CfP EASST/4S: Lost in the Dreamscapes of Modernity? Theorizing Agency, Multiplicity, and Scale in Sociotechnical Imaginaries
Dear colleagues,
Yes, this is another another EASST/4S panel in search interesting and
fitting contributions (and a reminder that the submission deadline is 29
Feb).
This panel invites contributions that tackle conceptual challenges around
the idiom of sociotechnical imaginaries, including theoretical papers,
conceptually rich case studies, and comparative analyses, but also
presentations that expand this discussion towards the realm of activism,
design, and artistic work.
https://convention2.allacademic.com/one/ssss/prague20/
Lost in the Dreamscapes of Modernity? Theorizing Agency, Multiplicity, and
Scale in Sociotechnical Imaginaries
Alexander Wentland, Technical University of Munich
Over the past decade, the concept of sociotechnical imaginaries has emerged
as one of the leading frameworks in STS to explain the co-production of
societal futures vis-à-vis science and technology (S&T). This perspective
has aided the analysis of persistent patterns and problems of the modern
technoscientific world, while avoiding grand narratives and theories of
society. It has provided helpful insights into why great changes might
happen rapidly or attempts to remake the world fail despite great effort.
Much of the current literature has employed the framework to compare
technological development across nations, regions, and cultures beyond
obvious natural, economic, or social disparities. Despite widespread and
productive use, a number of questions have come to the fore that complicate
the further theorizing and empirical application of this framework. For
example, how can we explain not only the emergence but also the shifting
and changing of imagined futures? How do we deal with the coexistence of
concurrent sociotechnical imaginaries and, furthermore, the overlapping of
imagined communities at scales such as the nation-state along with
transnational zones and specific places? How can entrepreneurial agents
resonate with diverse cultural currents and possibly create entanglements
between seemingly unrelated discourse arenas and disparate life worlds?
This panel invites contributions that tackle these challenges in generative
ways, including theoretical papers, conceptually rich case studies, and
comparative analyses, but also presentations that expand this discussion
towards the realm of activism, design, and artistic work.
Contact: alexander.wentland@tum.de
Alexander Wentland
Innovation, Society, and Public Policy
Munich Center for Technology in Society (MCTS)
ORCID iD | @a_wentland
___
EASST's Eurograd mailing list
Eurograd (at) lists.easst.net
Unsubscribe or edit subscription options: http://lists.easst.net/listinfo.cgi/eurograd-easst.net
Meet us via https://twitter.com/STSeasst
Report abuses of this list to Eurograd-owner@lists.easst.net
