Does STS Mean Business?

In recent years Science and Technology Studies (STS) has been subject to various uses and transformations, especially as STS has been appropriated within new contexts, including management studies and business schools.1 This paper examines the nature and consequences of these moves whereby STS comes into contact with Organization and Management Studies (OMS)2 and of the shifts of STS into business schools and into business and management environments. Thus stated, our task appears relatively straightforward. We need to describe how, where and when has STS moved, in what ways has it had an infl uence, and with what effect? The fi rst part of this paper attempts just such a description. We call this our smooth narrative. It depicts STS as a largely homogenous entity and raises questions about the different contexts in which it fi nds itself, about the effects of its movement and appropriation upon its purportedly ‘radical’ pretensions, and the mode and manner of its engagement with others. However, it turns out that this task, while (perhaps) relatively uncomplicated in relation to many other areas of social science, throws up a whole series of interesting issues and challenges when asked of the movement and fate of STS. In brief, these issues and challenges arise because STS itself has much to say about the contingent character of academic practice