Mobilizing context: A proposal for conversations about context between transdisciplinary research, anthropology, and science and technology studies

In this paper, we explore the multifaceted role of context in transdisciplinary research, anthropology, and science and technology studies. Context should be understood as dynamic and constitutive, and not merely as a static background for research. This paper explores the multifaceted role of context in transdisciplinary research (TDR), anthropology, and science and technology studies (STS), concluding that context should be understood as dynamic and constitutive, not merely as a static background for research. While the notion is often addressed in TDR in relation to context-dependency and -sensitivity, especially concerning knowledge transfer, ethnographic approaches stress its iterative, relational, and performative character. Three concepts from anthropology and STS are introduced along with their potential to think about and work with context in TDR: 1. situated knowledges, 2. friction, and 3. partial connections. Perceiving context as supported by these concepts in TDR may contribute to 1. navigating different sets of knowledge to address real-world problems, 2. addressing friction between actors, not only as obstacles for innovation but also as a chance, and 3. grasping the potential and limits of comparison and generalization, moving beyond linear notions of knowledge transfer through partial connections.