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Conference

Science as an agent of change: finalization and experimental implementation

Wolfgang Krohn

Wolfgang van den Daele

This article proposes that goal-oriented sciences contribute not only theory-based knowledge but also strategies of research to processes of social and technological innovation. The finalization model focused on disciplinary programmes, we focus on networks of innovation in which scientists become agents of change. Their role implies taking a variety of political, economic, legal and moral considerations into account, and their activities not only are addressed to problem solution but also generate new risks and public concerns. Still, science does not merge with political choice, economic interest or moral values in a seamless web. The article presents a systems theoretical restitution of the "internal-external" distinction in sociological terms. On this conceptual basis two case studies are presented - the development of waste management technologies and the introduction of genetically modified plants in agriculture - which illustrate both the diversity and the specificity of the functions of science as an agent of change.

Key Words: Experimentation • Externalism/internalism • Finalization • Innovation • Systems theory

Social Science Information, Vol. 37, No. 1, 191-222 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/053901898037001009
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