Knut Holtan Sørensen
Background and activities
Knut H. Sørensen is Professor emeritus (Science and Technology Studies), affiliated witth the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture, NTNU. He graduated from the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1976 (M. Sc. in Applied Physics) and received his PhD (Organization Studies) from the Institute in 1982. He has been a research scientist in SINTEF (1976-1980, 1986-1988) and a post-doctoral fellow at Department of sociology and political science, NTNU (1983-1986). From 1989, Sørensen was director of NTNU’s Centre for technology and society, which he founded together with Håkon With Andersen. In 1993, he became Professor at Department of Sociology and Political Science, NTNU. From 1999, he was Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture. Sørensen was Visiting scholar at MIT in 1983, Visiting Professor at University of California, San Diego in 1996 and Visiting Scholar at Stanford University throughout 2009 and at UCLA, Institute for the Environment and Sustainability throughout 2017..
Currently, a main focus of Sørensen’s research is the study of sustainability transitions. This includes a particular interest in policy-making with respect to environmentally friendly energy and public engagement issues related to the development of energy citizenship and the improvement of energy dialogues. Science and technology communication is also an important part of these concerns.
Sørensen is also with two other important research issues. One is the gender balance among university professors. The other is related to the policy concern Responsible Research and Innovation.
Sørensen has managed more than 30 projects funded by Norwegian research councils and been national co-PI of 8 EU-funded projects. He has been author/co-author/editor/co-editor 10 books, has published 41 papers in refereed journals, and 38 book chapters in academic edited collections. His most cited work is Making technology our own: domesticating technology into everyday life (with Merete Lie, Scandinavian University Press, 1996, GS citations: 786).
Supervision
Sørensen has been main or co-supervisor of 51 PhD-candidates who successfully have completed their doctorates and is main or co-supervisor of 4 active PhD-candidates.
Professional positions
- Chair of the Norwegian council of science and technology studies
- Editorial Advisory Board, Social Studies of Science
- Editorial Board, Nordic Journal of Science and Technology Studies
Publications
See https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Knut_Sorensen2
Scientific, academic and artistic work
Displaying a selection of activities. See all publications in the database
Journal publications
- (2020) Transforming Scientists’ Understanding of Science–Society Relations. Stimulating Double‑Loop Learning when Teaching RRI. Science and Engineering Ethics. vol. 26.
- (2020) Designing and domesticating an interstructure: Exploring the practices and the politics of an elevator for cyclists. Urban Studies.
- (2020) Liminal technologies: Exploring the temporalities and struggles in efforts to develop a Belgrade metro. Sociological Review. vol. 69 (1).
- (2020) Rhizomic learning: How environmental nongovernmental organizations (ENGOs) acquire and assemble knowledge. Social Studies of Science. vol. 50 (5).
- (2020) The imagined scientist of science governance. Social Studies of Science.
- (2019) Kjønnsbalanse gjennom aksjonsforskning og lokal kunnskaping. Tidsskrift for kjønnsforskning. vol. 43 (2).
- (2018) Articulations of mundane transition work among consulting engineers. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. vol. 28.
- (2017) Domesticating technology for shared success: collective enactments of World of Warcraft. Information, Communication & Society. vol. 22 (1).
- (2016) Mismatch or misunderstanding? Calculation and qualculation among economists and consumers in their framings of the electricity market. Acta Sociologica. vol. 59 (4).
- (2016) Concerned consumption. Global warming changing household domestication of energy. Energy Policy. vol. 98.
- (2015) Consumer, client or citizen? How Norwegian local governments domesticate website technology and configure their users. Information, Communication & Society. vol. 18 (7).
- (2015) From 'alternative' to 'advanced': Mainstreaming of sustainable technologies. Science & Technology Studies. vol. 28 (1).
- (2015) KOSTNADSEFFEKTIVITETENS KLAMME ÅND: KONSEKVENSER AV DEN SAMFUNNSØKONOMISKE FORMATERINGEN AV KLIMAPOLITIKKEN. Vardøger.
- (2014) Designing a ‘green’ building: expanding ambitions through social learning. Building Research & Information. vol. 42 (5).
- (2013) Beyond innovation. Towards an extended framework for analysing technology policy. Nordic Journal of Science and Technology Studies. vol. 1 (1).
- (2012) Disciplined Interdisciplinarity? A Brief Account of STS in Norway. Tecnoscienza, Italian Journal of Science & Technology Studies. vol. 3 (1).
- (2011) Brukbar klimakunnskap? Kommunalt ansattes forhold til forskning og annen kunnskap om klimaendringer og klimatilpasning. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning. vol. 52 (3).
- (2011) Making sense of global warming: Norwegians appropriating knowledge of anthropogenic climate change. Public Understanding of Science. vol. 20 (6).
- (2010) Fra excel til exellence? Måling og veiing av regnearkuniversitetet. Vardøger.
- (2010) Universitetsreformer i vitenskapsformaterte samfunn - fra ekspansjon til effektivitet?. Vardøger.
- (2009) Walking the line? The enactment of the social/technical binary in software engineering. Engineering Studies. vol. 1 (2).
- (2009) How energy efficiency fails in the building industry. Energy Policy. vol. 37 (3).
- (2008) Miljøarkitekten: Dirigent eller deltaker?. Nordisk arkitekturforskning. vol. 20 (3).
- (2004) Cultural politics of technology: Combining critical and constructive interventions?. Science, Technology and Human Values. vol. 29 (2).
- (2004) Tingenes samfunn. Kunnskap og materialitet som sosiologiske korrektiver. Sosiologi i dag. vol. 34 (2).
- (2003) Out of the boy's room? A critical analysis of the understanding of gender and ICT in Norway. NORA - Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research.
- (2002) En egen ROM eller et rom på deling? Ulike inkluderingsstrategier for kvinner som brukere av multimedia. Kvinneforskning.
- (2002) Fra frihet til fabrikk: Den nye universitetsreformen. Vardøger.
- (2000) Fishing for fun and profit? National domestication of multimedia: The case of Norway. The Information Society.
- (2000) Det standardiserte miljøet? Kunnskapsteoretiske perspektiver på konsekvensutredninger. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning. vol. 41 (3).
- (2000) Innledning. Miljø, makt og styring. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning.
- (2000) A ROM of one's own or a home for sharing? Designing the inclusion of women in multimedia. New Media & Society.
- (1996) På jakt etter den politisk korrekte pc : om mulighetene for en radikal teknologipolitikk. Vardøger. vol. 23.
- (1992) Bilen og det moderne Norge. En sosioteknisk transformasjon. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning. vol. 33 (1).
- (1992) Towards a feminized technology? Gendered values in the construction of technology. Social Studies of Science. vol. 22 (1).
- (1992) Tacit Networks, Heterogeneous Engineers, and Embodied Technology. Science, Technology and Human Values. vol. 17 (1).
- (1991) Fokusskifte i profesjonsstudier - fra yrkesorganisering til kunnskapsorganisasjon. Sosiologisk Årbok. vol. 7.
- (1987) Genderization of technology among Norwegian engineering students. Acta Sociologica. vol. 30 (2).
- (1986) Deltidsarbeidets utvikling i Norge: Kvinners valg eller samfunnsbehov. Sosiologi i dag. vol. 16 (3).
- (1985) Technology and industrial democracy. An inquiry into some theoretical issues and their social basis. Organization Studies. vol. 6 (2).
- (1984) I lyset fra leselampen. Tekster som grunnlag for studiet av sosiale prosesser. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning. vol. 25 (3).
- (1982) Arbeidsmiljøreformen - sentrale vedtak, lokale vilkår. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning. vol. 23 (5-6).
- (1981) Notes on the meaning of gender in hospital organizations. Scandinavian journal of social medicine. Supplementum.
- (1979) The learning needs of female health workers and their consequences for the planning of inservice education. Social Science and Medicine. vol. 13.
Books
- (2011) Technologies of Inclusion. Gender in the Information Society. Tapir Akademisk Forlag. 2011. ISBN 9788251928465.
- (2008) Faglighet og tverrfaglighet i den nye kunnskapsøkonomien. Tapir Akademisk Forlag. 2008. ISBN 978-82-519-2339-2.
- (2008) Vitenskap som dialog - kunnskap i bevegelse. Tverrfaglighet og kunnskapskulturer i forskning. Tapir Akademisk Forlag. 2008. ISBN 978-82-519-2338-5.
- (2007) Smarte energieffektive bygninger. Tapir Akademisk Forlag. 2007. ISBN 978-82-519-2237-1.
- (2007) Mellom klima og komfort - utfordringer for en bærekraftig energiutvikling. Tapir Akademisk Forlag. 2007. ISBN 978-82-519-2276-0.
- (2002) Shaping Technology, Guiding Policy: Concepts, Spaces, & Tools. 2002. ISBN 1-84064-649-7.
- (1999) Similar concerns, different styles? Technology studies in Europe. 1999. ISBN 92-828-7262-9.
- (1998) The spectre of participation. Technology and work in a welf are state. 1998. ISBN 82-00-42309-3.
- (1997) Perspektiver på tvers : disiplin og tverrfaglighet på det m oderne forskningsuniversitetet. Tapir Akademisk Forlag. 1997. ISBN 82-519-1253-9.
- (1996) Making technology our own? : domesticating technology into everyday life. 1996.
- (1992) Frankensteins dilemma - en bok om teknologi, miljø og verdier. 1992. ISBN 82-417-0060-1.
Part of book/report
- (2019) "Mas, mas, mas - over hele linja". Universitetskamp.
- (2016) Innovasjonspolitikk og nyskapningspraksiser. Det norske samfunn.
- (2015) Preparing for new solar cells through integrated research: challenges in translating social robustness into the selection of materials. Practices of Innovation and Responsibility: insights from methods, governance and action.
- (2011) Fra kunnskap til dyd? Om tverrfaglighet som kompetanseutfordring. Dannelse. Tenkning - modning - refleksjon.
- (2010) Det norske samfunn: Et innovasjonssystem?. Det norske samfunn.
- (2009) The role of social science in engineering. Philosophy of Technology and Engineering Sciences, Vol 9 av Handbook of Philosophy of Science.
- (2008) Aktørnettverksteori. Sosiologisk leksikon.
- (2007) Mot en ”elektronisk solidaritet". Kommunikasjonssamfunnet: Moral, praksis og digital teknologi.
- (2007) Flytende profesjoner? Om organisering av kunnskap. Arbeid, kunnskap og sosial ulikhet.
- (2005) Towards the 'Communication Society'. Media, Technology and Everyday Life in Europe.
- (2005) Domestication: The enactment of technology. Domestication of media and technology.
- (2005) Jakten på innovasjon: Fra nasjonsbygging til dot.com. Det norske samfunn.
- (2004) "Jishu Zhengce de Xin Jiangou" (Towards a New Architecture of Technology Policy). Jishu de Shehui Xinchebg (Social Shaping of Technology).
- (2004) Kvantitet og kvalitet. Strategier for å løse "jenter og data"-problemet. Læring. Grunnbok i læring, teknologi og samfunn.
- (2003) Forget the hacker? A critical re-appraisal of Norwegian studies of gender and ICT. He, She and IT revisited. New Perspectives on Gender in the Information Society, ed. Merete Lie.
- (2003) Don't girls want to have fun? Designing multimedia for women. He, She and IT revisited. New Perspectives on Gender in the Information Society, ed. Merete Lie.
- (2002) Feminism for profit? Public and private gender politics in multimedia. Knut H. Sørensen & Robin Williams, eds: Shaping technology, guiding policy: Concepts, spaces and tools.
- (2002) Love, Duty and the S-Curve. An Overview of some current Literature on Gender and ICT. Digital divides and inclusion measures. A review of literature and statistical trends of gender and ICT, eds. Knut H. Sørensen & James Stewart.
- (2002) Providing, pushing and policing. Towards a new architecture of technology policy. Andrew Jamison & Harald Rohracher, eds: Technology studies & sustainable development.
- (2002) Tid for tverrfaglighet? Jakten på vennligsinnede spesialister. Forskning på tvers. Tverrfaglige forskningsprosjekter ved NTNU.
- (2001) Teaching transformed? The appropriation of multimedia in education: The case of Norway. Social learning technologies. The introduction of multimedia in education.
- (2000) Feminism for profit? Gender politics in the Norwegian multimedia industry. Concepts, spaces, and tools: Recent developments in social shaping research.
- (2000) Social shaping on the move?`On the policy relevance of the social shaping of technology perspective. Concepts, spaces and tools: Recent developments in social shaping research.
- (2000) Against linearity - On the Cultural Appropriation of Science and Technology. Between Understanding and Trust. The Public, Science and Technology.
- (1998) Social constructions of user participation. The spectre of participation. Technology and work in a welf are state.
- (1998) A sociotechnical legacy? A note on trajectories and traditions in Norwegian research on technology and work. The spectre of participation. Technology and work in a welf are state.
Report/dissertation
- (2018) "Verktøykasse" for bedre kjønnsbalanse. En håndbok for instituttledere som vil bedre kjønnsbalanse blant vitenskapelig ansatte. 2018.
- (2017) Striving for a Norwegian Low Emission Society post 2050: Three Scenarios. 2017.
- (2017) Virker de? Virkemidler for energieffektivisering med vekt på bygninger. 2017.
- (2002) Needs, roles and participation. A review of social science literature on users in technological design. 2002. STS arbeidsnotat/ working paper (58/02).