Science, Technology and Culture

The Science, Technology and Culture research theme is engaged in a diverse range of research spanning digital technologies, biomedical technologies, and engineering technologies, as well as how knowledge and metrics are used in social policy and other settings.

We work closely with Birmingham’s ISTEMMICS centre and are interdisciplinary in our approach. Collectively, we are interested in how technologies, knowledge, and social practices shape and inform each other, and the broader politics of these relations.

Theme lead: Justyna Bandola-Gill

Research centre and research projects

Institute for STEMM in Culture and Society

New media technologies and gendered identities

Cellular Agriculture and Society

Research governance and evaluation

Selected publications

Rogan, F. (2023) Digital Femininities: The Gendered Construction of Cultural and Political Identities Online, Routledge.

Bandola-Gill, J., Tichenor, M., Grek, S. (2022) Governing the Sustainable Development Goals: Quantification in Global Public Policy. Palgrave MacMillan.

Stephens, N. (2022) 'Join our team, change the world: edibility, producibility and food futures in cultured meat company recruitment videos', Food, Culture and Society, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 32-48.

Abbinnett, R. (2017) The thought of Bernard Stiegler: Capitalism, technology and the politics of spirit. Routledge.

Elsdon-Baker, F. & Lightman, B. (2020) Identity in a Secular Age: Science, Religion, and public Perceptions University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.

Members

Dr Ross Abbinnett

Senior Lecturer in Sociology

Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology

His work lies on the intersection of three intellectual traditions: recent continental philosophy (particularly Levinas, Derrida, Baudrillard and Stiegler), German Idealism (especially Kant and Hegel), and the Frankfurt School critique of culture, technology and capitalization.

His work is located in the critical tradition of social theory that began with the Frankfurt School. This tradition is ...

Telephone: +44 (0)121 414 7707
Email: r.abbinnett@bham.ac.uk

Dr Justyna Bandola-Gill

Assistant Professor in Sociology and Social Policy

Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology

Dr Justyna Bandola-Gill is an interdisciplinary scholar working at the intersection of (Global) Public Policy and Science and Technology Studies. In her research, she explores interactions between science and policy, in particular ways in which knowledge is organised, governed and mobilised across different settings in order to achieve political goals. Her research explores different ...

Email: j.e.bandola-gill@bham.ac.uk

Professor Fern Elsdon-Baker

Professor of Science, Knowledge and Belief in Society
Director Research Institute for STEMM in Culture and Society (ISTEMMiCS)

Engineering and Physical Sciences

Professor Elsdon-Baker is a transdisciplinary researcher whose work is predominantly sociological, historical, philosophical and psychological in approach. Her research interests are:

The perception of, and trust in, Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) in diverse societies and across cultures
Public space and cultural narratives surrounding STEMM
Nati ...

Email: f.m.elsdon-baker@bham.ac.uk

Dr Paul David Luke

Teaching Associate

Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology

Dr Paul Luke is a Teaching Associate at the University of Birmingham where he teaches on Social Policy and Sociology. His research focuses on contemporary debates in the UK welfare state, on (Universal) Basic Income as a policy debate, and on utopia as a methodological tool of sociology.

Email: p.luke@bham.ac.uk

Dr Özlem Ögtem-Young

Research Fellow
Research Lead (Poverty, Precarity, Saving and Debt)

Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology

Özlem Ögtem-Young is a Research Fellow and Research Theme Lead (Poverty, Precarity, Savings and Debt) for the Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management (CHASM) within the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology, developing and undertaking research into issues of poverty, precarity and financial insecurity amongst socially and economically ...

Email: o.young@bham.ac.uk

Dr Neil Stephens

Associate Professor in Technology and Society

Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology

Neil (he/him) is a sociologist and Science and Technology Studies scholar. A key focus has been innovation in biotechnology, and he has conducted research about the politics of stem cell science, mitochondrial donation, and cultured meat, among others.

Neil has conducted a diversity of public and policy engagement activities. This includes multiple appearances in newspapers and broadcasts across ...

Email: n.stephens@bham.ac.uk