Not a Given Object. What Historians can Learn from the Reflexive Turn in Migration Studies

Abstract

As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, those adept in science and technology studies are either having a field day, or they are annoyingly unsurprised by the course of events. This is not so much because they saw the crisis coming (they probably didn’t), but because so much of contemporary politic-making can be explained by the mechanics of truth-making and the production of expertise. The present situation offers many insights into the globalized world of today, and it is particularly revealing when it comes to the remarkable influence of scientific data and their translation into different fields. The controversial character of the translation process derives from the very fact that knowledge, even scientific knowledge, is context-dependent. It is a distinctly volatile good that is constantly transformed by its use in different public spheres, epistemic fields, and political realms.