Matter in Action: What is superconductivity?

Abstract

The 1980s saw an exploration of a variety of ways to use ethnography to study scientists. From the sociology of scientific knowledge, to actor-network theory to the ontological turn, science studies scholars increasingly shifted their focus from studying scientists to investigating scientific practices. This allowed them to inquire into what the objects of science are, instead of only inquiring into the people researching them. Following this shift, I have researched what superconductivity is in practice. The answer is: different things in different situations. In different experiments superconductivity is a different thing. However, these different instantiations of superconductivity are not separate versions. Some of the different instantiations need each other to work in practice. Following Annemarie Mol, I suggest that superconductivity is a 'multiple' object: it has more than one instantiation in practice, but it has less than many different versions. We might imagine superconductivity in practice to look like a network of different experiments in which it is given shape. Finally, I draw some conclusions of the 'multiplicity' of scientific objects for objectivity. I suggest that we move away from correctly representing reality, to presenting new ways of knowing and being. Which presentations are desirable depends on the values of an epistemic community.