Taking up a new position at Berkeley

I have begun a new position at the University of California, Berkeley, within the new Center for Science, Technology, Medicine, & Society (CSTMS).   The Center is a vibrant hub of activity and research on the social and political dimensions of science, technology and medicine.  It takes an array of perspectives, from Science & Technology Studies, History of Science, and the Medical Humanities, to help us understand the past, and… Read More »Taking up a new position at Berkeley

Conference Season

Conference Season is now over, and I participated in quite a few this year.  It began for me in June with three conferences/workshops in the UK.  At Oxford, I attended the Oxford Intelligence Group’s discussion of whether the UK needs an intelligence doctrine (notes available on their website).  In London, UCL put on a workshop concerning the current work which has developed off of the late Dame Mary Douglas. I… Read More »Conference Season

Thesis published on the Oxford Research Archive

[UPDATE December 2018]: The British Library has a working link to download my thesis. It is my pleasure to finally announce that my thesis has been published on the British Library e-thesis online service Oxford Research Archive. This is a redacted version of my thesis. The redactions were made in line with requests from the British Government, and include primarily a description of the location of the Wassenaar Secretariat, the Arrangement’s… Read More »Thesis published on the Oxford Research Archive

Oxford Thesis LaTeX template

I have modified the Oxford Maths LaTeX template to work for the social sciences.  There are a lot of bells and whistles in this file, but I have tried to provide lots of comments to make the process of getting up and running with minimal effort. I would also recommend perusing the LaTeX resources on the Maths website for lots of LaTeX tutorials and information. You can find my thesis template folder… Read More »Oxford Thesis LaTeX template

Button factories and international negotiations

I have long heard that Khrushchev once commented how ridiculous export controls were, saying that anything could be a militarily significant technology, even trouser buttons.  “How do you expect a military to fight if they can’t hold their trousers up?” is along the lines of what he is reported to have said.  No one seems to have the original statement however, which makes it dubious to use in academic writing. … Read More »Button factories and international negotiations

Ambiguity as a tool for both changing and stabilizing classification systems

Last weekend, I attended a conference at Stanford University on “Uncertainty: Ambiguity and doubt in knowledge production”.  At it, I presented a paper on how the Wassenaar Arrangement uses ambiguity to both stabilize and change the classification system.  For instance, it was by purposefully creating ambiguity in the areas of concern for Wassenaar that countries such as Russia were able to buy into the Arrangement.  By not being directed at… Read More »Ambiguity as a tool for both changing and stabilizing classification systems

Heading to Harvard

In the Autumn of 2009, I will take up a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard University.  The post is divided between the Kennedy School of Government (and in particular the Program on Science, Technology, & Society) and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). My job will involve building links between the two schools, helping to design an undergraduate course in Technology & Society, publishing at least one journal article, and… Read More »Heading to Harvard

Writing Up

I am currently in the thick of writing up my thesis, to be handed in on 19 June 2009.  Please feel free to contact me, but it may be a few days before I am able to respond.

EGAD International Export Control Conference

Next week may prove to be a precipitous moment in the life of the Wassenaar Arrangement.  Brinley Salzmann has organised a two-day conference in Paris called “Export and Security Controls in the Globalised Marketplace of the 21st Century”.  The morning of the first day is given over completely to Wassenaar, with talks by Ambassador Sune Danielsson (Head of the Wassenaar Secretariat), Barry Fletcher, Anne-Charlotte Merrell Wetterwik, and members of the… Read More »EGAD International Export Control Conference

California trip

I recently got back from a trip to California, where I met a few people at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Clara’s Center for Science, Technology, and Society, and gave a talk at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, part of the Monterey Institute for International Studies. The talk, I think, went quite well. I outlined how the Wassenaar Arrangement, and export controls generally, are based on three assumptions:… Read More »California trip