
Writing Nature
Author(s) -
Kristin Asdal,
Gro Birgit Ween
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
nordic journal of science and technology studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1894-4647
DOI - 10.5324/njsts.v2i1.2130
Subject(s) - semiotics , vocabulary , sociology , epistemology , space (punctuation) , semiosis , actor–network theory , resource (disambiguation) , linguistics , computer science , social science , philosophy , computer network
This special issue of the Nordic Journal of Science and Technology Studies is interested in how nature, in different versions and forms, is invited into our studies, analyses, and stories. How is it that we “write nature”? How is it that we provide space for, and actually describe the actors, agents, or surroundings, in our stories and analyses? The articles in the issue each deal with different understandings of both the practices of writing and the introduction of various natures into these. In this introduction to the issue the editors engage with actor-network theory as a material semiotic resource for writing nature. We propose to foreground actor-network theory as a writing tool, at the expense of actor-network theory as a distinct vocabulary. In doing this and pointing out the semiotic origins to material-semiotics we also want to problematize a clear-cut material approach to writing nature.