1,721,243 research outputs found
Is Another Science Possible? And Can STS Say Anything About It?
Full text linkOriginating from the opening plenary session of the 6th STS Italia Conference “Sociotechnical Environments” (Trento, 24-26 November 2016), devoted to the topic “Sociotechnical Environments:
actors, technologies, geographies and new kinds of action”, the contribution is one of three articulating different relationships among actors, technologies and sociotechnical environments. Specifically, the paper addresses the issue of possibilities and conditions for an alternative science. Drawing from philosophical and STS literature the author inquires the (not) surprising convergences between critical STS literature and neo-liberal approaches, pointing to the concepts of materiality and materialism
Ontological Politics in a Disposable World. The New Mastery of Nature
No full textThis book explores the intertwining of politics and ontology, shedding light on the ways in which, as our ability to investigate, regulate, appropriate, ‘enhance’ and destroy material reality have developed, so new social scientific accounts of nature and our relationship with it have emerged, together with new forms of power. Engaging with cutting-edge social theory and elaborating on the thought of Foucault, Heidegger, Adorno and Agamben, the author demonstrates that the convergence of ontology with politics is not simply an intellectual endeavour of growing import, but also a governmental practice which builds upon neoliberal programmes, the renewed accumulation of capital and the development of technosciences in areas such as climate change, geoengineering and biotechnology
Preparedness as Governmentality. Probing the Italian Management of the Covid-19 Emergency
Full text linkThe paper deals with preparedness, a take on biological threats of growing academic and
policy relevance, as a clue to ongoing changes in governmental approaches. We first address
its features. Gauged against the security rationale of biopolitical governmentality, as
discussed by Foucault, we argue these show “post-securitarian” traits. We then focus on
the Italian management of the Covid-19 emergency, examining the main regulatory documents
enforced by the Government during the pandemic, from its beginning, in January
2020, to July 2021. Results show that the response to the pandemic has been patchy; ample
recourse to disciplinary measures created tensions with the securitarian logic of health apparatuses;
the preventive character of many approaches and instruments, including vaccinations,
contrasts with the precautionary framework of their actual implementation; and
the limited role played by preparedness at a surface level is counterweighed by the postsecuritarian
implications of some measures and of the blurring of the very distinction between
biopolitical failure and success. Relevant questions arise concerning the handling
of new and emergent threats and, more broadly, the evolution of governmental powers in
current societies
Recensione a Paolo Giardullo, Non è aria. Cittadini e politiche contro l’inquinamento atmosferico, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2018
No full textRecensione a: P. Giardullo, Non è aria. Cittadini e politiche contro l’inquinamento atmosferico, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2018, pp. 178, € 16,00
The Anthropocene: between scientific controversy and political ambiguity
Full text linkThe paper addresses the controversy over the notion and the narrative of the Anthropocene. It is shown that the scientific diatribe on the beginning of the alleged new era interweaves with that over its social and political implications. Concerns about the post-social, post-political and post-natural ontology entailed by the notion are addressed. Overall, it is unclear whether the Anthropocene implies and expresses a strong case for a change in the relation of humans with the nonhuman world or supports an intensification of business-as-usual, yet there are indications that the latter is the option backed by ruling élites, though emergent mobilizations testify to an increasing public awareness. The issue deserves further inquiry and a constant updating
Nature, limits and form-of-life
Full text linkSustainable development, ecological modernisation, eco-efficiency and the like have reframed material limits to growth as conventional barriers. Even in arguments for degrowth limits recede to the background in favour of self-limitation. To reclaim limits as the grounds for an effective environmental politics, I reconstruct how the case for the limits to growth was reversed into a case for the growth of limits, and how foundational boundaries were increasingly blurred. Arguing that lifestyle politics is unlikely to be effective against the growth machine, I elaborate on the notion of form-of-life. If not understood as a solipsistic self-mastery but as the mutually formative encounter of living entities – provided with their own dispositions yet sharing a common destiny – this notion highlights how freedom and equality are premised on, rather than hampered by, limits. I conclude with four reasons why a radical theory and politics for the environment should make use of the notion
Crisi climatica e nuove mobilitazioni ecologiche
No full textThe article addresses the new wave of environmental mobilization focusing on climate change, climate policies and their social impacts. The focus is on Fridays for Future, Extinction Rebellion and Gilet Jaunes. The emergent features of these movements are addressed and compared and an assessment of their strengths and weaknesses is provided
Da che parte è l’uscita? Esperienze di transizione industriale nell’automotive e nell’energia
No full textLavoro natura valore: come sciogliere il nodo gordiano?
Full text linkThe paper critically addresses Emanuele Leonardi's arguments as exposed in Lavoro Natura Valore André Gorz tra marxismo e decrescita (Orthotes, 2017). In particular, it focuses on the notions of formal and real subsumption, on the critique of labor as an ontological category and on the concept of destituent politics
Conflitti ambientali. Esperti, politica, istituzioni nelle controversie ecologiche
No full textI temi di cui si occupa questo libro di per sé non sono nuovi. Tanto sui conflitti ambientali quanto sull’expertise esiste una considerevole letteratura. Che l’expertise sia ampiamente presente nelle politiche su ambiente, territorio e salute è poi riconosciuto da tempo. Questa tuttavia è forse la prima volta, almeno in Italia, che il legame tra conflitto e expertise viene affrontato in modo specifico. Il libro si muove quindi su un terreno incerto, dato anche l’odierno, ingarbugliato scenario.
Si tratta della crescente centralità e ambiguità del parere esperto nei conflitti su ambiente, territorio e tecnoscienza. Del suo farsi sempre più parte integrante di quella che studiosi come Tilly e Tarrow chiamano “politica del conflitto” (contentious politics): azioni collettive in cui si avanzano richieste che impattano sugli interessi di altri e nelle quali “sono coinvolti i governi in veste di obiettivo, di detonatori delle rivendicazioni o di terza parte
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