Science and technology studies (STS): možnosti a meze antropologie v laboratořích

Abstract

Science and technology studies (STS) have become a relevant partner for other disciplines when it comes to understanding the period we live in. STS’s frequent application of an ethnographical approach may seem inviting to an anthropologist, but what kind of results are obtained by today’s STS? By analyzing two older works concerned with biotechnology by Paul Rabinow and Tereza Stockelova I shall try to demonstrate the existence of a common approach that could be described as preventive distrust. The two works are however based on different theoretical backgrounds-- while Paul Rabinow was inspired by Michel Foucault’s study of power from an ethical point of view, Tereza Stockelova was influenced by Bruno Latour‘s political Actor-Network Theory. This comparison has led me to believe that this distrust often leads to baseless objections. Future visions of scientific progress often try to cast a shadow over bioscience as potentially dangerous or revolutionary (biosociality) but this view might prove indemonstrable and might therefore be rejected in the future.