The Demonstration Society

“Rosental has a gift for making us see the world differently, as he provides the vocabulary needed to study crucial but often invisible and understudied aspects of reality. The Demonstration Society is a tour de force.”

Michèle Lamont, Harvard University; author of How Professors Think

“This is a rich and resonant exploration of the complex relationships between performing demonstrations—scientific, technological, cultural, political—and the realities of what is demonstrated. Rosental puts demonstration center stage in the theaters of late modernity.”

Steven Shapin, Harvard University; author of The Scientific Life

“Protest marches, PowerPoint presentations, and demos of makeup products—what are the differences and connections between such varied performances of proof and persuasion? Claude Rosental brings a keen sociological eye to these pervasive practices of a demo-cratic society.”

David Stark, Columbia Unversity, editor of The Performance Complex

“The Demonstration Society is a brilliant challenge to social studies of science and technology, studies of social movements, and the sociology of culture. Through beautifully crafted case studies, Rosental shows how the “making public” of things has become key to contemporary life. Revelatory performances help constitute the cultural fabric of everyday life and shared conceptions of reality. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't, but demonstrations matter in many domains of social life from politics and mathematics to demos of new technology at MIT.”

Chandra Mukerji, Distinguished Professor Emerita, University of California, San Diego

“The Demonstration Society's audience is not limited to social scientists thanks to its great clarity. Its readership is much wider and includes professionals and citizens. The analysis of a deeply multidisciplinary object it offers is unique, original, and intelligible to everyone.”

Camille Capelle, University of Bordeaux