scholarly journals Labor Out of Place: On the Varieties and Valences of (In)visible Labor in Data-Intensive Science

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Scroggins ◽  
Irene V. Pasquetto
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Literature And Science ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Data Intensive ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Labor Literature ◽  
Multiple Domains

We apply the concept of invisible labor, as developed by labor scholars over the last forty years, to data-intensive science. Drawing on a fifteen-year corpus of research into multiple domains of data-intensive science, we use a series of ethnographic vignettes to offer a snapshot of the varieties and valences of labor in data-intensive science. We conceptualize data-intensive science as an evolving field and set of practices and highlight parallels between the labor literature and Science and Technology Studies. Further, we note where data-intensive science intersects and overlaps with broader trends in the 21st century economy. In closing, we argue for further research that takes scientific work and labor as its starting point.

Purse Seine Net

2018 ◽  
pp. 377-386
Author(s):  
Andrew Lang
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Significant Part ◽  
Purse Seine ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Regulatory Strategies ◽  
System P ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Sociology Of Translation ◽  
Famous Paper

This chapter takes as its starting point Michel Callon’s famous paper, ‘Some elements of a sociology of translation: domestication of the scallops and fisherman of St Brieuc Bay’. After first introducing that paper and its core theoretical claims, the following sections attempt a re-reading of the famous ‘Tuna/Dolphin’ controversy, with a particular focus on the purse seine net, in light of Callon’s claims, and of the methods of science and technology studies (STS) generally. It draws attention in particular to the politics of purification which has, in significant part, characterized international regulatory strategies for dealing with this dispute, especially through the GATT/WTO system.

From ‘Science and Religion’ to ‘Transcendence in Science’, or: What We Can Learn from the (History of) Science and Technology Studies

2019 ◽  
pp. 103-126
Author(s):  
Silke Gülker
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Sociology Of Science ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Science And Religion ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Micro Level

This chapter begins by identifying an imbalance in the sociology of science and technology. Across sociology, hardly anyone would object to the idea that science is a social process. Science and technology studies and the sociology of science have deconstructed scientific work and revealed how it is socially embedded in many ways. From this perspective, scientific knowledge is co-produced by scientific and non-scientific actors in a process influenced by class, gender, and culture. Few authors, however, have investigated the role that religion might play in this process of knowledge production. This is striking because this relationship was one of the most important topics in the early stages of sociology of science, which is one of the forerunner fields of science and technology studies. This chapter discusses the work of two pioneering authors in sociology of science, Robert K. Merton and Ludwik Fleck. While Merton’s work can still be inspiring for contemporary investigations of the relationship between science and religion on a meso- and macro-level, Fleck’s concept of ‘thought collectives’ and ‘thought styles’ asks for comparative empirical studies on a micro-level. Against this background, the chapter presents an idea of how to implement such micro-level empirical work beyond the science versus religion dichotomy: specifically, by analyzing transcendence constructions, demonstrated here in the field of stem cell research.

Revitalizing science and technology studies: A Marxian critique of more-than-human geographies

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 360-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martín Arboleda
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Labor Process ◽  
Class Relations ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
The Subject

This article revisits Marx’s philosophy of history with respect to technological change, outlining some elements for the elaboration of a research agenda for materialist studies of science and technology. I argue that dominant thinking on the subject has been insufficiently attentive to relations of production and to the constitutive role of practical, transformative activity. The article suggests that a focus on class relations not only foregrounds the eminently open and contested nature of technology but also renders into view the multiplicity of actors and agencies involved in the making of natures. I draw from a subterranean strand of Marxist theorists of technology to develop a more-than-human approach to political agency through an interrogation of the complex interactions between human and machine in the everyday, experiential practicalities of the labor process. On this basis, the article contends that foregrounding the class preconditions for an alternative scientific praxis should assert itself as the starting point and horizon of a materialist Science and Technology Studies.

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.

Corpi in interazione in ambienti di lavoro tecnologicamente densi

2012 ◽  
pp. 64-74
Author(s):  
Francesca Alby
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Embodied Interaction ◽  
Workplace Studies ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Nello Studio

Nello studio dell'interazione sociale e delle dinamiche organizzative, il corpo ha storicamente ricevuto un'attenzione marginale rispetto a quella data al discorso. Anche per questo, motivo e in linea con tendenze piů recenti, questo articolo prende in esame soprattutto il contributo dei movimenti corporei allo sviluppo dell'azione sociale e organizzativa. In particolare, verrŕ analizzato empiricamente in che modo la postura e il posizionamento corporeo possano essere utili risorse nel lavoro di gruppo, e, piů in generale, nel mantenimento di un'azione collettiva rapida e coordinata. Il lavoro ha diversi riferimenti teorici che vengono delineati nella prate introduttiva e utilizzati nell'analisi dei dati. In primo luogo un recente volume edito da Streeck, Goodwin e LeBaron (2011), che sistematizza e raccoglie i risultati di una linea di ricerca sviluppatasi gradualmente nelle quattro decadi passate e che gli autori chiamano embodied interaction. In secondo luogo, il riferimento č al contributo di due programmi di ricerca interdisciplinari, parzialmente sovrapposti: gli studi sul lavoro e sulle pratiche lavorative mediate da tecnologie (studi di ergonomia sociale: Mantovani, 2000; workplace studies: Luff, Hindmarsh e Heath, 2000 e in italiano: Zucchermaglio e Alby, 2005; Parolin, 2008; practice-based studies: Bruni e Gherardi, 2007), e gli studi sulla scienza e sulla tecnologia (science and technology studies ad esempio: Lynch e Woolgar, 1988 e, in italiano: Viteritti, 2011). L'analisi si basa su videoregistrazioni del lavoro di web designer all'interno di un'azienda con sede a Roma, azienda che si occupa di sviluppare e mantenere un portale internet. I risultati discussi nell'analisi empirica riguardano in particolare: a) come entrare e uscire dal gruppo: vengono analizzati alcuni dei meccanismi di coordinamento corporeo che rendono fluido l'ingresso e l'uscita dai gruppi di lavoro; b) come costruire il ritmo dell'interazione: i dati illustrano come in questo tipo di ambienti ad alta densitŕ tecnologica agenti umani e non umani interagiscano (nelle modalitŕ che vengono descritte) nel costruire il ritmo dell'interazione e dell'azione; c) come animare rappresentazioni statiche: viene mostrato come i web designer usino il loro corpo per animare rappresentazioni statiche dei siti internet che devono progettare rendendo visibili e condivisi processi di immaginazione congiunta assolutamente centrali per l'attivitŕ lavorativa in corso.

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