Experimentation in the sociology of science: Representational and generative registers in the imitation game

The ‘experiment’ has been a central topic in the history and so- ciology of science, especially since Science & Technology Studies (STS) set out to empirically study the segregated laboratory spaces where scientific experimentation takes place (Collins, 1985; Knorr-Cetina, 1981; Latour & Woolgar, 1979). Historical approaches focused on un- derstanding how the experimental mode of knowledge production be- came dominant in the natural sciences, and to what effects (Shapin and Shaffer, 1985). The perception that experiments are primarily conducted within the laboratory has quickly evaporated. Thus, we find an increasing em- phasis on public experiments (Horst, 2011; Laurent, 2016; Marres, 2009). Some authors even view experimentation as a main component of our society. Whether denoted as collective experiments (Gross, 2010; Latour, 2011), hybrid forums (Callon, Lascoumes, & Barthe, 2009), ‘real-world experiments’ (Gross & Hoffmann-Riem, 2005) or ‘cultures of experimentation’ (Schwarz, 2016), such concepts point towards the everyday forms of collective experimentation needed to deal with so- ciotechnical controversies that ‘spill over’ the boundaries of the la- boratory, create uncertainty and bring about unforeseen concerns.

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