Boundary Work and Boundary Objects
Synthesizing Two Concepts for Moments of Controversy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21411041 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jessica R Houf (0000-0001-6067-3934, Louisiana Tech University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 293-312 |
| Publication date | 2021-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0047-2816 • E-ISSN: 1541-3780 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0047281620947355 |
| OpenAlex | W3048869665 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 53 |
There are two boundary concepts utilized in technical and professional communication (TPC) scholarship: boundary work and, to a lesser degree, boundary objects. Boundary work functions to demarcate, incorporate, and expel particular ideas, groups, and practices from a field or profession. Boundary objects enhance the capacity of ideas, practices, and theories to translate across different groups. Together, these concepts are useful to TPC scholars interested in moments of controversy. In this essay, I explore the dialectical relationship between these two concepts and apply the resulting synthesis to a contemporary case study, the use of fecal microbiota transplants. I argue that the human microbiome functions as a boundary object and opens space within medicine’s own boundary work for the inclusion of fecal microbiota transplants. Together, the dialectical concepts of boundary work and boundary object create a new kind of analytic that allows TPC scholars to map boundary transformations, recognize moments for intervention, and create strategies for collaboration
Boundary (topology) · Boundary object · Boundary-work · Dialectic · Engineering ethics · Epistemology · Inclusion (mineral) · Mathematical analysis · Object (grammar) · Political science · Scholarship · Social science · Sociology · Work (physics) · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Empathy and Medical Education · Engineering · Higher Education Practises and Engagement · Interdisciplinary Research and Collaboration · Law · Mathematics · Mechanical Engineering · Philosophy
Yuck!
Perspective Making and Perspective Taking in Communities of Knowing
The politics of boundary objects
Sorting Things Out
Transdisciplinarity
Risk, Regulation, and Rhetorical Boundaries
Parameterizations as Boundary Objects on the Climate Arena
Institutional Ecology, `Translations' and Boundary Objects
Dirt, disgust and disease
Ways of Knowing and Inclusive Management Practices
Metajournalistic Discourse and the Meanings of Journalism
This is Not a Boundary Object
Boundary-Work and the Demarcation of Science from Non-Science
Flexible Sketches and Inflexible Data Bases
The untenable boundaries of biomedical knowledge
Some Elements of a Sociology of Translation
Boundary Objects, Social Meanings and the Success of New Technologies
Engineering Objects for Collaboration
Ethical boundary-work in the embryonic stem cell laboratory
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2026 (6) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |