New Call for Abstracts: 12th IAS-STS Annual Conference, May 6-7, 2013

The new Call for Abstracts for our annual conference is out! For next year we have two special sessions we would like to point out to: The first is organised by us, the other one is co-organised by two Queer STS-members. Here are the descriptions of said sessions, for the full CfA see the website of IAS-STS.

Special Session: Queer perspectives on STS
The working group 'Queer STS' questions hegemonic values and norms in society, in particular in science and technology research. We are interested in marginalised perpectives and boundary processes that lead to their marginalisation. This implies not only the original meaning of 'queer' related to non-heterosexualities and to a critique of heteronormativity but a broader understanding of the term: We critically review how especially science and technology-related research contribute to the perpetuation of inclusion and exclusion, norms and marginalisations, biologisations of social constructs, etc. For this session we invite researchers and scholars dealing with similar questions and perspectives to contribute and participate in discussion and networking. Contributions can be theoretical considerations, empirical work in progress or finished studies.

Special Session: Social justice and Diversity
For this session the IFZ-working group „Social Justice and Diversity“ is looking for contributions which deal with the technology access and participation in technology development in the context of social justice, and how the issue of diversity plays a crucial part in these processes (e.g. age, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, socio-economic status, etc.). Contributions can be (among others) on topics as:

• Access to technological goods and services (medical treatment, education, energy-saving technologies, etc.) and the distribution of resources (e.g. energy poverty)
• Provision of infrastructure and social inclusion
• Environmental or climate justice
• Informal technology-based learning as a means of democratization and participation in political arenas through new media technologies
• Participation in socially fair and environmentally sustainable production and consumption
• Inclusion of the diverse needs of various social groups in technology development
• Representations of social groups in public discourse on aspects of individual lives (choice of profession, personal interests, relationships, etc.) and social structures as such