Science and Technology in the Transformation of the World (UNU, 1982, 496 p.): General report on the seminar

Science and Technology in the Transformation of the World (UNU, 1982, 496 p.)

(introduction...)

Foreword

Opening addresses

Zivorad Kovacevic

Pavle Savic

Miroslav Pecujlic

Kinhide Mushakoji

The gear-box of priorities

Anouar Abdel-Malek

Le nécessaire et le possible dans la formation du mondial (Keynote Address)

Henri Lefebvre

(introduction...)

Première Partie: Le Mondial, Esquisse d'une Analyse

Deuxième Partie: L'Informationnel et sa Problématique a l'Echelle Mondiale

Conclusion

Session I: Science and technology as formative factors of contemporary civilization - from domination to liberation

(introduction...)

Introduction

Report on session I

Technology and society

Ralko Tomovic

Conclusion

Paradigmes scientifiques et auto-détermination humaine

Yves Barel

Science and the making of contemporary civilization

J. Leite Lopes

Introduction

I. The physical image of the world

II. Science and underdevelopment in Latin America

III. Science and dependent development

IV. Endogenization of science in which society?

V. The aims of science

VI. Science for liberation

Notes

Session II: Technology generation and transfer - Transformation alternatives

(introduction...)

Introduction

Report on session II

The collective self-reliance of developing countries in the fields of science and technology

Slobodan Ristic

I. General considerations

II. Co-operation among developing countries in developing national potentials

Ill. The strengthening of the negotiating position of developing countries in science and technology

IV. Instead of a conclusion

Notes

Science and technology in Japanese history: university and society

Konji Kawano

(introduction...)

I. Japan before the second world war

II. The change after the second world war

III. The significance of ''the age of local communities''

Legal aspects of the transfer of technology in modern society

Vestry Besarovic

Introduction

The relevance of the legal order to the transfer of technological knowledge

Some proposed measures on the national and international levels

Philosophy (concepts) of scientific and technological development

Vladimir Slambuk

Introduction

I. Development and underdevelopment

II. Definition of some basic terms

III. Existing philosophies of scientific-technological development

IV. Self-reliance

Bibliography

Session III: Biology, medicine, and the future of mankind

(introduction...)

Introduction

Report on session III

La maîtrise de la vie: Pour quoi faire?

Bruno Ribes

Introduction

I. Necessite et enjeux

II. La 'logique' du vivant

III. Quoi faire?

Restructuring a framework for assessment of science and technology as a driving power for social development: a biosociological approach

Yuji Mori

I. Introduction - The darwinian and ned-darwinian systems

II. Sociobiology or biosociology? how to view humans and their society

III. Three levels of production and consumption

IV. Needs

V. Science and technology as cultural phenomena

VI. The turning point of social development: space and time

Notes

Human aspects of medical sciences: Medical technology and the responsibility of the physician

Ljubisa Rakic

Session IV: The control of space and power

(introduction...)

Introduction

Report on session IV

Toward a clearer definition of the role of science and technology in transformation

Osama A. El-Kholy

Introduction

I. A view of the problem from within

II. The view from without

III. Toward a clearer definition of the role of science and technology in transformation

Appendix I.

Appendix II.

Appendix III.

Notes

Science, technology, and politics in a changing world

José A. Silva Michelena

I. What kind of transformation?

II. The nature of the crisis

III. World political trends

IV. The role of science and technology

V. A proposition

Notes

The technology of repression and repressive technology: The social bearers and cultural consequences

Zoran Vidakovic

Introduction

I. The vicious circle of repressive technology

II. The main social figures of repressive technology

III. Militarization of the economy and science: the birthplace of the metropolitan technocracy

IV. The genesis of the ''technocratic elite'' in dependent societies

Nuclear energy in Latin America: The Brazilian case

Luiz Pinguelli Rosa

I. The Brazilian nuclear programme and the treaty with the federal Republic of Germany

II. Perspectives on nuclear energy in Brazil

III. Nuclear energy and the prestige of national power

IV. The possibility of latin american nuclear co-operation

V. The position of brazil regarding nuclear proliferation

Appendices

References

Session V: From intellectual dependence to creativity

(introduction...)

Introduction

Report on session V

(introduction...)

Discussion

Summary

La apropiación y la recuperación de las ciencias sociales en el contexto de los proyectos culturales endógenos

Guillermo Bonfil Batalla

Introducción

I. El problema de la creatividad endógena en ciencias sociales.

Untitled

III. La formación de una intelectualidad India contemporánea.

IV. Notas para un proyecto de desarrollo endógeno de las ciencias sociales.

Notas

On the edge of a razor blade: the new historical blocs and socio-cultural alternatives in Europe

Miroslav Pecuilic and Zoran Vidakovic

Introduction

I. The new janus - Two faces of science and technology

II. The pathology of power and science

III. The new protagonist - social movements and organic intelligentsia

IV. Dramatic birth of alternatives

V. Self-reliance and solidarity (autonomy and new universality)

Notes

Science and technology in the history of modern Japan: imitation or endogenous creativity?

Tetsuro Nakaoka

(introduction...)

Notes

Science and technology as an organic part of contemporary culture

Zvonimir Damjanovic

Joseph Needham's contribution to the history of science and technology in China

Gregory Blue

(introduction...)

Notes

References

General report on the seminar

Appendix: Position papers

Participants

From the charter of the United Nations University

General report on the seminar

Kazuko Tsurumi, Rajko Tomovic, and A.N. Pandeya
General Rapporteurs

1. The first international seminar, dedicated to the investigation of one of the crucial items on the agenda of our age - the role of science and technology in the transformation of the world - met. in a context of expectations, clearly articulated by the Project Co-ordinator, Dr. Anouar Abdel-Malek, and the Conference Chairman, Dr. Miroslav Pecujlic, Rector of the University of Belgrade, in the capital city of the Federal Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia, which vigorously proceeds along the paths of constructive mediation between the different spheres in the world of power and culture at work in our times. The central character of our times, of the real world in our times, is implicit in the transformation of all the dimensions of the life of human societies - a transformation which is neither unilinear nor synchronic, but involves the different sectors of social life and activity - economic production, patterns of power, social cohesiveness, cultural identity, civilizational projects, political ideologies, religious formations, philosophies, myths, etc., covering the entire span of the infrastructure and superstructure of society. The question arises: how can this transformation of the world be related to the social and human sciences, political and social theories, the philosophical quest for humane vision - in short, the cultural and civilizational dimensions of our life tomorrow - through structural modifications, through remodeling in depth of the world as we know it today? And the general focus, within which such interrogations and deliberations as are relevant to the problematique could unfold themselves, yielding significant, converging insights, must inevitably couple science and technology with culture, culture/civilization with power, in the belief that such confluence should become the meeting point of scholars and policy-makers; of specialists in the natural, mathematical, material, engineering, and life sciences with analysts and theoreticians of the sciences of man and society, of humanistic cultures and civilizational totalities. And the problematique, in all its complex ramifications, must continuously remain grounded in the firm territory of the crisis confronting us all - in the monstrous asymmetries of economic, political, scientific-technological, cultural/civilizational, informational/communicational resources, characterizing the present distribution across the globe.
2. This complex problematique was explored in its major facets, comprising constellations of specific questions and issues, through five plenary sessions, focusing successively on Science and Technology as Formative Factors of Contemporary Civilization; Technology Generation and Transfer - Transformation Alternatives; Biology, Medicine, and the Future of Mankind; The Control of Space and Power; and From Intellectual Dependence to Creativity. The expositions, discussions, debates, interrogations, illustrative concretizations, insightful suggestions, reflections and observations - all the diverse forms of cognitive, exploratory activities that were triggered off by the earnest engagement of leading minds from the major cultural, socio-political zones of the globe - eventually took identifiable flow-patterns: mutually complementary, occasionally converging, often ranged in debate-prone tendencies, sometimes in polar opposition, reflecting the real contradictions and divisions of our real-life situations. But, on balance, as the dialogue built up, gathered material and dynamism in its movement from the plenary session to the dialectical stage of in-depth reflections in the working sessions, it was impossible to escape the feeling of a general focusing slowly taking shape, of a broad convergence gradually unfolding as insights and thoughts started falling into place; of an overall deepening, extending, of our understanding; of the centrality of certain issues; and of the awareness that what had actually happened was a cognitive transformation that had overtaken us all!
3. As concluding reflections on the problematique, it must be advisable to take note of those areas where, relatively speaking, the shared insights and cognitive convergence appeared to be pronounced. Science, in its totality of domains - natural, human-social, cultural/civilizational - and technology were everywhere firmly and deeply embodied in the socio-political structures which determined their dominating/ liberating functions. Their hidden social relations and hidden power-base, therefore, needed total transformation, if these resources were to be converted into a massive cultural/civilizational force for re-forming the greater part of the human societies into a more humane, democratic, just, and egalitarian future. The cultural question, then, was how to disseminate scientific insights to the people at large; how to integrate the dissociated sectors of science/technology with the foundational sectors of political social policy formation and decision making; how to strengthen complementarities across differentiated orientations; how to identify and strengthen solidarity among humane, transforming, progressive sectors of humanity distributed across the existing divisions of socio-political boundaries; how to sharpen focus on the gearbox of changing, challenging priorities; how to cope with the ever-increasing pressures which hegemonistic, dominating centres were busy releasing at an exponential pace; how to mobilize and organize the vast, latent reserves of endogenous creativity of the vast majority of mankind for initiating, sustaining, and completing the transformations that are overdue, that admit of no procrastination, divergence, or masking. In this realm of confluence, where reflective activity suggested urgent action, we note the final thrust of the seminar deliberations.