Frames and justifications of a technoscientific practice: A discourse analysis of the sociological debate on surrogacy

Abstract

Combining discourse analysis derived from Science and Technology Studies (STS) and the analysis of modes of justification derived from the sociology of critique, this study examines the sociological literature on surrogacy to identify the different frames within which the phenomenon is conceptualized, and the evaluation principles involved. In this way, we will highlight the cognitive and normative grammars of social life underlying these discourses and the stakes involved in the epistemic stabilization of the practice, in the knowledge that discourses on GPA are performative practices that act on reality by contributing to shaping the very phenomena they discuss. In conclusion, building upon our analysis and its results, we will advance an epistemological reflection, in Weberian terms, on the possibilities and limits of sociological knowledge, particularly in relation to its contribution to public debate.