Modest-Witness, Second-Millennium: Femaleman Meets Oncomouse : Feminism and Technoscience

Rating:
Summary: Very witty writing
Review: Donna Haraway is without question America's most gifted postmodern cultural critic. In this book, Haraway considers the realms of "technoscience," focussing mostly on genetic research, to consider how this emerging science constructs race, gender, and human relations. Haraway is an extremely witty writer and a true humanitarian, dedicated to questioning those cultural assumptions which hurt so many social groups. Well written, well organized, well illustrated (by Lynn Randolph)... a great book.

Rating:
Summary: Postmodern tropes that get lost
Review: Haraway attempts to pull together many different disciplines, thoughts, and ideas in her book, but unfortunately there is no praxis.

The book is written and directed towards scientists, but from the outset the book alienates them.

The book has very little to substanciate the ideas, other than self referencing.

The ideas presented are interesting, and if you are able to delve through layers of meta-linguistic jargon the Modest_Witness could perhaps have a good discussion, but her synthetic form of muddled argumentation makes for a poor read.

The ideas could have been presented with the tropes in a much clearer manner, the theories could have been supplied with some way to put them into action.

I urge anyone who attempts to read this book, to thoroughly question the ideas presented in an attempt to find real world possible applications.

Rating:
Summary: Hopefully, the future of science studies
Review: Haraway's work is stunning in the risks she takes. Refusing to buy into categorical distinctions between disciplines, Haraway references and subreferences science, literature, technology, art, and anything else that could possibly be used to emphasize the cultural production of knowledge. I disagree with just about all of Haraway's conclusions about capitalism, but I love what she says about technology, and find in her work a fresh and innovative alternative to that of stuffy analytic philosophers and overly pedantic sociologists of science. Not the easiest read, but worth a look if you're into SSK, STS, HPS or any other initials having to do with the study of science. Whether you take the book to bed with you at night or toss it out the nearest fifth story window, Haraway's work is bound to impress. Check it out.