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Making Sense of Practice by Engagement II

Wed, August 30, 2:00 to 3:30pm, Sheraton Boston, Floor: 3, Beacon F

Session Submission Type: Traditional (Closed) Panel

Abstract

Building on discussions and presentations from 4S/EASST in Barcelona as well as other recent conferences, this open (and experimental) panel seeks to create spaces for alternative knowledge practices that examine the epistemological and discursive methods of creating and implementing different ways of knowing and imagining the world. This panel takes seriously Shapin and Schaffer’s claim that “solutions to the problem of knowledge are embedded within practical solutions to the problem of social order” (1985:15). We ask, “how have collectives of practice developed and what are the futures that these collectives imagine?” In conversation with the 2017 4S theme of (In)sensibilities, we hope to engage ways of sensing and sense-making that often exist on the margins or at the boundaries of dominant practices within science and technology. We encourage work that examines how practitioners interpret their own work and if alternatives are indeed as radical as initially assumed. Are alternative knowledge producers in dialogue with hegemonic practices, or are practitioners engaging in novel ways of mapping/charting scientific and epistemic terrains? Most importantly, we expect presenters to abandon the formal presentation style and come to panels prepared to engage the audience in short 15 minute workshop-type experiments that directly communicate alternative ways of making sense of practice. Based on the success of a similar panel we organized last year, we are prepared to work closely with presenters to ensure - at the very least - only partial failure.

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