Tear gas is a chemical weapon used by the police to put a stop to protests, riots, and other large-scale political actions. It has been employed for over one hundred years, yet our historical and political understanding of the technology is relatively limited. The historical framings of tear gas are dominated by deference to state and military claims and the biomedical literature furthers this one-sided approach to the security technology. At the same time, many groups have fought against tear gas and fought through tear gas as part of the struggle against state politics. The history of tear gas is deeply intertwined with that of policing and questions of state violence against protest movements. A deeper knowledge of tear gas enables us to better understand how and when it is used against protestors as well as how protestors challenge dominant narratives of security. As a scholar of Science, Technology, and Society, I am interested in understanding the sociotechnical elements of tear gas and how it operates within racial capitalism. This dissertation asks, in what ways has tear gas been used as a security technology mobilized to protect the State from political dissidents and what lessons can be learned from how social movement activists challenged the sociotechnical narratives surrounding tear gas? This is a social study of a particular security technology that is used in moments of contestation between State forces (military, police, and weapons industry) and radical social movements. I look at two specific kinds of contestation. The first are historical examples of contestations. That is, the interwar historical context in which tear gas emerges and examples from the 1960s through our contemporary political moment where it is used against social movements. The second is the contested space of biomedical knowledge, which has two major narratives associated with it. On the one hand, mainstream medical literature has examined tear gas using military research labs and military test subjects. This selective research has facilitated claims that tear gas is a "less-lethal" weapon that is practically harmless to those it is used on. On the other hand, social movement activists and street medics who are exposed to it on a regular basis have identified some real concerns surrounding its deployment, thereby challenging claims to its harmlessness. / Doctor of Philosophy / Tear gas is a chemical weapon used by the police to put a stop to protests, riots, and other large-scale political actions. It has been used for over one hundred years, yet our historical and political understanding of the technology is relatively limited. It is a highly controlled weapon, and so the public's access to it is mostly limited to when it's used against crowds of political activists. Our understanding of tear gas' effects on the human body is likewise limited. Most of our understanding comes from a small medical literature that studies military cadets, which does not match the population who often gets tear gassed. This dissertation attempts to intervene in that limited understanding and uses the fact that tear gas is predominantly seen in city streets during protests to explore the back and forth dynamic between activists and the police in the United States. Specifically, I'm interested in how the technology of tear gas and its use by the police tell a story about security in the United States and how activists threaten that security. The first two chapters discuss how the history of tear gas developed the political story of the weapon and the second two chapters look at how medical science has supported this story. Chapter one looks at tear gas' emergence after World War One and tells the story of how it started to be used against political activists in prisons, jails, and against labor unions. Chapter 2 moves to the radical 1960s up through 2020 to look at how tear gas is used today. What's interesting here is how tear gas interacts with media technologies to structure police public relations programs as well as how activists developed new tactics to fight back. Chapter 3 changes directions and examines the small, but influential, medical literature on tear gas to evaluate what mainstream science says about the technology's potential health harms. Chapter 4 looks at what strategies and resources activists have developed to ameliorate tear gas and contrasts it with some of the informational gaps in the mainstream medical literature. The introduction and conclusion of the dissertation look at the big picture story of tear gas and its relationship to the political milieu of the United States.

Explores the relationship between nontraditional science education practices, structured by campaigns such as Public Understanding of Science (PUS) and Scientific Literacy (SL), and the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS), using ethnographic work with the Choices and Challenges Project at Virginia Tech as a "point of entry" (Smith 1987) for a broader discussion. It points to the difficulty of "doing" theory and practice at the same time. While affirming that there is no easy solution to the hard work of situating local, nontraditional science education practices within a critical theoretical tradition such as STS, this project also provides recommendations for a new framework to conceptualize a more productive interaction between the practice of nontraditional science education and the theory of STS. In a postscript, I conclude by urging all researchers within the field of STS to begin to recognize that maintaining the false split between our academic research, undergraduate teaching, university outreach, and community involvement is a failed project. As STS researchers, I believe it is, in fact, our obligation to our local and global communities to adopt an interventionist strategy and to use our work — without apology — for directly political ends. Challenging the technoscientific-political context in which we live always involves a level of real risk — but it is also our only opportunity to achieve real success. Our participation in this challenge is a responsibility to ourselves and to our communities that we must recognize and accept. This participation should not be shunned, but rather applauded. / Master of Science

In this thesis, I traced the development of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy through the pages of the Journal of Organic Chemistry (JOC) from the year 1956 to 1969 to understand how organic chemists and Varian Associates?the makers of the first commercial NMR spectrometers?negotiated the identity of the NMR spectrometer. The work of the organic chemists was examined through their publications in the JOC. Examining the abstracts from the JOC between the years 1956 and 1969 developed an understanding of the ways in which organic chemists used the instrument. To understand the role Varian Associates played in the development of NMR, I examined the company?s advertisements in the JOC. I traced the changes in advertising style and format in order to see how Varian Associates expected their instruments to be used. I drew three conclusions from this work: 1) organic chemists and Varian Associates together determined what an NMR spectrometer was and how it could be used; 2) the identity of the instrument was negotiated by these two groups, and the novel use of the instrument by the organic chemists and new schemes in advertising on the part of Varian Associates were attempts to shift this identity; 3) NMR spectroscopy was a domain of knowledge that was embodied in the NMR spectrometer, and that could only be accessed through the instrument. / Master of Science

This thesis analyzes Badan Tenaga Atom Nasional (BATAN, the Indonesia National Nuclear Energy Agency and the the Ulama of Pengurus Cabang Nahdlatul Ulama (PCNU, the Islamic scholars of District Branch of Nahdlatul Ulama) Jepara’s different risk assessments of the purposed nuclear power plant in Muria, Indonesia. Using a discourse analysis combined with the social construction of risk from a science and technology studies (STS) perspective, this thesis focuses on the Ulama’s risk assessments, and looks at how the Islamic interpretations of fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) and the knowledge of perceived risk of the State’s nuclear inexpertise, environmental degradations, the type of the reactor, and foreign technological dependence are used simultaneously by the Ulama of the PCNU Jepara to construct maslahah (benefits) and mafsadah (disadvantages) on the fatwa to the proposed Muria nuclear power plant. I argue that the different risk assessments converge on the proposed Muria nuclear power plant, which are based on not only scientific and political discourse but also Islamic beliefs. In contrast to alternative forms of knowledge, Islamic belief not only has orientations to the social world but also the afterlife. I found the Ulama’s concerns regarding perceived risk of the State’s nuclear inexpertise did not change whether from the authoritarian regime to the democratic model. Across the contesting political regimes, the Ulama articulated their concerns of perceived risk of the State’s nuclear inexpertise through distrust of the State’s capacities and capabilities in handling a commercial nuclear power plant. Furthermore, the different ways of constructing risk through BATAN and the Ulama depict the contested meaning of national identity after the Indonesia independence. Lastly, this thesis offers a unique view of studying Islam and the social construction of risk from a non-Western context. / Master of Science

Cette thèse analyse les relations de pouvoir qui se jouent autour des enjeux environnementaux (gestion de l'eau et changement climatique) dans le processus de construction étatique de l'Autorité palestinienne, entité gouvernementale sous régime d'aide et marquée par l'occupation israélienne. Elle mobilise la sociologie de l'action publique, la political ecology et les science and technology studies afin d'étudier les processus multi-échelles de co-construction de l'ordre social et de l'environnement à travers les savoirs, la définition des problèmes et les politiques adoptées pour y répondre. Cette recherche analyse les liens entre l'aide internationale, le développement, l'environnement et la volonté de consolidation du pouvoir de l'Autorité palestinienne. Elle se penche sur la circulation et l'hybridation des savoirs et des solutions d'action publique. En dehors de l'action des décideurs nationaux et internationaux, d'autres acteurs (ONG, organisations humanitaires) interviennent et mobilisent d'autres représentations des problèmes environnementaux et des solutions à apporter en interactions avec leurs représentations du territoire et du conflit. Cette thèse se fonde sur une série d'entretiens et de discussions informelles, la littérature grise sur le sujet et de nombreuses observations participantes. / This thesis analyses the power relations involved in environmental issues (water management and climate change) and the process of state building of the Palestinian Authority, an entity dependent on international aid and under israeli occupation. This thesis mobilises sociology of public action, political ecology and science and technology studies in order to examine the multi-level processes of co-construction of social order and environment through knowledges, problems definition and public policies adopted to tackle them. This research analyses the interactions between international aid, development and environment and the objective of empowerment of the Palestinian Authority. It focuses on the circulation and hybridisation of knowledge and public policy solutions. Beyond national and international decision makers, other actors such as NGOs or humanitarian organisations participate and mobilise other representations of environmental problems and solutions in relation with their representations of the territory and the conflict. This thesis is based on a series of interviews, informal discussions, grey literature dealing with the subject and observational work.

Cette thèse analyse la circulation et la matérialisation du discours qui promeut l’augmentation de la production agricole et l’investissement privé en Afrique afin d’assurer la sécurité alimentaire et le Développement. Elle est fondée sur l’étude de la constellation agropolitique à l’œuvre au Nord du Mozambique, ensemble d’acteurs en interaction autour des enjeux de production agricole. Cette thèse explore à la fois la transformation d’espaces investis et d’espaces gris, laissés pour compte par la politique agricole et les projets de Développement et d’investissement. Cette thèse mobilise la géographie, la political agronomy, et l’étude des sciences et sociétés afin d’étudier les mécanismes de savoir, de pouvoir, d’ignorance, de violence, et de ruse, à plusieurs échelles et dans différents espaces. Ce travail repose sur l’hypothèse selon laquelle les objectifs productifs de sécurité alimentaire et de Développement s’accompagnent de stratégies de gouvernement de populations, de conquêtes de territoires ou encore de capture de ressources portées par une diversité d’acteurs. Cette recherche explore alors la façon dont les représentations de l’agriculture sont articulées pour servir divers enjeux, comment elles participent à des asymétries de pouvoir et de savoir, ainsi que la manière dont elles contribuent à reconfigurer les espaces ruraux. Cette thèse se penche sur la circulation des représentations de l’agriculture au sein de la politique agricole et de projets de développement et d’investissement ciblant le corridor de Nacala. Elle explore l’écart entre ces représentations et celles des sociétés Makhuwa qui l’habitent, ainsi que les mécanismes permettant aux représentations de coexister et de se matérialiser. L’analyse ancrée d’espaces investis et gris montre que les interactions entre les discours sur l’agriculture, leur matérialisation, et le contexte économique et politique Nord mozambicain, alimente des mécanismes de violence structurelle et une politisation des habitants. Cette recherche inductive se fonde sur des méthodes de recherche qualitative : observations, entretiens semi-structurés, immersions dans les sociétés Makhuwa et étude de la littérature grise. Elle est le fruit d'un travail de terrain totalisant un an au Nord du Mozambique. / This thesis analyzes the circulation and the materialization of the discourse promoting the intensification of agricultural production and private investments in Africa to achieve food security and Development. It is based on the study of the agropolitical constellation, i.e. the set of actors interacting around the issue of agricultural production, in northern Mozambique. This thesis explores the transformation of spaces targeted by investments and of grey spaces, neglected by the agricultural policy, Development, as well as investment projects. Theoretical concepts from Geography, Political Agronomy, and Science and Technology Studies, are arrayed to analyze the knowledge and power relations, the ignorance, the manipulations, and the mechanisms of violence interacting over multiple scales and across different spaces. This work relies on the assumption that the productive logic of food security and Development is accompanied with various strategies aiming at the government of populations, the conquest of territories or the capture of resources. This thesis explores the manner in which the representations of agriculture are articulated to serve multiple stakes, the manner they contribute to power and knowledge asymmetries, as well as the processes by which they reshape rural spaces. This thesis investigates the circulation of agricultural representations in the agricultural policy and in several Development and investment projects targeting the Nacala corridor. It documents the gap separating these representations from those of the Makhuwa societies inhabiting the corridor. It sheds light on the mechanisms enabling their coexistence and their materialization. The grounded analysis of grey spaces and spaces targeted by investments reveals the manner the interactions between the discourse on agriculture, its materialization, and the economic and political context of northern Mozambique generate mechanisms of structural violence and a politicization of inhabitants. This inductive research is based on qualitative research methods: observations, semi-structured interviews, immersions in Makhuwa societies, and analysis of grey literature. It is based on field work totaling one year in northern Mozambique.

This research examines whether study of the controversial evolution of energy systems and emerging energy technologies can contribute to the debates in energy policy and STS, especially those concerning the ongoing search for solutions to energy and environmental problems through the promotion of low-carbon technologies. The focus of this study is on the emergence and growth of a technological project in the renewable energy sector, Wave Hub in Cornwall, UK. The analysis, informed by actor-network theory, helps to explore the emergence of Wave Hub as a complex socio-technical system and a macro-actor. The case study reveals that the project is associated with various controversies and problematic temporalities. The construction of credibility and viability of the technological project is explored, including the 'public face’ of the project, various meanings attributed to Wave Hub and its symbolic capital. The discourse around Wave Hub is critically reviewed, as regards stakeholder assumptions about the technological feasibility of the project. Consideration is also given to the political dimensions of credibility, including the promissory role of policy discourse. An actor-network theory approach helps questioning the idea of policy as ‘macro context’; the utility of an analytical approach to policy as an actant is thus investigated. I ask to what extent, and in what sense, policy can be understood as an element of an actor-network, not merely a context. Furthermore, this helps to build a critical discussion around the evolution of the actor-network with policy as its active element and critically assess to what extent this approach might help to understand the destiny of a technological project. The politics of expertise in the case of Wave Hub is shown to play a critical role for the ‘credibility-economy’ of the project. Exploring how the expertise is understood and performed in the case of Wave Hub, I consider the question of the self-representation of experts and how the expert knowledge and the expert status are constituted. Studying the contestation of expertise and its categorisation helps to analyse various forms of collaboration formed around Wave Hub, but also antagonism which was revealed between different groups of experts.

In this dissertation, I examine how biological data practices enable researchers to interact with and enact biological life in statistical ways, and how this poses challenges to the use and integration of biological knowledge with clinical practices. Instead of considering data as a pre-existing cognitive representation of the world, I combine scholarship on the anthropology of science with scholarship from science and technology studies to consider data as a form of material practice. I consider, in other words, how data is intertwined with technologies, people, and values, such that data is used to make normative and naturalized claims about biology and disease. To explore the generation, interpretation, and use of biological data, I focus on the field of “metabonomics”—the post-genomic study of metabolism—as it is carried out within the Biomolecular Medicine Laboratory (BMM) at Imperial College London. In doing so, I examine how metabonomics researchers use biochemical techniques and multivariate statistics to investigate metabolism and disease. After providing an overview of the literature, central questions, and methodology that frame this dissertation, I examine how multivariate statistical practices are central to the historical identity and epistemic culture of metabonomics research at the BMM. From there, I demonstrate how multivariate statistics require and enable metabonomics to enact metabolism as an inherently complex entity. Consequently, I examine how researchers struggle to assign the categories of “normal” and “abnormal” to dynamic notions of metabolism and health. I then explore how the translation of metabonomics knowledge into clinical practices places value on multivariate forms and large volumes of information, eclipsing the importance of human interpretation and judgment. Finally, I examine how metabonomics research is used to develop personalized medicine, but in ways that make it difficult to address the health of individual patients.

This research aims to develop and evaluate a design framework for creating digital devices that support the exploration of animal behaviors in the wild. In order to carry out this work, it both studies ethology’s foundational ideas through literature and also examines the contemporary principles at a rainforest field station through on-site ethnographies, workshops, design projects, and interactive performances. Based upon these personal and practical investigations, this research then synthesizes a framework to support digital-ethological practice. Finally, this framework is utilized to design additional ethological expeditions and activities in order to assess the framework itself. The resulting framework encourages digital technology that supports four key concepts. Technological Agency pushes for devices that promote understanding of their own internal functions. The tenet of Contextual Crafting leads designers and ethologists to create devices in close proximity to their intended use. Behavioral Immersion promotes visceral interactions between the digital and organismal agents involved. Finally, Open-Endedness challenges researchers to create adaptable tools which strive to generate questions rather than answering them. Overall, this research, referred to as Digital Naturalism, explores a developing design space for computers in the wild.

Liposomal delivery systems hold considerable promise for improvement of cancer therapy provided that critical formulation design criteria can be met. The main objective of the current project was to enable quality by design in the formulation of liposomal delivery systems by developing comprehensive, mechanism-based mathematical models of drug loading, binding and release kinetics that take into account not only the therapeutic requirement but the physicochemical properties of the drug, the bilayer membrane, and the intraliposomal microenvironment. Membrane binding of the drug affects both drug loading and release from liposomes. The influence of bilayer composition and phase structure on the partitioning behavior of a model non-polar drug, dexamethasone, and its water soluble prodrug, dexamethasone phosphate, was evaluated. Consequently, a quantitative dependence of the partition coefficient on the free surface area of the bilayer, a property related to acyl chain ordering, was noted. The efficacy of liposomal formulations is critically dependent on the drug release rates from liposomes. However, various formulation efforts to design optimal release rates are futile without a validated characterization method. The pitfalls of the commonly used dynamic dialysis method for determination of apparent release kinetics from nanoparticles were highlighted along with the experimental and mathematical approaches to overcome them. The value of using mechanism-based models to obtain the actual rate constant for nanoparticle release was demonstrated. A novel method to improve liposomal loading of poorly soluble ionizable drugs using supersaturated drug solutions was developed using the model drug AR-67 (7-t-butyldimethylsilyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin), a poorly soluble camptothecin analogue. Enhanced loading with a drug to lipid ratio of 0.17 was achieved and the rate and extent of loading was explained by a mathematical model that took into account the chemical equilibria inside and outside the vesicles and the transport kinetics of various permeable species across the lipid bilayer and the dialysis membrane. Tunable liposomal release kinetics would be highly desirable to meet the varying therapeutic requirements. A large range of liposome release half-lives from 1 hr to 892 hr were obtained by modulation of intraliposomal pH and lipid composition using dexamethasone phosphate as a model ionizable drug. The mathematical models developed were successful in accounting for the change in apparent permeability with change in intraliposomal pH and bilayer free surface area. This work demonstrates the critical role of mechanism-based models in design of liposomal formulations.