Inhabiting Games Well (If not Uncomfortably...)

It is significant to see the field of Game Studies asking the questions associated with this special issue on “Theories of Well Played.” As a scholar of Science and Technology Studies (STS) I have had the privilege of growing up in a field that has long struggled with how to position itself with regard to it’s subject of interest (Latour, 2004; Collins, 2002; Jasanoff, 2003). STS, as a field, remains largely interested in exploring the structure and work of scientific and technological practice. I have maintained that thinking of scientific and technology production as a game makes sense. As an Anthropologist, I am also fortunate; the field continues to ask very similar questions about researcher and researched (Marcus & Fischer, 1999). Thus, it was with much delight that I observed this special call for Well Played, which provided the opportunity to return to some of the reflexive questions that framed much of my early graduate career and continue to haunt my work today.