Doing Theory: Life, Ethics, And Force

Doing Theory:Life, Ethics, And Force Stefan Helmreich (bio), Daniela Gandorfer and Zulaikha Ayub (bio) Introduction: Theory "Theory is about whose lives matter how." —Stefan Ayub: In this Matterphorical issue, we want to think the production of meaning in its inextricability from matter, with understood not as representational (i.e. a semiotic or symbolic quality quantity), but rather something constantly being carried (phora/ϕορά) "with," "after" "between" (meta-/μετα-) semantic domains while also always traveling through an entanglement matter—where "matter" fixed substance, but, following Karen Barad's claim, "substance intra-active becoming," such "not situated world" "worlding materiality."1 We are concerned those political, aesthetic, legal, social, technological, physical, environmental entanglements that only shape onto-epistemologically constitutive processes knowledge transmission. interested, other words, theory—not way conceptualizing, mode making sense sensing material-discursive practices. assume neither singular nor universal approach theory, seek modes traverse disciplines, genres analysis, fields knowledge. understand it, means working collaboratively than under assumption ideas products ingenious minds, be owned defended by their authors, articulated intellectual spatial isolation. think, thus, 'theory' abstract, doing theory. wanted talk you because have found your work helpful us project. Across anthropological been interested how scientists—in life sciences, oceanography, acoustics, social theory—make claims tacking back forth between concepts practice. So, for example, Silicon Second Nature: Culturing Artificial Life Digital World; Alien [End Page 158] Ocean: Anthropological Voyages Microbial Seas; Sounding Limits Life, offer ethnographic accounts communities biologists who investigating limits category 'life. Your research has centered on three cases: computational theoretical biologists, marine microbiologists, astrobiologists. You investigate scientists each these life: framing encompassing theory biological realm (as, e.g., theories "life" it genre information processing or, instead, auto- symbiopoietic unfolding), empirical finding edge cases vitality deep sea, where bacteria use chemosynthesis, photosynthesis), practice biotechnological intervention may result new biotic things amplify what counts "biology," flesh discipline. addition work, written transformations dominant scientific accountings concepts/phenomena "sex/gender," "race," "culture," "seawater," "sound," and, recently, "waves." But let start another concept/phenomenon you've examined: Theory, write "at once abstraction well thing world," which why might "think set above simply deriving rather, crossing transversely."2 suggest, too, scholars others operate "athwart theory," "tacking seeing explanatory tools taking them phenomena examined."3 infer thinking you, world. such, inextricable forces involved becoming world(s). Interestingly, often refers forces—to different kinds, including: motive forces4 ; human non-human forces; economic forces5 sociocultural formatting forces6 structuring forces.7 let's loop before getting question force: What you? Helmreich: First off, thanks so much organizing conversation. I've been...