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[ecrea] New Publication: Entanglements. Conversations on the Human Traces of Science, Technology, and Sound (By Simone Tosoni with Trevor Pinch)
Mon Nov 14 23:50:08 GMT 2016
New Publication: Entanglements. Conversations on the Human Traces of
Science, Technology, and Sound
By Simone Tosoni with Trevor Pinch
MIT Press
Available at https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/entanglements
Overview
Science and technology studies (STS) is a relatively young but
influential field. Scholars from disciplines as diverse as urban
studies, mobility studies, media studies, and body culture studies are
engaging in a systematic dialogue with STS, seeking to enrich their own
investigations. Within STS, the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT)
theory has proved to be one of the most influential in its neighboring
fields. Yet the literature has grown so large so quickly, it is
difficult to get an overview of SCOT. In this book, conversations with
Trevor Pinch, a founder of SCOT, offer an introduction and genealogy for
the field.
Pinch was there at the creation-as coauthor of the groundbreaking 1984
article that launched SCOT-and has remained active through subsequent
developments. Engaging and conversational, Pinch charts SCOT's important
milestones. The book describes how Pinch and Wiebe Bijker adapted the
"empirical program of relativism," developed by the Bath School to study
the social construction of scientific facts, to apply to the social
construction of artifacts. Entanglements addresses five issues in depth:
relevant social groups, and SCOT's focus on groups of users; the
intertwining of social representation and practices; the importance of
tacit knowledge in SCOT's approach to the nonrepresentational; the
controversy over nonhuman agency; and the political implications of SCOT.
About the Author
Simone Tosoni is a Researcher at Catholic University of the Sacred
Heart, Milan.
Endorsements
"Pinch, skillfully interviewed by Simone Tosoni, tells us the inside
story of how the sociologies of science and technology came to be the
cutting edge fields they are now. Pinch was there, knows how it
happened, and tells it like it was and is. Bravo!"
-Howard S. Becker, author of Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of
Deviance and Art Worlds
"Entanglements provides a splendid introduction to the bewildering
complexity of the social construction of technology (SCOT) and its
larger science and technology studies (STS) history. Pinch's
recollections of 'eureka!' moments and his often amusing anecdotes
reveal the important roles of mentorships, friendships, the influences
of students, chance encounters, and intellectual disputes with other
significant figures in generating his own innovative and influential
projects. Simone Tosoni's contributions as a highly informed,
intellectually involved, and vigorously curious interviewer are
significant. This is an illuminating and enjoyable read for students new
to these fields as well as for seasoned researchers and scholars from
the many other fields that are increasingly interacting with SCOT and STS."
-Sandra Harding, Distinguished Research Professor, University of
California, Los Angeles
"With Entanglements you are there! This is a book of a conversation
between Simone Tosoni, a media theorist, and Trevor Pinch. It is a
time-zoom through the birth of SSK, the sociology of scientific
knowledge, SCOT, the social construction of technology, through the
science wars and the Golem books on into sound studies. Trevor Pinch was
a principal in all these contemporary movements and his descriptions
bring you right into the fray of the times-you feel you are there. It is
a romp: the stories include tales about other giants like Harry Collins,
Bruno Latour, John Law, and many others. And beyond the social, the
networks, one gets the personal. All of us interested in science and
technology studies need this deep perspective."
-Don Ihde, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, Stony Brook
University
"In the 1960s and '70s there was an academic revolution in our
understanding of the nature of science. Here, Tosoni, working through
the eyes of Trevor Pinch, recaptures the feeling of those times-uncanny!
Pinch was in at the beginning of the 'sociology of scientific knowledge'
and then cofounded the 'social construction of technology.' Fascinating
stuff."
-Harry Collins, Distinguished Research Professor, School of Social
Sciences, Cardiff University
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