Author

Susan Leigh Star

United States · 1954–2010

Susan Leigh Star was an American sociologist, historian of science, information scholar, and community activist whose work transformed the study of scientific knowledge, classification systems, infrastructure, and collaborative practice. Although internationally recognised for her pioneering contributions to Science and Technology Studies (STS), Star also participated in the early lesbian Leather movement through her involvement with SAMOIS and her contribution to *Coming to Power*, one of the foundational anthologies of lesbian S/M history. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Star was part of the emerging San Francisco community that sought to create spaces where consensual lesbian BDSM could be explored through education, dialogue, mutual support, and ethical practice. Her participation in *Coming to Power* reflects this formative period, when many future scholars, writers, and activists were simultaneously engaged in community building and intellectual reflection. Beyond her involvement in Leather history, Star became one of the most influential thinkers in the sociology of knowledge. Working at the intersection of sociology, information science, philosophy, and anthropology, she developed influential concepts—including *boundary objects* and the study of invisible infrastructures—that continue to shape research across disciplines ranging from archival science and library studies to healthcare, computing, and organisational theory. Star's scholarship consistently explored how communities create, organise, preserve, and share knowledge. Her work emphasised that systems of classification are never neutral but instead reflect cultural values, social negotiations, and historical contexts. These ideas have had lasting influence on the study of archives, digital libraries, information management, and collaborative knowledge systems. Within The Library of The Cellars, Susan Leigh Star is preserved as a unique figure whose legacy bridges community participation and intellectual inquiry. Her presence in *Coming to Power* reminds us that the early Leather movement included individuals who would later make profound contributions far beyond BDSM itself, demonstrating how communities devoted to consensual power exchange have also intersected with broader histories of scholarship, culture, and the preservation of knowledge.