Unruly matters - the queer side of things (call for abstracts)

From colleagues (University of Copenhagen) we got this call:

"Call for papers for open panel for the 2012 joint 4S and EASST meeting

Unruly matters - the queer side of things

Chaired by Marie-Louise Holm (Linköping) and Sebastian Mohr (Copenhagen)

The unruly side of materialities has been the focus of much of feminist science and technology studies as well as queer theory. From the cyborg woman (Haraway 1991) and bodies that matter (Butler 1993) to queering the non/human (Giffney & Hird 2008) and queer phenomenology (Ahmed 2006) the queer side of things provided a pathway into materialities and their meanings for life worlds. This open panel wants to pose the question of unruly matters anew and seeks to explore contemporary intersections of queer theoretical perspectives and STS approaches to research on science, society, and technologies. How do materialities open up a possibility for queering the normalized? What normative frameworks are set up in order to regulate the inherently queer nature of things? What are the queer dimensions of technologies? How are technologies appropriated in queer settings? How can and do technologies queer research? Do materialities put restraints on a queer research agenda and if so, in which ways? How do technologies enable interventions in heteronormative scripts of gender and sexuality? And what could queer STS mean? This open panel invites scholars working empirically as well as theoretically at the crossroads of STS and queer theory to discuss and engage with these and other related questions, thereby exploring what a queer approach might contribute to STS. Furthermore, the panel wishes to stimulate the formation of a network of scholars working within these fields, thereby providing an opportunity to share work in progress and to exchange ideas.

Paper abstracts should be up to 250 words. They should include the main arguments, methodology, and their contribution to the STS literature. The title of papers should be up to 10 words. Please send your abstract for a paper to semo@sund.ku.dk and marie-louise.holm@liu.se.

There will be maximum three sessions within this panel of 1½-hour time slots with fifteen minutes per presentation. A session will consist of maximum five papers, one chairperson, and a fifteen-minute open discussion slot.

All presenters must have a user account with the submission system of the 4S/EASST meeting (see http://convention2.allacademic.com/one/ssss/4s12/). Submitters can create accounts on behalf of their co-authors and session participants, if necessary. Anyone who has participated in a 4S meeting in the last four years should already have a user account.

Deadline for submissions is 11th March 2012. Acception notifications will be given 1st May 2012.

For more information about the 4S/EASST meeting 2012 and other open panels, see www.easst.net/conferences/easst2012.shtml.

Please forward this call to anyone to whom it might be relevant."