Alignment Work and Epistemic Cultures

Abstract

This article closes the special issue Alignment Work for the Movement of Knowledge. It argues that the concept of alignment work, through making it possible to think about collaborations of different epistemic cultures, provides a useful addition to Knorr Cetina’s (1999) concept, keeping it relevant for current concerns in Science and Technology Studies (STS). The article discusses central issues in STS, concerning how different academic and professional cultures exchange knowledge, including trading zones, boundary objects, and aspects of Actor-Network Theory, alongside an interest in epistemic cultures and knowledge production. We argue and demonstrate how knowledge exchange can be understood through epistemic differences and their persistence in collaborative work.