[The Durkheim Test. Remarks on Susan Leigh Star's Boundary Objects].
The article reconstructs Susan Leigh Star's conceptual work on the notion of 'boundary objects'. It traces the emergence of the concept, beginning with her PhD thesis and its publication as Regions of the Mind in 1989. 'Boundary objects' attempt to represent the distributed, multifold nature of scientific work and its mediations between different 'social worlds'. Being addressed to several 'communities of practice', the term responded to questions from Distributed Artificial Intelligence in Computer Science, Workplace Studies and Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), and microhistorical approaches inside the growing Science and Technology Studies. Yet the interdisciplinary character and interpretive flexibility of Star’s invention has rarely been noticed as a conceptual tool for media theory. I therefore propose to reconsider Star's 'Durkheim test' for sociotechnical media practices.
DFG-Graduiertenkolleg "Locating Media", Universität Siegen, Artur-Woll-Haus, Am Eichenhang 50, D-57076 Siegen. giessmann@medienwissenschaft.uni-siegen.de.
Sebastian
S
Gießmann
D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D012586:Science
Chicago School; Grenzobjekt; James Griesemer; Kooperation; Medienwissenschaft; Science and Technology Studies; Soziologie; Susan Leigh Star; Symbolischer Interaktionismus; Wissenschafts‐ und Technikforschung; boundary object; cooperation; media studies; sociology; symbolic interactionism