GoingToMeet

Although these early ‘laboratory studies’ were highly influential in demonstrating that scientific work is also a social practice, not many researchers attempted to exhibit what may be distinctive about different scientific practices. In fact, as M. Lynch in his review of the development of science studies (Scientific Practice and Ordinary Action, CUP, 1993) notes, most social scientists very quickly left the study of day-to-day investigative work behind and moved on to other, possibly wider or broader, issues of scientific practice. As a consequence, observational studies of scientists at work are nowadays less prominent in social studies of science.

This workshop aims to discuss the present state and prospective of detailed ethnographies of scientific practice. The aim is to bring together researchers who have conducted recent observational studies on the ordinary, interactional, and practical aspects of scientific work, and to discuss the potential benefits of such studies.

The local organisers are Alain Bovet (University of Fribourg), Esther Gonzalez Martinez (University of Fribourg), Jean Widmer (University of Fribourg) and Philippe Sormani (University of Lausanne).