The need for a “social studies of politics” in STS

• In Event: Social Studies of Politics: State Affect? 1

Abstract

The social studies of science and the social studies of finance have been a productive shift in STS to make advances in the scholarly understanding of science and economics “in action.” In STS, the “social studies of …” shifts amount to careful, empirical attention toward the construction of facts, artifacts, and tools with special emphasis on the interface where materiality and practice meet. Currently, literature on “the state” in STS tends to privilege the “co-production” perspective, which depicts the state (or government) in a dynamic role with science (or technoscience), wherein the empirical puzzle is largely satisfied once the mutual influence of science on society and society on science has been demonstrated through detailed analysis. The co-production insight, born of 1990s theorizing, has been an outstanding source of productivity in STS and beyond, especially noteworthy for drawing much needed outside attention to the small world that STS inhabits. That said, the theoretical impact of co-production is at its limit and now, for politics to play a continued and central role in STS, there is need of fresh insight into the inner material and human dimension of “making things political” and, therefore, a social studies of politics. Just as the social studies of science moved beyond the co-production of science and society and just as the social studies of economics moved beyond the co-production of economic science and society, the social studies of politics is needed to move beyond current stagnation regarding the co-production of science and the state.

Authors

• Nicholas James Rowland, The Pennsylvania State University

• Jan-Hendrik Passoth, Technische Universität München

• Govind Gopakumar, Concordia University