Configurations

Michael, Mike.
Wainwright, Steven P.
Williams, Clare, 1954-
Temporality and Prudence: On Stem Cells as "Phronesic Things"
Configurations - Volume 13, Number 3, Fall 2005, pp. 373-394

The Johns Hopkins University Press

Mike Michael and Steven P. Wainwright and Clare Williams - Temporality and Prudence: On Stem Cells as "Phronesic Things" - Configurations 13:3 Configurations 13.3 (2005) 373-394 Muse Search Journals This Journal Contents Temporality and Prudence: On Stem Cells as "Phronesic Things" Mike Michael Goldsmiths University of London Steven P. Wainwright King's College LondonUniversity of London Clare Williams King's College LondonUniversity of London In this paper we explore the temporalities entailed in scientists' accounts of their research into the use of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) to develop beta cells for the treatment of diabetes. Stem cell scientists, by virtue of working in what is still a controversial field, find themselves engaged with a variety of more or less transparent futures, or more or less cogent expectations, about the trajectories of their research. In this paper, we initially examine a number of dimensions to these futures. At the formal level, we consider -- in contrast to much of the sociological literature on futures and expectations, which has primarily focused upon the performativity of futures that are concrete, transparent, or well-articulated -- futures whose import lies in their very opacity, vagueness, or immanence. We do this with the aid of Hans-Jörg Rheinberger's notions of "epistemic things" and "technical objects," primarily because this dichotomy reflects the divergent temporalities of, respectively, immanent and...