Before I jump too far into my notes below… I still firmly believe that there is much to be learned from women who have made a space for themselves in the world of agonistic sports. My personal favorite is of course women hockey players (http://ckodonnell.blogspot.com/2006/03/what-women-gamers-can-learn-from.html).

So I’m sure you’re right. I’ve maintained something similar with regard to the much younger science and technology studies for a long time now (http://www.4sonline.org/technoscience/documents/TechnoscienceSummer2004.pdf), that a more humorous/playful/participating stance is far better than what typically gets played out at the beginning (though it can be necessary at the beginning). Isabelle Stengers has something to say on this as well (“Relearning to Laugh”, Hypatia, V15(4)), about the “loss of our sense of humor.” Especially in relation to things we take quite seriously. Being capable of playfulness or humor does not make what we do any less serious, just less so god dang arduous.

So I see much of what a new generation of scholars are fighting for in what you’re going for here as well. I caution you only briefly (and then encourage you) that senior scholars have gotten so used to fighting that they’re frightened to relearn how to laugh. My “vision” statement for STS circulated amongst the faculty recently. “Reviews” have been mixed, coming solidly down on the line of either really liking it, or hating it. I’m used to this position. In many respects you might be able to substitute “feminism” for many of my points.

I believe that STS, whatever that might be, can be more, can do more, and can say more. We need to remember that we too participate in the production of knowledge and knowledge systems. As such, our accounts ought not be made sneeringly or disconnected from the communities we choose to critically inhabit. We need some new punchlines and affective orientations. It is no longer enough for us to point and say “social,” “network,” “unjust,” “no,” “bad,” or “wrong.” We need to relearn how to laugh and how to have fun. We’re all game designers in the game of STS and science and technology, and as such we can predictably make it militaristic, violent, or vitriolic. Or we can play a game of Cat’s Cradle. The choice is yours, and mine.

Hear-hear!! Great article.