ABSTRACT
In analysing some of the philosophical obstacles to an economics of science presented by sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) (or first wave science and technology studies (STS)), we have already made important strides towards reconciling that insightful empirical tradition with such a research programme. However, SSK by no means exhausts the wide range of studies that now exist under the label of ‘science and technology studies’, and much of this work is already much closer to an economics of science than is SSK. Indeed, a ‘second wave’ of STS may be identified, from the 1980s onwards, with a shift in focus from the construction of scientific knowledge, studied as particular intellectual controversies, to broader concerns regarding science and social change more generally; hence leaving SSK as ‘a partial perspective on the project of understanding S&T, even if it is a crucial foundation’ (Sismondo 2004: 49). 1
