Do artefacts have ambivalence? Moses' bridges, winner's bridges and other urban legends in S&TS

Social Studies of Science

Volumn 29, Issue 3, 1999, Pages 433-449

  Woolgar, Steve ^a   Cooper, Geoff ^b  

^a BRUNEL UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF SURREY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0033147893     PISSN: 03063127     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/030631299029003005     Document Type: Review

References (54)

1. This scene took place on Thursday 26 November 1992.
2. Langdon Winner, 'Do Artifacts Have Politics?', Daedalus, Vol. 109, No. 1 (Winter 1980), 121-36;
3. reprinted in multiple locations, for example, in Donald MacKenzie and Judy Wacjman (eds), The Social Shaping of Technology (Milton Keynes, Bucks. & Philadelphia, PA: The Open University Press, 1985), 26-38.
4. Winner (1985), op. cit. note 2, 28.
5. Not unlike those spelled out in Steve Woolgar, 'The Turn to Technology in Social Studies of Science', Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Winter 1991), 20-50, at 33-35; see also Jane Yellowlees Douglas, 'Abandoning the Either/Or for the And/And/And: Hypertext and the Art of Argumentative Writing', Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Vol. 19, No. 4 (1996), 305-36, and Douglas, 'Will the Most Reflexive Relativist Please Stand Up?', in Ilana Snyder (ed.), Page to Screen (Sydney: Allen & Unwin; New York: Routledge, 1997), 144-62.
6. Not unlike those spelled out in Steve Woolgar, 'The Turn to Technology in Social Studies of Science', Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Winter 1991), 20-50, at 33-35; see also Jane Yellowlees Douglas, 'Abandoning the Either/Or for the And/And/And: Hypertext and the Art of Argumentative Writing', Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Vol. 19, No. 4 (1996), 305-36, and Douglas, 'Will the Most Reflexive Relativist Please Stand Up?', in Ilana Snyder (ed.), Page to Screen (Sydney: Allen & Unwin; New York: Routledge, 1997), 144-62.
7. Not unlike those spelled out in Steve Woolgar, 'The Turn to Technology in Social Studies of Science', Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Winter 1991), 20-50, at 33-35; see also Jane Yellowlees Douglas, 'Abandoning the Either/Or for the And/And/And: Hypertext and the Art of Argumentative Writing', Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Vol. 19, No. 4 (1996), 305-36, and Douglas, 'Will the Most Reflexive Relativist Please Stand Up?', in Ilana Snyder (ed.), Page to Screen (Sydney: Allen & Unwin; New York: Routledge, 1997), 144-62.
8. Bernward Joerges, 'Do Politics Have Artefacts?', Social Studies of Science, Vol. 29, No. 2 (April 1999), 411-31. In the text, we will refer to this Comment as 'BJ'.
9. Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York (New York: Alfred Knopf, 1974).
10. See, for example, Jacques Derrida, Of Grammatology (Baltimore, MD & London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1974); Bruno Latour, Science in Action (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1987); and Steve Woolgar, 'On the Alleged Distinction between Discourse and Praxis', Social Studies of Science, Vol. 16, No. 2 (May 1986), 309-17.
11. See, for example, Jacques Derrida, Of Grammatology (Baltimore, MD & London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1974); Bruno Latour, Science in Action (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1987); and Steve Woolgar, 'On the Alleged Distinction between Discourse and Praxis', Social Studies of Science, Vol. 16, No. 2 (May 1986), 309-17.
12. See, for example, Jacques Derrida, Of Grammatology (Baltimore, MD & London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1974); Bruno Latour, Science in Action (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1987); and Steve Woolgar, 'On the Alleged Distinction between Discourse and Praxis', Social Studies of Science, Vol. 16, No. 2 (May 1986), 309-17.
13. I (SW) visited Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in April 1996 and told the story of Jane's Objection to David Levinger, a doctoral student in the Department of Science and Technology Studies. In August 1997, David discovered the existence of the Jones Beach bus when he visited Jones Beach for the first time. He mentioned this to SW at the 4S Meetings in Tucson in October 1997 and subsequently sent SW a copy of the bus timetable.
14. A timetable may be construed to have a more explicit performative function than an academic paper, in the sense that its purpose is not just to describe but (like Winner's bridge) to effect, enforce and regulate the flow of traffic; but, as we shall argue, this contrast may be misleading.
15. See Geoff Cooper and Steve Woolgar, 'Software Quality as Community Performance', in Robin Mansell (ed.), Management of Information and Communication Technologies (London: Aslib, 1994), 54-68.
16. The New York City limits include numerous parkways, including Grand Central, Marine, Belt, Interborough, Cross Island, Hutchinson River, Cross County, Saw Mill River, Bronx River, Henry Hudson, Laurelton and Shore Front. The parkways on Long Island include Northern State, Southern State, Meadowbrook State, Bethpage State, Wantagh and Ocean.
17. On 15 October 1998, at the EASST Conference in the University of Oslo.
18. Laura Colban (private communication, 24 October 1998).
19. Jane Douglas (private communication, 16 November 1998).
20. We use the word 'inconcludeable' to denote the contention that such narratives cannot, in principle, ever be concluded - that is, brought to a mutually satisfactory and convincing end. The term 'inconcludeable' features in discussions of the documentary method of interpretation as it appeared in early writings in ethnomethodology: for example, Harold Garfinkel, Studies in Ethnomethodology (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1967). For the claim that inconcludeability is a key 'methodological horror' in scientific practice, see Steve Woolgar, Science: The Very Idea (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1988), Chapter 2.
21. We use the word 'inconcludeable' to denote the contention that such narratives cannot, in principle, ever be concluded - that is, brought to a mutually satisfactory and convincing end. The term 'inconcludeable' features in discussions of the documentary method of interpretation as it appeared in early writings in ethnomethodology: for example, Harold Garfinkel, Studies in Ethnomethodology (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1967). For the claim that inconcludeability is a key 'methodological horror' in scientific practice, see Steve Woolgar, Science: The Very Idea (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1988), Chapter 2.
22. Rob Kling (private communication, 2 November 1998).
23. Stanley Aronowitz (private communication, 10 November 1998).
24. Douglas, op. cit. note 14.
25. At the time of writing, my (SW's) office is in such disarray through moving, that it has proved impossible to re-find the actual bus timetable.
26. For a related argument about the importance of sustaining symmetry through attempts to debunk attempts at debunking, see Malcolm Ashmore, The Reflexive Thesis: Wrighting the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1989); Ashmore, 'The Theatre of the Blind: Starring a Promethean Prankster, a Phoney Phenomenon, a Prism, a Pocket, and a Piece of Wood', Social Studies of Science, Vol. 23, No. 1 (February 1993), 67-106.
27. For a related argument about the importance of sustaining symmetry through attempts to debunk attempts at debunking, see Malcolm Ashmore, The Reflexive Thesis: Wrighting the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1989); Ashmore, 'The Theatre of the Blind: Starring a Promethean Prankster, a Phoney Phenomenon, a Prism, a Pocket, and a Piece of Wood', Social Studies of Science, Vol. 23, No. 1 (February 1993), 67-106.
28. This corresponds to Latour's third Rule of Method: Bruno Latour, Science in Action (Milton Keynes, Bucks.: The Open University Press, 1987), Chapter 2.
29. These descriptions of Moses are taken from John Q. McDonald's Review of Caro's book (op. cit. note 6), in 'The Thumbnail Book Reviews', John's Internet Reviews (17 February 1998). Laura Colban passed this item to us: we have no further details.
30. Bruno Latour, 'Drawing Things Together', in Michael Lynch and Steve Woolgar (eds), Representation in Scientific Practice (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1990), 19-68.
31. Bruno Latour, 'The Politics of Explanation', in Steve Woolgar (ed.), Knowledge and Reflexivity (London: Sage, 1988), 155-77.
32. Jan Harold Brunvand, The Mexican Pet: More 'New' Urban Legends and some Old Favourites (Harmondsworth, Middx: Penguin, 1986), 58.
33. Steve Woolgar, 'A New Theory of Innovation?', Prometheus, Vol. 16, No. 4 (December 1998), 441 -53; Woolgar, 'Living in Viral Times: Computer Viruses and Disciplinary Temptation' (forthcoming); Woolgar and Geoff Russell, 'The Social Basis of Troubles with Software: The Case of Computer Viruses', CRICT Discussion Paper 17 (Uxbridge, Middx: Brunel University, December 1990) , also published as 'Las bases sociales de los virus informaticos', Politica y Sociedad, Vol. 14/15 (1994), 171-95.
34. Steve Woolgar, 'A New Theory of Innovation?', Prometheus, Vol. 16, No. 4 (December 1998), 441 -53; Woolgar, 'Living in Viral Times: Computer Viruses and Disciplinary Temptation' (forthcoming); Woolgar and Geoff Russell, 'The Social Basis of Troubles with Software: The Case of Computer Viruses', CRICT Discussion Paper 17 (Uxbridge, Middx: Brunel University, December 1990) , also published as 'Las bases sociales de los virus informaticos', Politica y Sociedad, Vol. 14/15 (1994), 171-95.
35. Steve Woolgar, 'A New Theory of Innovation?', Prometheus, Vol. 16, No. 4 (December 1998), 441 -53; Woolgar, 'Living in Viral Times: Computer Viruses and Disciplinary Temptation' (forthcoming); Woolgar and Geoff Russell, 'The Social Basis of Troubles with Software: The Case of Computer Viruses', CRICT Discussion Paper 17 (Uxbridge, Middx: Brunel University, December 1990) , also published as 'Las bases sociales de los virus informaticos', Politica y Sociedad, Vol. 14/15 (1994), 171-95.
36. Steve Woolgar, 'A New Theory of Innovation?', Prometheus, Vol. 16, No. 4 (December 1998), 441 -53; Woolgar, 'Living in Viral Times: Computer Viruses and Disciplinary Temptation' (forthcoming); Woolgar and Geoff Russell, 'The Social Basis of Troubles with Software: The Case of Computer Viruses', CRICT Discussion Paper 17 (Uxbridge, Middx: Brunel University, December 1990) , also published as 'Las bases sociales de los virus informaticos', Politica y Sociedad, Vol. 14/15 (1994), 171-95.
37. Noel Williams, 'Problems in Defining Contemporary Legends', in P. Smith (ed.), Perspectives on Contemporary Legend (Sheffield, Yorks.: CACTAL, 1984), at 220.
38. Perhaps one of the most celebrated recent applications of urban legends to technology is the case of stories about computer viruses: see note 26.
39. In some manifestations of the legend, the enabling/prohibitive properties of the technology are equivocal. For example, it is said that Isambard Kingdom Brunei was granted permission to build viaducts across Eton College playing fields on condition that he made the arches sufficiently high to allow Eton scholars to pass beneath them wearing their top hats. Is the technology exhibiting enabling politics (allowing the passage of the schoolboys) or merely pandering to the concerns of the pampered offspring of the upper class?
40. Williams, op. cit. note 27, 217.
41. Ernest Laclau, Politics and Ideology in Marxist Theory (London: Sage, 1977).
42. Both of us, for example, use the bridges for pedagogic purposes.
43. Donna Haraway, 'Teddy Bear Patriarchy: Taxidermy in the Garden of Eden, New York City 1908-1936', in Nicholas B. Dirks, Geoff Eley and Sherry B. Ortner (eds), Culture/ Power/History (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1994), 49-95, originally published in Social Text (1984).
44. Sorry, Bruno, it had to come out some time!: Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar, Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientific Facts (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2nd edn, 1986).
45. Michel Callon, 'Some Elements of a Sociology of Translation: Domestication of the Scallops and the Fishermen of St Brieuc Bay', in John Law (ed.), Power, Action and Belief: A New Sociology of Knowledge (London: Routledge, 1986), 196-229.
46. Stefan Hirschauer, 'The Manufacture of Bodies in Surgery', Social Studies of Science, Vol. 21, No. 2 (May 1991), 279-319.
47. Michael Schudson has recently challenged the historiographic basis of Donna Haraway's well-known analysis (op. cit. note 33) of the American Museum of Natural History: M. Schudson, 'Cultural Studies and the Social Construction of "Social Construction": Notes on "Teddy Bear Patriarchy" ', in Elizabeth Long (ed.), From Sociology to Cultural Studies (Oxford: Blackwell, 1997), 379-98. Schudson objects that the 'semicanonical' and 'celebrity' status of Haraway's essay is based on a 'wrong' history. He charges the inadequacy of Haraway's synecdochal reasoning, and claims that 'it is shocking that in the ten reviews . . . I have read and the dozen references to the work I have come upon, not once has any of this been noted' (392). Schudson suggests that the reason for this is that Haraway's readership - 'cultural studies' -comprises an interpretive community with a political commitment to revealing the constructions of a system of monopoly capitalism and white male patriarchy. Schudson's view here is intriguingly reminiscent of what used to be called 'weak programme' explanations in the asymmetric sociology of error. We would want to argue that the performance of interpretive community achieved by the Moses' Bridges story does not depend upon the truth or error of Winner's analysis.
48. Barbara Herrnstein Smith, Belief and Resistance: Dynamics of Contemporary Intellectual Controversy (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997), xviii.
49. Cf. Georg Simmel, 'Bridge and Door', in David Frisby and Michael Featherstone (eds), Simmel on Culture (London: Sage, 1997), 170-74.
50. Textual conventions tend to encourage the suppression and/or eradication of ambivalence, in line with the realist epistemological auspices of reporting. This has been the subject of some experimentation with 'new literary forms' and reflexivity: see, for example, Ashmore (1989), op. cit. note 20, and Woolgar (ed.), op. cit. note 24. For an argument that hypertext applications offer a practical realization of the maintenance of ambivalence, see Douglas (1996), op. cit. note 4.
51. See Keith Grint and Steve Woolgar, The Machine At Work: Technology, Work and Organisation (Cambridge: Polity, 1997); Woolgar and Grint, 'A Further Decisive Refutation of the Assumption That Political Action Depends on the "Truth" and a Suggestion That We Need to Go beyond This Level of Debate: A Reply to Rosalind Gill', Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Summer 1996), 354-57; Herrnstein Smith, op. cit. note 38.
52. See Keith Grint and Steve Woolgar, The Machine At Work: Technology, Work and Organisation (Cambridge: Polity, 1997); Woolgar and Grint, 'A Further Decisive Refutation of the Assumption That Political Action Depends on the "Truth" and a Suggestion That We Need to Go beyond This Level of Debate: A Reply to Rosalind Gill', Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Summer 1996), 354-57; Herrnstein Smith, op. cit. note 38.
53. See Keith Grint and Steve Woolgar, The Machine At Work: Technology, Work and Organisation (Cambridge: Polity, 1997); Woolgar and Grint, 'A Further Decisive Refutation of the Assumption That Political Action Depends on the "Truth" and a Suggestion That We Need to Go beyond This Level of Debate: A Reply to Rosalind Gill', Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Summer 1996), 354-57; Herrnstein Smith, op. cit. note 38.
54. Jacques Derrida, 'But, beyond . . .', Critical Inquiry, Vol. 13 (Autumn 1986), 155-70.