Description:
In the 1980s, philosophical, historical and social studies of science underwent a change which later evolved into a turn to practice. This book offers a unique and diverse range of perspectives on the meanings, methods, lessons, and challenges associated with the practice turn.
Review Quotes:
'This is a terrific collection, which has brought together contributions by the people who have thought hardest about practices in science. It is essential reading for anyone who employs this problematic concept in the study of science. Its special virtue is that it brings social studies of science and the philosophy of science back together, and in a fruitful and interesting way.' - Stephen Turner, University of South Florida, USA
'A real strength of this collection is its extended introduction with a highly readable but well-documented and thorough reconstruction of the theoretical development of the Practice Turn and ensuing critical challenges in Actor Network Theory and the resistance against Popper and Lakatos. The editors retrace the origins of the practice turn in both sociological and philosophical approaches to science, and likewise reconstruct three shifts affiliated with these changes: the move away from a priori or idealized understandings of science, present-time foci for scientific discourse, and normative conceptual models for science.' - Lindsay Parker in The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory