Abstract

This article addresses the under-representation of social aspects in the study of lithium batteries. Although lithium batteries are critical to global energy systems and to ongoing sustainability transitions, the literature has framed them predominantly as electrochemical devices, leaving their societal, economic and political dimensions in a peripheral position. From a science and technology studies (STS) perspective, this study asks how scientific literature constructs and represents the social dimensions of lithium battery technologies. Using a quantitative approach that combines bibliometric descriptive statistics with semantic network analysis on 5337 records retrieved from Scopus, we examine the disciplinary, geographical and conceptual patterns through which this social construction takes place. Three findings stand out. First, the natural and physical sciences, together with engineering and technology, dominate the production of knowledge that explicitly incorporates social terms. Second, although social vocabulary is present, it occupies peripheral positions in the semantic core, which is structured around materiality and electrochemistry. Third, and most strikingly, the major lithium-producing countries of the Global South (Chile, Argentina and Bolivia) jointly contribute less than 3% of China's output, evidencing a sharp asymmetry between extraction territories and centres of knowledge production. Building on these findings, we propose an ontological shift whereby lithium batteries should be understood not only as electrochemical devices but also as socio-technological artefacts. This reframing motivates new research pathways comprising five lines of enquiry for the future social study of lithium batteries: practices, imaginaries, conflicts, policies and geopolitics.