MC: Ivan Tchalakov: “Entrepreneurial” and “Enduring” Types of Science

The seminar analyzes science practices focusing on the relationships between scientists and the objects of their study. Two main types of these relationships are identified, which in a previous paper I provisionally named entrepreneurial (or Pasteur’s) type of science and other (‘forgotten’ or McClintock’s) type of science. The main difference between the two stems from the ‘social statuses’ of the studied objects inside the relevant scientific community, the border case being when the community assumes these objects as non-existent or as considered under an irrelevant (erroneous) conceptual frame. The seminar pays special attention to this case, assignable to the ‘other’ science, because here the researchers require special character and endurance in order to overcome the predominant disbeliefs and (negative) attitudes of their peers and fellow scientists. In previous papers, I have pointed out the emerging relationships of solidarity and mutuality between scientists and the objects of their study as key points, supporting the scientists’ resistance and endurance to the dominant scientific beliefs. Now I develop a new argument supporting this claim, based on a comparison of French sociologist Antoine Hennion’s inspiring analysis of a sociology of taste with the studies of transition from ‘science as calling’ to ‘science as profession’ and the evolution of the amateurs in science as part of this process (Max Weber, Robert Merton), recently examined by Steven Shapin.

Non-GCSC participants should register for the event with Lyubomir Pozharliev – Lyubomir.Pozharliev@gcsc.uni-giessen.de

Any participants wishing to submit questions regarding the Master Class or their regarding their own projects should also email Lyubomir Pozharliev.

Obligagory readings:

The full text of  the article

• Tchalakov, I. (2004) - The Object and the Other in Holographic Research - Approaching Passivity and Responsibility of Human Actors, in: Science, Technology & Human Values, vol.29 No.1  (file: Tchalakov STHV29_01 published.pdf)

Page 389 to 408 from the article (the rest is optional)

• Tchalakov, I. and Georgi Kapriev (2005) - The Limits of Causal Action Actor-Network Theory Notion of Translation and Aristotle’s Notion of Action, in: 2005 - Yearbook of the IAS-STS, Edited by Arno Bammé, Günter Getzinger, and Bernhard Wieser, Graz, Austria, München,  Profil, 35 pages (file: Limits of Causal Action IAS Yearbook 2005.pdf)

Page 25 to 36 from the book ((the rest of Tchalakov’s chapter is optional)

• Kapriev, G., M. Roussel and I. Tchalakov (Eds.) (2014) - Le Sujet de l’Acteur. An Anthropological Outlook on Actor-Network Theory, MORPHOMATA Volume 21, Wilhelm Fink Publishers, Germany (file: Le_Sujet_de_l_Acteur_final.pdf)

Background papers:

• Sandeep Ravindran paper on “Barbara McClintock and the discovery of jumping genes” (file ‘Barbara McClintock discovery brief.pdf’)

Recommended additional papers:

• Karin Konrr’s paper on “Sociality with Objects Social Relations in Postsocial Knowledge Societies” (in: Theory, Culture and Society, 14 (1997), 4, pp. 1-43) (file: Knorr Social_Relations with objects.pdf)
•  Bruno Latour’s paper on “Give me the laboratory and I will rise the world” (file: Latour GIVE-ME-A-LAB.pdf)