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Cambridge Journal of Economics Advance Access published online on September 22, 2009
Cambridge Journal of Economics, doi:10.1093/cje/bep044
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved.

On making infrastructure visible: putting the non-humans to rights

Trevor Pinch*

* Department of Science and Technology Studies, Cornell University

Address for correspondence: Department of Science and Technology Studies, 309 Rockefeller Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA; email: tjp2{at}cornell.edu

Using the author's own experiences in local politics, the paper examines several cases in which pieces of mundane infrastructure are contested. The cases include eruvs, traffic-calming technologies, and invisible dog fences. The argument is that in contra distinction to abstract philosophical approaches to technology, the social construction of technology (SCOT) needs to return to the examination of the mundane embeddedness of technologies in everyday life. It is argued that an adequate approach to the role of the human and the non-human should not buy into a distinction between ontology and epistemology but instead should focus upon the contested interaction of humans and non-humans in everyday life and thereby restore the analysis of intentionality and meaning to its rightful place at the core of the sociology of technology.

Key Words: Sociology • Technology • Non-humans • Ontology • Infrastructure

JEL classifications: A10

Manuscript received April 21, 2008; final version received June 15, 2009.


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