Sociotechnical imaginaries (SIs) have emerged as a popular and generative concept within Science and Technology Studies (STS). This article draws out the affective component of SIs, combining a review of relevant literatures with an empirical case study of an anti-fracking imaginary in Ireland to suggest how we might theorize an affective technopolitics of SIs. The literature review identifies three key aspects of SIs that would benefit from a more coherent conceptualization of affect: the utopian, productive, and collectivizing dimensions of imaginaries. Emotions such as desire and fear appear prominently in the SI literature, but in ways that require development. Using empirical examples from my research, I outline what this developed understanding of emotions in imaginaries might look like. I examine the role that emotions played in the development and settlement of an anti-fracking imaginary in Ireland, highlighting how the intensive, multimodal, and dynamic nature of affect underpinned the productive, collective, and utopian dimensions of the SI. I conclude with some remarks about how this developed theory of emotion positions STS researchers to address issues of humanity, representation, and the building of better worlds.

中文翻译：

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心灵与思想：情感在社会技术想象中的技术政治作用。


社会技术想象 （SI） 已成为科学与技术研究 （STS） 中一个流行的生成概念。本文将相关文献的回顾与爱尔兰反水力压裂想象的实证案例研究相结合，提出了我们如何将 SI 的情感技术政治理论化，从而得出了 SI 的情感成分。文献综述确定了 SI 的三个关键方面，这些方面将从更连贯的情感概念化中受益：想象的乌托邦、生产和集体化维度。欲望和恐惧等情绪在 SI 文献中占有突出地位，但其方式需要发展。使用我研究中的经验例子，我概述了这种对想象中情绪的发达理解可能是什么样子。我研究了情绪在爱尔兰反水力压裂想象的发展和解决中所起的作用，强调了情感的密集、多模态和动态性质如何支撑 SI 的生产性、集体性和乌托邦维度。最后，我谈到了这种发达的情感理论如何使 STS 研究人员能够解决人性、代表性和建设更美好世界的问题。