From problematisation to propositionality: Advancing southern urban infrastructure debates
From problematisation to propositionality: Advancing southern urban infrastructure debates
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从问题化到命题性：推进南方城市基础设施辩论
DOI：
10.1111/tran.12537
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发表时间：
2022
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Baptista I
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Baptista I
在这篇文章中，我们探讨了命题性的概念，以推动南方城市基础设施的辩论朝着更预期的学术形式发展。通过命题性，我们指的是一种研究敏感性，首先，也是最重要的是，根据自己的条件，对基础设施的未来提出建议。虽然关于南方城市基础设施的学术研究在概念和方法创新方面卓有成效，但我们认为，目前的问题化模式并不适合这一命题意图。这种形式的问题化在概念上侧重于解构和批判，在方法上与社区规模的异质性联系在一起，倾向于产生关于“是什么”的局部知识，但为阐明“可能是什么”提供了有限的途径。在简要介绍之后，文章回顾了南方城市基础设施研究的主要概念和方法贡献以及主要研究模式的局限性。然后，我们将探索一种不同的问题化模式，作为迈向命题研究敏感性的第一步，其次是对涵盖三个方面的初步命题技能集的概述：更有效地动员技术知识；重视部门和标量的特殊性；解决规范性的挑战。我们的论点借鉴了南方学术、科学技术研究（STS）和实用主义的文献，以及我们和其他人进行的实证研究。在文章的最后，我们呼吁南方城市学者进一步思考如何将我们带入一个命题空间，更好地与我们所代表和关心的人和事接触。
In this article, we explore the notion of propositionality to advance southern urban infrastructure debates towards more anticipatory forms of scholarship. By propositionality, we mean a research sensibility that engages, first and foremost, with propositions for infrastructure futures on their own terms. While scholarship on infrastructures in southern cities has contributed to very fruitful conceptual and methodological innovations, we argue that the current mode of problematisation does not lend itself to this propositional intent. Conceptually focused on deconstruction and critique and methodologically tied to heterogeneity at the community scale, this form of problematisation tends to produce localised knowledge about what is, but offers limited avenues for articulating what could be. After a brief introduction, the article provides a review of the main conceptual and methodological contributions and limitations of the dominant modes of researching southern urban infrastructure. We then explore a different mode of problematisation as the first step towards a propositional research sensibility, followed by an overview of a preliminary propositional skill set covering three aspects: mobilising technical knowledge more effectively; appreciating sectoral and scalar specificity; and addressing the challenges of normativity. Our arguments draw on literature from southern scholarship, science and technology studies (STS), and pragmatism, as well as empirical work conducted by ourselves and others. We conclude the article with a call for further reflection among southern urban scholars on ways to move us into a propositional space that better engages with the people and things we speak for and care about.