Showing papers by "Susan Leigh Star published in 1990"

Power, technology and the phenomenology of conventions: on being allergic to onions

Abstract: On the one hand, recent studies in sociology of science and technology have been concerned to address the issue of heterogeneity: how different elements, and different perspectives, are joined in the creation of sociotechnical networks. At the same time, there is concern to understand the nature of stabilization of large scale networks, by means that include processes of standardization. This paper examines the model of heterogeneity put forth in the actor network model of Latour and Calion, particularly as a managerial or entrepreneurial model of actor networks. It explores alternative models of heterogeneity and multivocality, including splitting selves in the face of violence, and multiple membership/marginality, as for example experienced by women of colour. The alternative explanatioQs draw on feminist theory and symbolic interactionism. A theory of multiple membership is developed, which examines the interaction between standardizing technologies and human beings qua members of multiple social worlds, as well as qua 'cyborgs' humans-with-machines.

Conceptual foundations for the development of organizational decision support systems

Abstract: It is noted that the effort to construct organizational decision support systems (ODSS) is new to the field of information systems but draws heavily on previous experience with decision support systems (DSS) and group decision support systems (GDSS). The conceptual foundations of this new venture are not well established, but the most logical approach to designing ODSS would be to simply scale-up GDSS technologies to deal with larger groups at the organizational level. However, a careful examination of the character of decision processes at the individual, group, and organizational level suggests that organizational decision processes differ significantly from group decision processes, and features of GDSS that are useful at the group level might well be dysfunctional at the organizational level. Simple scale-up is therefore not a recommended approach. Instead, a broader view of organizational decision processes as an open-system problem is presented, in which ODSS technologies might be constructed to facilitate two important, existing features of group decision making: the maintenance of articulated due process and the establishment of boundary objects. >

Universality Biases How Theories About Human Nature Succeed

Abstract: This article analyzes the strategies and means by which universalist claims about human nature become successful in science. Of specific interest are the conditions under which claims of this sort are taken to be inherently superior to those which are particularistic or context-specific (a hierarchy of values which we term "universality bias"). We trace the birth of universalists claims in neglected fields, their growth through methodological agreements and the use of invisible referents, and their roots in multiple audiences with different evaluation criteria. Our analysis complements philosophical and political critiques of theories about human nature and demonstrates the historical specificity of universalist claims.