Workshop at EASST2018: Meetings - Making Science, Technology and Society together

25-28th July 2018, Lancaster University, UK

The WS (AW02 ) takes place at Welcome Centre- Lecture Theatre 2
1st session 11-12:30
2nd session 14:00-15:30

Background:

Infrastructure and infrastructuring are two concepts that are increasingly mobilized by STS scholars in order to understand, map, and even reconfigure encounters between people, things, and environments (e.g. Special issue on Knowledge Infrastructures in S&TS 2016(29):1-4). Star and Ruhleder (1996) asked: “When is an infrastructure?” in order to draw attention to the situated and relational qualities of infrastructures. Currently a variety of characterizations of infrastructuring exist that continue to explore the “How to infrastructure?” question posed by Star and Bowker (2002). These notions further highlight the processual, ‘in the making’ aspects that arise at different meeting points between people, their social organizations, and the technologies that they use. Associated empirical studies elaborate on “what is actually being done and taking place in infrastructuring?”

This workshop invites members of the STS community to take stock of the recent empirical insights and conceptual developments around the concept of infrastructuring. The aim is to collectively and critically map them, disentangle assumptions, identify blind spots, and chart new research opportunities. We will do this through a hands-on approach in which we will read closely, break apart, and analyse key infrastructure/infrastructuring discussions.

Instructions for participants:

1) Write a message to the workshop organizers, providing a few sentences about your interest in participating (to: andrea.boterocabrera AT oulu.fi). Preferably before 30th of March but definitively as soon as you register.

2) Pre-register for the workshop in the EASST site WS page) Participation in this WS does not affect your possibility to present a paper in a panel during the conference. (UPDATE: places are filled, thanks for the interest)

3) Workshop organizers will be in touch with all registered participants to agree on the next steps, slots available,  (preliminary readings, what to bring to the WS, etc.)

Pre-workshop

Participants will work together (online) to select related articles and case studies beforehand, to prepare insights that can help us in identifying and organizing issues pertinent to the WS. We will also ask participants to think about and bring with them an object (or several), image or drawing that responds to the prompt: What does infrastructuring look like? When does it look like that?

Workshop

As a starting point to the collective effort we propose to “draw together” (Latour 2008): “What does infrastructuring look like? and even more importantly: “When does it look like that?” (Star & Ruhleder 1996). That means we will be discussing, sketching, drawing, writing, making, building, and glueing (maybe even sewing?) stuff, ideas, and concepts together prior and during the WS. This is the preliminary structure for the 2 sessions (90 min x 2):

- Introductions and warm up exercise

- Group work and discussions around selected issues and themes

- Joint conclusions and next steps

After the workshop

We can continue building upon the work done together if there is interest. One concrete option is to propose a workshop report for EASST review (feasibility need to be checked with the editors), using text and images from the joint work. Other ideas including joint articles, an annotated reference collection, etc, can also be developed.

Organizers

Karen Baker (Oulu University, FIN)

Andrea Botero (Oulu University, FIN)

Hanne Cecilie Geirbo (Oslo University)

Helena Karasti (Oulu University, FIN)

Sanna Marttila (ITU Copenhagen, DK)

Elena Parmiggiani (Oulu University, FIN / Norwegian University of Technology NO)

Joanna Saad-Sulonen (Oulu University, FIN / ITU Copenhagen, DK)