From a Modest Witness to Situated Knowledges. On the Advantages of Feminist Science and Technology Studies

Abstract

The idea of a modest witness comes from the tradition of rational, empirical and objective scientific knowledge attained by an impartial, neutral researcher. In the article I present the advantages of the reformulation of such an understanding of that notion. I also enumerate the benefits of the approach based on the idea of situated knowledges, which has been proposed by Donna Haraway in her feminist science and technology studies. According to her, we are able to obtain knowledges only from a certain point of view, shaped by given values and tools. Such knowledges change both the knowing subject and the object which has been researched. Situated knowledges deprecate reductionist scientific empiricism which separates itself from any economical, technological or political influence and allow to gain more complete knowledge, and to make scientific practices more egalitarian and inclusive.