Jameson Wetmore
Assistant Professor
Ph.D., Science & Technology Studies, Cornell University
SHESC Themes: Global Dynamics and Regional Interactions, Urban Societies
Field Specializations: Ethics & Technology, History & Sociology of Technology, Science & Technology Studies
Regional Focus: International
Contact: Jameson Wetmore, INTDSB 350A
Research:
Jameson Wetmore's work combines the fields of science and technology studies, ethics and public policy in order to better understand both the interconnected relationships between technology and society and the forces that change those relationships over time. His research spans a broad array of topics and time periods, but most of it comes back to a recurring question: How do people design and create technological systems, and, in turn, how do these technological systems help to define, reinforce and propagate specific values? For instance, Wetmore has studied how the Old Order Amish regulate the technologies they use in order to strengthen their communities. He has examined the complex systems in place in New Orleans to prevent disasters like Katrina, and he has explored how religious thinkers seek to influence the future of nanoscale research and policy.
Wetmore is currently finishing a book manuscript—tentatively titled "Systems of Restraint: Redistributing Responsibilities for Automobile Safety in the United States since the 1960s"—that explores the history of automobile safety using the tools of sociology, public policy and ethics. The book examines how social and political forces have shaped artifacts (like air bags and seat belts), redesigned the systems that built and maintained these artifacts and re-conceptualized the very definition of automobile safety. In particular, he traces how ideas of responsibility are formulated and contested by corporations, government agencies, engineers, the media, physicians, consumer advocates, insurance companies and public health officials and how differing notions of responsibility are used to advocate very different systems for furthering automobile safety. The book demonstrates how political negotiations over the allocation of responsibilities directly impact the technologies that are produced and the ways in which they are integrated into society and can be used to better understand how emerging technologies are most likely to be integrated into society.
To further explore how questions of responsibility can be illuminated through the social studies of science and technology, Wetmore has been working with Deborah Johnson, a moral philosopher and chair of the STS department at the University of Virginia. In their work they demonstrate how societies and technologies are interwoven and how this relationship impacts politics, values and ethics. They have developed two books. The first—Technology & Society: Building our Sociotechnical Future—is an introduction to technology studies and serves as a primer for those who make decisions in our complex technological world. The second book—Engineering Ethics & Social Values—is directed specifically at engineers to help them better understand their responsibilities and introduce them to methods for resolving dilemmas.
Wetmore also works closely with the Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes [http://cspo.org/] and the Center for Nanotechnology in Society to develop ways for scientists, policymakers and others to think about the future relationships among science, technology and societies. In an effort to create more equitable systems, much of his work thus far has been focused on the ways in which technologies contribute to inequities between people, institutions and countries.
Select Publications:
Fisher, E., Selin, C. & Wetmore, J. M. (eds.) (2008). Presenting futures: Yearbook of nanotechnology in society, volume 1.
Wetmore, J. M. & Johnson, D. (2008). Technology & society: Building our sociotechnical future. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
Wetmore, J. M. (2007). Distributing risks and responsibilities: Flood hazard mitigation in New Orleans. Social Studies of Science, 37(1) 119-126.
Wetmore, J. M. (2007). Building Amish community with technology: Regulating machines and techniques to forward social goals. IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, 26(2), 10-21.
Wetmore, J. M. (2004). Redefining risks and redistributing responsibilities: Building networks to increase automobile safety. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 29(3), 277-405.
Wetmore, J. M. (2003). Driving the dream: The history and motivations behind sixty years of automated highway systems in America. Automotive History Review.
