Praksismagi? - praksis som tidens løsen og problem i videnskabs- og teknologistudier

Abstract

In science and technology studies (STS) practice has become predominant both as analytical focus and as empirical object. Taking our point of departure in a brief genealogy of the ‘practice turn’, the central aim of this paper is to identify some analytical problems with current uses of ‘practice’. Centrally, we argue, the concept of practice has come to be inscribed with a certain kind of ‘magical’ explanatory power. In contrast, to current practice theory, we suggest that, rather than providing an explanatory framework, practice is what needs to be explained. We further suggest that this requires a simultaneous expansion of the concept, which will enable it to include thinking and theorizing as part of practice, and a theoretical practice minimalism. Finally, we suggest that these requirements are consequential for the political and practical implications of practice theory.