On materiality and performativity

Within the last decade new modes of thinking materiality have gained prominence in philosophy, cultural studies and the social sciences (Coole/Frost 2010; Fox/Alldred 2017). This ‘material turn’ or ‘new materialism’ is in large parts a reaction and corrective to culturalism, textualism and social constructivism (Packer/Wiley 2012).

One dominant line of argument comes from science and technology studies (STS) that recognized in their case studies of scientific and engineering practices the material activities from settings and devices. Most prominent discussions of materiality within STS come from feminist STS and from actor-network theory (ANT). The talk wants to look closer at two versions of these approaches, which both discuss materiality with regard to the notion of performativity. Through what she calls a “diffractive reading” of Niels Bohr alongside Foucault, Karen Barad comes to an understanding of “posthumanist performativity” which is grounded in discussions of feminism (Barad 2003; 2007). Michel Callon rethinks ANT and their key term translation through the notion of performativity since his turn from studying science and engineering to economy and economics.

 Both, Callon and Barad, plea for a post-representational mode of engaging with worlds and for an alternative understanding of matter as performative, active and lively. However, Barad refers more to an „ethico-onto-epistemo-logy“ while Callon uses an understanding of material performativity to highlight the entanglements of sociotechnical arrangements and its political dimension.