Steve Woolgar

Steve Woolgar

Steve Woolgar

Steve Woolgar was ill and unable to take part in the event. The summary below leaves a trace of what he intended to talk about.

Six anecdotes in search of a theory

What is the best way both to celebrate and yet avoid the tendency to canonization on the passing of a Great Man? What interesting and fruitful insights might be gained from trying actively to resist the inevitable redistribution of expertise which occurs in the wake of his death – who now knows best what he really said/meant? what actually was his position on this or that? Instead of advancing a definitive reading of his arguments, is there a way to celebrate Bruno Latour by exploring the ambivalences, uncertainties and hesitations which arise in our retrospective remembering of him?

A gathering of eminent scholars is participating in a well organized celebration of Bruno Latour. But their deliberations are interrupted by the sudden appearance of six anecdotes, bursting on the scene. The anecdotes tell how they have been recently abandoned by a unified theory and cast adrift. Each in turn relates a distinctive account of personal reflection about Bruno, and each argues the vital importance of including their own idiosyncratic story in any alternative theory. Please, can the scholars tell them where they belong?

Steve Woolgar is Professor Emeritus of Marketing at the University of Oxford, and of Science and Technology Studies at Linköping University. Having recently published on Imposters as Social Theory, he is currently both researching the use of AI in surgery and worrying about the limits of provocation.


Speakers in Session 1: Science and Technology Studies with Bruno Latour

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