In some ways, all of John Abraham’s research on Pharmaceuticals & Society could be regarded as part of Science, Technology & Society. However, this section is devoted to how his work has influenced Science, Technology & Society more broadly and in substantive areas unrelated to pharmaceuticals. There are many aspects to this. John has always insisted that the abbreviation ‘STS’ should continue to adhere to its original referent, namely, Science, Technology & Society, rather than the academically internalist ‘Science and Technology Studies’. He is a critic of academic internalism both theoretically and empirically (especially indulgent reflexivity) in STS. Secondly, John is one of the most prominent realists in STS. He is well known for advocating realist empirical research, objectivism, and truth-value, in contradistinction to relativism of truth, constructivism, positivism, or solely theoretical realism. This includes a defence and use of the idea that there are objective sociological/political interests in society. Thirdly, John is the first STS scholar to develop the concept of bias in science in a theoretically and empirically robust way that can be methodologically applied for policy analysis and change. Fourthly, he introduced the concept of the permissive principle to the STS community in a way that can be rigorously applied in the evaluation of risk-benefit assessment decision-making. Fifthly, he is one of the few STS scholars to integrate theories from political science into the history and sociology of scientific knowledge, particularly in relation to the concepts of regulatory science and geneticization. Sixthly, John has contributed to debates about the societal value of ‘Big Science’. John’s work in the field of Science, Technology & Society is exemplified by the following publications:
John Abraham (1987) ‘A sociological framework to guide analysis of science-based regulation’ Regulation Studies Papers. Technology Policy Unit, University of Aston.
John Abraham (1994) ‘Beyond Mertonianism and Relativism: A Framework for a Political Sociology of Scientific Knowledge’, British Sociological Association Main Annual Conference, BSA Publications
John Abraham Science, Politics and the Pharmaceutical Industry, chapter 1, UCL Press, 1995.
John Abraham and Courtney Davis Unhealthy Pharmaceutical Regulation: Innovation, Politics and Promissory Science, chapter 1, Palgrave, 2013.
John Abraham and Courtney Davis (2009) ‘Drug evaluation and the permissive principle’ Social Studies of Science 39: 569-98.
John Abraham (2002) ‘Regulatory science as culture’ Science as Culture 11: 309-35.
John Abraham (1994) ‘Interests, Presuppositions and the Science Policy Construction Debate’ Social Studies of Science 24: 123-32.
John Abraham (1993) ‘Scientific Standards and Institutional Interests: Carcinogenic Risk Assessment of Benoxaprofen in the UK and the US’ Social Studies of Science 23: 387-444.
John Abraham (2008) ‘Bias and science in knowledge production: implications for the politics of drug regulation’ in (eds.) O. O’Donovan & K. Glavanis-Grantham, Power, Politics and Pharmaceuticals, pp. 43-57 (Cork University Press).
John Irvine, Ben Martin, John Abraham and Tim Peacock (1987) ‘Assessing basic research: Reappraisal and update of an evaluation of radio astronomy observatories’ Research Policy 16: 213-227.
Ben Martin, John Irvine, Tim Peacock and John Abraham (1986) ‘A Re-evaluation of the contributions to radio astronomy of the Nancay Observatory’ Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S) Review 3: 4-18.
John Abraham (2009) ‘History and Philosophy of Regulatory Science’ Cambridge Papers.
John Abraham (2008) ‘Governance of Knowledge in Regulatory Science’ Dubrovnik Inter-University Conference Papers.
John Abraham (2007) ‘Politics and Reason in Regulatory Science’ Society for Social Studies of Science Annual Conference Papers, Montreal.
John Abraham (2007) ‘Secrecy in regulatory space: the challenge for STS and social science’ ESRC Conference Series Locating Technoscience.
John Abraham (2003) ‘Science, technology and progress’ British Sociological Association Main Annual Conference, BSA Publications.
John Abraham (1998) ‘Contested Ground: The Norms and Values of Regulatory Science’ International Sociological Association Conference Papers, Montreal.