprises did not start until the founding of the People''s Republic of China—200 years later than Europe and North America. The author argues that, although there has been notable progress during the past 30 years, it will take another 50 years to forge a prosperous society that enjoys the benefits of science and technology. As part of its efforts to develop its innovation capabilities, China today spares no effort to develop a science educational system that will ensure that future generations can make useful contributions to the world''s science and technology resources. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Management is a science imbued with practicality. Chinese society is striving to maintain harmony while undergoing construction. This unprecedented venture has enormous implications for management in the broadest sense. Chinese-style management in the twenty-first century is based on 5,000 years of history and culture in China. The He-he philosophy is a basic guiding principle and an important historical model. He-he management works on the principle of making the past serve the present, and making foreign things serve China. It is a managerial science that brings together the reality of China's reforms and opening-up to a market economy, useful aspects of foreign managerial thought and practice, and the enduring characteristics of China's ancient cultural heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents several references contributed by Marxists and non-Marxists in the International Congress of History of Science (ICHS) symposium titled as "Politically Engaged Scientists, 1920,1950: Science,Politics, Philosophy, History" in Beijing, on July 2005. The objective of the symposium is cited to draw discussions about the scientists who conferred to the construction of scientific and ideological networks related to politically activist approaches. The contributions include the introduction of Matt Stanley of the case of A. S. Eddington, the British astronomer and his known popularization of science in the 1920s. It also mentions the paper of Christian Fostner about David Bohm and his lack of political commitment in the public field.

This comparative and historical examination of the ethos of science finds significant examples of the Mertoian ethos in university discussions from the 12th through the 14th century. The institutionalization of naturalistic inquiry based on Aristotelian modes of argument and demonstration was unique to western Europe and did not occur in China or the Islamic Middle East. Nevertheless, Merton's writings on the ethos show no indication of his relying upon the rich historical evidence of Europe when formulating his famous conception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the process by which China is becoming an academic record society. Process as an outcome of development; Effects of the advances in science and technology as well as in the social system.

The article presents a discussion on the meaning of life by Chinese scholars. It informs that a great discussion of the meaning of life has occurred on the eve of almost every important social advance in history. The discussions during the European Renaissance of human nature and humanism, the discussions of humanism and new life on the eve of the Russian Revolution, the discussion of the relationship between science and philosophy during the May Fourth Movement all contributed to the progress of society. The author opines that one should note that uncertainty and frustration represent a historical advance over numbness and ossification. There is no point in concealing that society has shortcomings. But Chinese society will not, because of the taboos of certain people, or the cynicism of certain others, move toward destruction. And the young generation of republic, after undergoing the ten-year catastrophe's baptism of blood and fire, after the training received through many agonies and difficulties, has not turned its back on the responsibilities of the era instead the strongest of Chinese youth are more resolute than ever.

The article presents the author's views on the status of science in China and India. The author reflects on his visit to An Yang, China, which is the old capital of the Shang Dynasty. Information on the economic conditions in the countries are presented. The link among science, technology and society is explained.

Since the "May Fourth Movement", the view on modern science evolved and underwent several major changes and, as the result of the historic argument of science against metaphysics, science prevailed. However, the "Pragmatic Approach First" view on science restricted the relatively independent development of the pure theoretical research. The criticism to "pseudo-science" highlighted the core values of scientific spirit, while the comparative study on science and culture opened the diverse understanding of science. So, the evolution of the view on modern science in China went forward in such a social environment that the Chinese and West cultures were mingled with each other and, meanwhile, they were in conflict. In such a historic background, the misunderstanding and misuse of science were inevitable to a certain extent in a certain period. To eliminate uninterruptedly the misunderstanding and misuse of science is necessary to guarantee the successful development of science in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]