TY - JOUR

T1 - The Coronavirus as Nature-Culture

T2 - Talking about Agency

AU - Schnabel, Annette

AU - Ülpenich, Bettina

PY - 2022/6

Y1 - 2022/6

N2 - We analyze how the coronavirus is fabricated at the interface between science and the public in order to be addressable by political strategies. By means of a content analysis of Christian Drosten's podcasts, we follow (1) how SARS-CoV-2 is constructed in order to be understood by non-scientists, (2) how the specialist becomes a public expert, and (3) how this co-fabrication takes place. This provides insight into the “fabrication” of meaning and of how uncertainty is transformed into knowledge during times of major risk through focusing on the perception of the virus itself. Out of a perspective of speech act theory-informed assemblage thinking, the analysis emphasizes the role of the known-unknown and of the temporality of developments in formatting both virus and expert.

AB - We analyze how the coronavirus is fabricated at the interface between science and the public in order to be addressable by political strategies. By means of a content analysis of Christian Drosten's podcasts, we follow (1) how SARS-CoV-2 is constructed in order to be understood by non-scientists, (2) how the specialist becomes a public expert, and (3) how this co-fabrication takes place. This provides insight into the “fabrication” of meaning and of how uncertainty is transformed into knowledge during times of major risk through focusing on the perception of the virus itself. Out of a perspective of speech act theory-informed assemblage thinking, the analysis emphasizes the role of the known-unknown and of the temporality of developments in formatting both virus and expert.

KW - Educational science

KW - experts

KW - fabrication

KW - pandemic

KW - qualitative research

KW - sociology of science

UR - https://www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journals/nature-and-culture/17/2/nature-and-culture.17.issue-2.xml

U2 - 10.3167/nc.2022.170201

DO - 10.3167/nc.2022.170201

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 17

SP - 119

EP - 143

JO - Nature and Culture

JF - Nature and Culture

SN - 1558-6073

IS - 2

ER -