On the Emergence of Science and Justice

Abstract

In the last few years, justice has emerged as a matter of concern for the contemporary constitution of technoscience. Increasingly, both practicing scientists and engineers and scholars of science and technology cite justice as an organizing theme of their work. In this essay, I consider why “science and justice” might be arising now. I then ask after the opportunities, but also the dangers, of this formation. By way of example, I explore the openings and exclusions created by the recent conjugation of science and justice in the field of personal genomics. Finally, I conclude with reflections on what other forms “science and justice” might take, and what might be gained or lost in fostering them.

Shifting metaphors in direct-to-consumer genetic testing: from genes as information to genes as big data

“…23andMe, which has quickly become a major player in consumer genetics and private biobanking raises the possibility that these kinds of companies begin to not only influence the way in which lay customers perceive their health but also shape health research. In this situation there is a danger that data ---such as data on social and environmental inequalities --which does not fit the agenda of entrepreneurial individualism, biotech and profit making gets increasingly downplayed and ignored in preventive healthcare and research (Reardon, 2013). So, the political questions raised by 23andMe extend beyond consumer protection and towards critical issues vis a vis health and data both highlighted and hidden (Lakoff & Johnson, 2008) by the ontological metaphor of big data: What kinds of data are considered important or become data in the first place?…”

Caster Semenya, Gender Verification and the Politics of Fairness in an Online Track & Field Community

“…However, for feminists in sport, it must also be acknowledged that this approach leaves open the possibility that should convincing evidence emerge that links testosterone levels to athletic achievement, sex testing policies would have to be considered an ethical practice in women's sport. Paraphrasing Reardon (2013), when gender justice in sport depends on science for its authority, we may fail to inquire into the organization of sport itself, reducing feminist strategy to the fight for more and better inclusion.…”

Fables of Response-ability: Feminist Science Studies as Didactic Literature

“…In Fables of technoscience, power, and privilege, but in doing so, to show that these developments are socially and historically contingent, not the result of inevitable scientific progress. As S. Leigh Star (1991) proposed response-ability as a term that might whet our imaginations for more relational ethics and politics enacted in everyday practices of living in our more-than-human world (Haraway, 2008(Haraway, , 2012Myers, 2006;Schrader, 2010;Hayward, 2010;Barad, 2012;Hustak & Myers, 2012;Reardon, 2013;Reardon et al, 2015). The feminist ethic of response-ability focuses not on being responsible but on learning how to respond and "opening up possibilities for different kinds of responses" (Schrader, 2010, p. 299).…”