From Anthropologist to Actant (and back to Anthropology): Position, Impasse, and Observation in Sociotechnical Collaboration

摘要

“Did you see that paper in Nature or Science about the glowing pig? They got the pig to express Green Fluorescent Protein.” Sven was agitated. “Why did they do it?” We were sitting in the lounge on the top floor of the laboratory building positioned between several multinational pharmaceutical firms, other university research buildings, and a Swiss Telecom office on the Kleinbasel (“little” Basel) side of the Rhine. The light of early summer glowed through metal and glass, filling the room. Sven was testing me. I responded to his question with a question, asking him what he thought was the scientific significance of the glowing pig experiment. “No, no,” he insisted, “in terms of your expertise, tell me why they did it.” I stumbled a little, slightly taken aback, and suggested it was probably curiosity, that I would want to know what kind of problem it was addressing, and then what institutional affiliations the scientific team maintained. Before I could form another thought, Sven interjected, announcing the answer: “They did it because they could; because it was fun!” I asked him whether he thought there was in this instance, or in his work, a need for any further justification. His reply was immediate: “I don’t need any justification.” He took out a cigarette, picked up his coffee, and left the table.