Can Knowledge be (a) Performative?

The growing interest in the concepts of performance and performativity has sparked a renewed focus on their potential value for modern approaches to knowledge creation. Drawing inspiration from various fields such as performance studies, philosophy of language, literary theory, gender studies, and postconstructivist science and technology studies, the author suggests exploring knowledge from the perspective of its performative nature. The notion of "knowledge as performative" highlights the deeply transformative and contextually rooted aspect of knowledge, which is seen both as an outcome and an ongoing process. This perspective emphasizes its open-ended, dynamic, fleeting, and multifaceted characteristics, its active involvement with the world, and its interactions within power structures, lacking straightforward paths or easily quantifiable results. Thus, adopting the idea of knowledge as performative necessitates changes in both the descriptive language and the central issues addressed. These changes primarily concern the nature and environments of knowledge production, the broadly defined concept of effectiveness, the interplay with power and ethics, and the overarching question of defining the role of science in contemporary society.