| This dissertation focuses on the sociotechnical aspect of knowledge production in multidisciplinary, collaborative, and data-intensive scholarly practices, specifically focusing on the archaeological communities of practice. This research explores the logico-scientific and the narrative modes of knowing in the practice of archaeology. Much research has focused on the logico-scientific mode while little work has been done on the narrative mode of knowing. Drawing on theories developed in Science and Technology Studies (STS) and ethnographic and qualitative methods, archaeological narrative construction has been investigated at three levels. Based on theories of Communities of Practice (CoP) and Networks of Practice (NoP), this study presents an expanded conceptualization of archaeological NoP as a nexus of materially-mediated activities, which spans multiple CoPs. Three configurations of practice as Organizational CoPs, Disciplinary CoPs and NoPs are suggested. The process of archaeological knowledge production is conceptualized as the emergence of epistemic objects which are created in response to the breakdowns resulted from the observation of anomalies. The wider adoption of epistemic objects depends upon the researcher's ability to develop and stabilize a compelling theoretical narrative. The study findings suggest that the success of such narratives depends on the enrollment of allies through two strategies of reinforcement and expansion. Information recording objects play a crucial role in both strategies. The wider acceptance of a stabilized narrative in the global Networks of Practice, then, depends on the socio-political processes of the NoPs and the struggles for domination among power positions in the network as well as the larger cultural narratives. The deeper understanding of knowledge-in-practice achieved by this study will help us better address the design requirements of complex information ecologies for interpretive, multidisciplinary, and data-intensive practices such as archaeology. |
