scholarly journals The Responsibilities and Obligations of STS in a Moment of Post-Truth Demagoguery

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve G. Hoffman
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Free Press ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Technological Tools ◽  
Fact Checking ◽  
Scientific Expertise

Scientific expertise and the free press have come under sustained partisan attack with the political ascendance of right-wing nationalism. This has put some science and technology studies (STS) scholars in the difficult position of defending the legitimacy of science while maintaining a characteristic agnosticism toward “the facts.” In this essay, inspired by a reading of Noortje Marres’s (2018) critique of fact-checking services, I seek to relieve some of the background anxiety I sense that perhaps STS research paved a path for the rise of right wing authoritarianism and “post-truth” politics. We are not dealing with a process of fact making in this environment, at least not of the scientific variety. Instead, we are dealing with political demagoguery. As scholars, we should therefore equip ourselves with the appropriate analytic and technological tools, and as many as possible, for engaging this political moment.

The Revenge of the Humanities: Reality, Rhetoric, and the Politics of Postmodernism

1995 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Ward
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Scientific Realism ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
The Political ◽  
Organizational Strategies ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
The Status

The debate between scientific realists and postmodern relativists has been generally treated as a philosophical disagreement over the status of epistemology. Here, however, I use material from Bourdieuian social theory and science and technology studies to illustrate how both scientific realism and postmodern deconstructionism can be seen as political and organizational strategies used in the historical and ongoing struggle between scientific and literary fields and camps. I argue that just as scientific realism and experimentalism were used to dismiss the knowledge contributions of literary fields and to relegate them to secondary status in the seventeenth century, postmodern deconstructionism and its turn to rhetoric and textualism is now being employed as a strategy to counter the political and intellectual dominance gained by the sciences over the last few centuries.

scholarly journals Expertise in Political Contexts: Latour Avec the Third Wave in Science and Technology Studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 4-21
Author(s):  
David S Caudill
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Wave Theory ◽  
Recent Book ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Willful Ignorance ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Scientific Controversies ◽  
Scientific Expertise

The interdiscipline of science and technology studies (‘STS’) has been characterized by its descriptive analyses of the presumptions and practices of scientific communities, and by numerous theoretical internal debates over the proper framework of analysis of science. While STS has not been characterized by a powerful effect on law and government, both of which are consumers of scientific expertise, an opportunity arises for engagement in public policy disputes due to the willful ignorance regarding science in the Trump administration, and the negative effects of political agendas and conflicts of interest therein. The urgent need for reliable expertise in such political contexts is addressed in the so-called third wave of STS that is based on Harry Collins and Rob Evans’s innovative ‘architecture of expertise.’ Two recent book chapters, namely Darrin Durant’s essay on ignoring experts and Martin Weinel’s essay on counterfeit scientific controversies, serve as practical examples of third-wave theory. Bruno Latour, who was engaged in a debate with Collins (and others in STS) concerning their respective approaches during the 1990s, also recently addressed the need for expertise (particularly climate expertise) in government contexts. Nowadays, Collins and Latour both promote consensus expertise and identify its reliance (for its authority) on science as a trusted institution. This article compares the similarities (and acknowledges the differences) between Collins and Latour with respect to their pragmatic strategies, and concludes that notwithstanding internal debates, STS scholars should join Collins (with Evans) and Latour to look outward toward critique and correction of governments that ignore scientific expertise.

scholarly journals (Dis)entangling Barad: Materialisms and ethics

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 918-941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Hollin ◽  
Isla Forsyth ◽  
Eva Giraud ◽  
Tracey Potts
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Quantum Physics ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
The Political ◽  
Material World ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Agential Realism ◽  
Karen Barad

In the wake of the widespread uptake of and debate surrounding the work of Karen Barad, this article revisits her core conceptual contributions. We offer descriptions, elaborations, problematizations and provocations for those intrigued by or invested in this body of work. We examine Barad’s use of quantum physics, which underpins her conception of the material world. We discuss the political strengths of this position but also note tensions associated with applying quantum physics to phenomena at macro-scales. We identify both frictions and unacknowledged affinities with science and technology studies in Barad’s critique of reflexivity and her concept of diffraction. We flesh out Barad’s overarching position of ‘agential realism’, which contains a revised understanding of scientific apparatuses. Building upon these discussions, we argue that inherent in agential realism is both an ethics of inclusion and an ethics of exclusion. Existing research has, however, frequently emphasized entanglement and inclusion to the detriment of foreclosure and exclusion. Nonetheless, we contend that it is in the potential for an ethics of exclusion that Barad’s work could be of greatest utility within science and technology studies and beyond.

The Many Faces of Leftism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Balázs Trencsényi ◽  
Michal Kopeček ◽  
Luka Lisjak Gabrijelčič ◽  
Maria Falina ◽  
Mónika Baár ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Depression ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Socialist Realism ◽  
Popular Front ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
Bolshevik Revolution ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
The Many

The success of the Bolshevik Revolution confirmed that economic backwardness was not necessarily an obstacle for socialism, as it triggered the radicalization of leftist movements in the region. Yet this also led to polarization of the left on questions of Soviet-Russian developments and possible cooperation with non-socialist parties, as well as agrarian and national questions. While in many countries social democracy entered the political mainstream in the 1920s, its position was undermined by the rise of right-wing authoritarianism. In turn, the Great Depression made the communist position more plausible, but the Stalinization of communist parties and the imposition of socialist realism alienated most intellectual supporters. Eventually, some radical leftists turned against the communist movement attacking its dogmatism and the Stalinist show trials. At the same time, the rise of Nazism forced leftist groups to seek a common ground, first in the form of “Popular Front” ideology, and, during the war, in the form of armed partisan movements.

scholarly journals Trois regards sur la notion de « culture chinoise »

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-116
Author(s):  
Basile Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Asian Studies ◽  
Interactional Expertise ◽  
General Argument ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Chinese Studies

Abstract Chinese studies are going through a period of reforms. This article appraises what could constitute the theoretical and methodological foundations of contemporary sinology today. The author suggests an approach of “Chinese culture” by drawing from recent frameworks of Science and Technology Studies (STS). The paper starts with current debates in Asian studies, followed by a historical overview of the concept of culture in anthropology. Then, two short case studies are presented with regard to two different STS approaches: studies of expertise and experience and the notion of interactional expertise, and the framework of waves and forms. A general argument is thereby sketched which suggests how “Chinese culture” can be understood from the perspective of materiality.

Queere Praktiken der Reproduktion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Charlotte Dionisius
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Feminist Science ◽  
Technology Studies

Ein, zwei, drei oder vier Elternteile, »Sponkel«, »Mapas« und lesbische Zeugungsakte - wer oder was Familie ist und wie sie gegründet wird, hat sich vervielfältigt. Sarah Charlotte Dionisius rekonstruiert aus einer von den Feminist Science and Technology Studies inspirierten, queertheoretischen Perspektive, wie lesbische und queere Frauen*paare, die mittels Samenspende Eltern geworden sind, Familie, Verwandtschaft und Geschlecht imaginieren und praktizieren. Damit wirft sie einen heteronormativitätskritischen Blick auf die sozialwissenschaftliche Familienforschung sowie auf gesellschaftliche und rechtliche Entwicklungen, die neue Ein- und Ausschlüsse queerer familialer Lebensweisen mit sich bringen.

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