STS Research Seminar: Dr Stephen Hughes

 Hearts and Minds: Where is Emotion in the Imaginary?, 

Sociotechnical Imaginaries (SIs) have emerged as a popular and generative concept within Science and Technology Studies (STS). However, the affective and embodied component of SIs has been under-theorised, thus far. In this talk, I’d like to discuss a paper that I’m working which uses the anti-fracking imaginary in Ireland as a case study for theorising the emotional dimension of imaginaries. I’lI look to theoretical work in affect theory and psychosocial studies to consider why we might want to develop our understanding of emotion in SIs and offer suggestions about how we might go about doing so. Using empirical examples from my research, alongside some recent scholarship on SIs, I’ll argue that imaginaries are dynamic, intensive, embodied, and meaningful. By expanding our analysis of the role of affect in sociotechnical imaginaries beyond the narrow registers of desire and fear to more dynamic accounts of embodied meaning-making, I’ll suggest that we can get a better understanding of the complex normative dimensions of collectively envisioned technoscientific futures, and thus, better navigate their politics.