The Entanglement of Gender and Physics

Götschel, Helene

doi:10.23987/sts.55270

Cited by 7 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 59 publications

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“…As Connell (1995: 81) Indeed, when new new fields of science and technology emerge they are often more open to women than later when they become established. We can see this in the large number of women who worked in radioactivity in the early twentieth century (Götschel 2010) and in the emerging computing field (Abbate 2012). Such examples suggest the importance of social power in constructing gendered possibilities.…”

Section: What Is Gender?mentioning

confidence: 91%

Gender and physics: a sociological approach

Mendick¹

2016

Phys. Educ.

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In this paper, I take a sociological approach to understanding the under-representation of gender and physics. I argue that gender is something we do not something that we are. Thus, every aspect of our behaviour, including our engagement (or not) with physics becomes part of our performance of gender. I then use a brief historical analysis and an example from popular culture to show how physics is culturally aligned with masculinity. The impact is that the subject feels more ‘natural’ for men than for women. I end with some of the implications of this for those who want to make physics more accessible to girls and women. (EDITORS NOTE: This paper was given at the Improving Gender Balance (IGB) conference in Cambridge, UK, in March 2015, organised by the Institute of Physics. This conference was for schools and their supporters who were part of the IGB strand of the Stimulating Physics Network, funded by the Department for Education. It aimed to summarise some of the sociological perspectives on girls and physics for the benefit of the teachers attending the conference. We feel that it may be a useful summary for those teachers of physics who are unfamiliar with sociological approaches to gender and the classroom.)

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Section: What Is Gender?mentioning

confidence: 91%

Gender and physics: a sociological approach

Mendick¹

2016

Phys. Educ.

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Norms of Testimony in Broad Interdisciplinarity: The Case of Quantum Mechanics in Critical Theory

Jaksland

2020

J Gen Philos Sci

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While much interdisciplinarity brings together proximate fields, broad interdisciplinarity sees integration between disciplines that are perceived to be non-neighboring. This paper argues that the heterogeneity among disciplines in broad interdisciplinarity calls for stricter epistemic norms of testimony for experts that act as translators between the disciplines than those suggested for intra-scientific testimony. The paper is structured around two case studies: the affective turn in social theorizing and the use of quantum mechanics in critical theory as exemplified by Vicky Kirby’s use of work by Karen Barad. These are argued to be instances of broad interdisciplinary borrowing where few translators have joint expertise in both disciplines. For most, therefore, the engagement with for instance the integration between quantum mechanics and critical theory is possible only by the aid of translators. For those without sufficient interactional expertise, however, the epistemic credentials of the translations they inevitably rely upon are inscrutable. Furthermore, any comparison between translations is challenged since translations are argued to be few due to the cognitive divergence between disciplines in broad interdisciplinarity. Consequently, the epistemic integrity of broad interdisciplinarity can only be secured through additional norms of testimony for translators. The paper proposes that (a) all translator’s testimony in broad interdisciplinarity must aim to be neutral with respect to disputed issues within the relevant disciplines and (b) any deviation from (a) must be clearly highlighted.

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Naturalized, Fundamental, and Feminist Metaphysics All at Once: The Case of Barad's Agential Realism

Jaksland

2024

Hypatia

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An apparent antagonism exists between fundamentality-focused mainstream metaphysics such as naturalized metaphysics—a metaphysics inspired and constrained by the findings of our best science—and feminist metaphysics whose subject matter is typically non-fundamental social reality. Taking Karen Barad's agential realism as a case study, this paper argues that these may not be in conflict after all. Agential realism is a metaphysical framework founded on quantum mechanics which shares the characteristic features of naturalized metaphysics. But Barad finds warrant to extend the scope of agential realism all the way to theorizing about our lifeworld as exemplified by her profound influence on feminist new materialism. Thus, this case study indicates that there does not have to be a division between fundamental and feminist metaphysics. The broad intended scope of agential realism is challenged by the success of Newtonian mechanics as an approximation of quantum mechanics, but certain aspects of agential realism promise to be robust under such approximation. If this is so, then Barad provides us with a metaphysics that is naturalized, fundamental, and feminist all at once.

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The Entanglement of Gender and Physics

Cited by 7 publications

References 59 publications

Gender and physics: a sociological approach

Gender and physics: a sociological approach

Norms of Testimony in Broad Interdisciplinarity: The Case of Quantum Mechanics in Critical Theory

Naturalized, Fundamental, and Feminist Metaphysics All at Once: The Case of Barad's Agential Realism

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