Oltre i confini. Il genere in laboratorio, la storia della scienza e gli STS

The article offers an overview of recent laboratory work on gender that, it is claimed, should contribute to expand our understanding of the interactions among the natural and the social sciences. The first part of the article presents several cases illustrating the increasing trend, among researchers in the life sciences, to adopt integrated approaches which draw on interpretive frameworks developed by the social sciences, especially by studies on Science, Technology and Society (STS). The second part focuses on some of the results that, since the 1980s, these approaches have attained in gender studies, giving rise to interpretations and practices that are hybrid from the outset.