Transfer or translation? The actor-network theory approach to the social impact of science

Abstract

The question of the social impact of science has become a crucial issue in the current debates on the role of science in society and, importantly, one of the criteria upon which academic institutions and scholars are assessed. However, in both the public debate and evaluation procedures there is a limited understanding of the nature of the social impact of science. The aim of this paper it to deconstruct the predominant views as based upon the simplistic model of knowledge transfer, show its theoretical shortcomings, and contrast it with the proposed model of translation, derived from actor-network theory.