Magyar STS
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Recent papers in Magyar STS
STS has sometimes been accused of ‘presentism’: a tendency to study configurations, assemblages, arrangements, sets of material practices that take place here and now, in the present. How would our key concepts, methods, analytical... more
STS has sometimes been accused of ‘presentism’: a tendency to study configurations, assemblages, arrangements, sets of material practices that take place here and now, in the present. How would our key concepts, methods, analytical strategies change if we blurred the boundary between the past and the present, the here and the there, and sensitized ourselves to half-presences? This subplenary aimed to address this abstract question by initiating a discussion about the postsocialist condition. More specifically, we aimed to explore remembered and forgotten narratives of modernism, sources of enthusiasm and scepticism towards technoscientific promises, and various configurations of the public and the private in sociotechnical innovations in order to discuss how the concept of postsocialism might contribute to ongoing debates in STS, and vice-versa, how insights from STS might help us better understand the postsocialist condition.
A few weeks before the publication of psychiatric manual DSM-5, in April 2013, Director of the NIMH Thomas Insel wrote in his blog that the patients suffering from mental disorders deserve better than a manual which validity is inadequate... more
A few weeks before the publication of psychiatric manual DSM-5, in April 2013, Director of the NIMH Thomas Insel wrote in his blog that the patients suffering from mental disorders deserve better than a manual which validity is inadequate because not solidly founded on genetics and neuroscience. Widely publicized on the web, Insel's post advocated a new method introduced in 2009: « NIMH has launched the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project to transform diagnosis by incorporating genetics, imaging, cognitive science, and other levels of information to lay the foundation for a new classification system ». RDoC aims at accelerating the translation of knowledge from basic research to clinical practice. Translational psychiatric neuroscience is at the heart of European and US research policies and deserve close attention from a social studies of science and medicine perspective because, I will argue in this paper, it is part of the new sociotechnical imaginaries (Jasanoff & Kim, 2009) of contemporary mental health systems. In this paper, I will study the needs, promises and critiques that translational neuroscientists face when dealing with mental disorders as an object of study. Drawing on expert interviews of clinicians-researchers and on a review of the literature on RDoC, I will explore the narratives of the future, and how the translation gap or lag appears in these narratives, together with its solutions (transforming diagnosis, better interdisciplinarity, knowledge brokering…). This paper proposes a sociology of translational psychiatric neuroscience which maps the envisioned futures incorporated in today brain science.
Obesity is generally considered to be a growing global health problem that results from changes in the way we live in late modern societies. In this paper, we argue that investigating the complexities of contemporary timescapes (i.e. the... more
Obesity is generally considered to be a growing global health problem that results from changes in the way we live in late modern societies. In this paper, we argue that investigating the complexities of contemporary timescapes (i.e. the entanglement of physical, culturally framed and personally experienced times) is of key importance for understanding how ‘the obesity phenomenon’
is conceptualised, performed and acted upon. Analysing both focus groups and print media articles, we identified three major groups of temporal narratives that shape our perception of obesity: trajectories, temporalities, and timing.
Each group of narratives follows a different logic and performs a specific kind of ordering work: ontological work that defines what obesity ‘really is’; diagnostic work that assesses the state of contemporary society; and moral work that assigns responsibility to act. We show how the narratives are assembled into distinct timescapes that distribute agency in specific ways.
Combining data from both focus groups and media articles allows us to analyse how these two discursive arenas are intertwined, as it makes visible how stories travel and converge, but also diverge in quite important ways. This highlights the importance of a multi-arena approach to fully understand the tensions between different framings of health related issues. The article argues that the difficulties of controlling body weight are closely entangled with a perceived lack of control over time on both collective and individual levels.
In conclusion, we suggest time-sensitive approaches for the analysis of health phenomena and the development of corresponding policy measures.
is conceptualised, performed and acted upon. Analysing both focus groups and print media articles, we identified three major groups of temporal narratives that shape our perception of obesity: trajectories, temporalities, and timing.
Each group of narratives follows a different logic and performs a specific kind of ordering work: ontological work that defines what obesity ‘really is’; diagnostic work that assesses the state of contemporary society; and moral work that assigns responsibility to act. We show how the narratives are assembled into distinct timescapes that distribute agency in specific ways.
Combining data from both focus groups and media articles allows us to analyse how these two discursive arenas are intertwined, as it makes visible how stories travel and converge, but also diverge in quite important ways. This highlights the importance of a multi-arena approach to fully understand the tensions between different framings of health related issues. The article argues that the difficulties of controlling body weight are closely entangled with a perceived lack of control over time on both collective and individual levels.
In conclusion, we suggest time-sensitive approaches for the analysis of health phenomena and the development of corresponding policy measures.
- by Michael Penkler and +1
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"Faculty of Humanities Nicolas Copernicus University (Toruń, Poland) on 17th-19th September 2014 organizes international conference of European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST) titled ‘Situating Solidarities:... more
"Faculty of Humanities Nicolas Copernicus University (Toruń, Poland) on 17th-19th September 2014 organizes international conference of European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST) titled ‘Situating Solidarities: social challenges for science and technology studies’.
We would like to pass the information about this conference, with the details of its merits, calls for tracks, papers and other dead-lines which can be found at: www.easst.umk.pl
About the conference:
The EASST conference 2014 addresses the dynamics and interrelationships between science, technology and society. Contributors are invited to address the meeting’s theme of ‘Situating Solidarities’ though papers on any topic relevant to the wider field are also welcome.
The theme of ‚situating solidarities’ addresses asymmetries of power through a focus on material, situated sociotechnical configurations. Heterogeneous networks of actors are stabilised to different degrees through complex negotiations. Rather than seeking universal abstractions the theme asks questions such as: What do the chains and networks of asymmetries look like? How do they travel? What do they carry? Do asymmetries translate to inequalities? What are the solidarities that shape the practices, artifacts and ‚know-hows’ in situated material contexts?
Political and ethical engagement is a central concern for a view of science as changes in collective practice, rather than as individual contemplation. How should STS observe or influence the raising and erasing of social and technical asymmetries in everyday life? What do the ‚situated solidarities’ of dealing with asymmetries and inequalities look like? Can STS contribute to the work of solidarising to connect asymmetric agents, places, moves and networks to weaken inequalities and change hegemonic relations?"
We would like to pass the information about this conference, with the details of its merits, calls for tracks, papers and other dead-lines which can be found at: www.easst.umk.pl
About the conference:
The EASST conference 2014 addresses the dynamics and interrelationships between science, technology and society. Contributors are invited to address the meeting’s theme of ‘Situating Solidarities’ though papers on any topic relevant to the wider field are also welcome.
The theme of ‚situating solidarities’ addresses asymmetries of power through a focus on material, situated sociotechnical configurations. Heterogeneous networks of actors are stabilised to different degrees through complex negotiations. Rather than seeking universal abstractions the theme asks questions such as: What do the chains and networks of asymmetries look like? How do they travel? What do they carry? Do asymmetries translate to inequalities? What are the solidarities that shape the practices, artifacts and ‚know-hows’ in situated material contexts?
Political and ethical engagement is a central concern for a view of science as changes in collective practice, rather than as individual contemplation. How should STS observe or influence the raising and erasing of social and technical asymmetries in everyday life? What do the ‚situated solidarities’ of dealing with asymmetries and inequalities look like? Can STS contribute to the work of solidarising to connect asymmetric agents, places, moves and networks to weaken inequalities and change hegemonic relations?"
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