Dear colleagues,
Apologies for any cross-posting!
We would like to invite you to submit paper proposals for the session
track “How
are technologies abandoned?”
at the
Eu-SPRI conference in Utrecht, The Netherlands, 3-5 June 2020 (
https://euspri2020.nl/call-for-papers/). The convenors are Zahar Koretsky
(Maastricht University
Science, Technology and Society Studies (MUSTS) group), Harro van Lente
(Maastricht University
Science, Technology and Society Studies (MUSTS) group), Peter Stegmaier
(University of Twente; Science,
Technology and Policy Studies (STePS) group).
The CfP will be open till February 22, 2020.
For any inquiries please contact Zahar Koretsky at
z.koretsky@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Session description:
Clearly, technologies are part and parcel of current systemic problems
around climate change and global justice, both as problem and as solution.
When the role of technologies is studied, however, the tendency is to focus
on the emergence of new socio-technical arrangements. Yet, what about the
fate of old technologies that threaten more sustainable modes of production
and consumption? What about the ‘trajectories of erosion, decay, and
fossilisation’ as Elisabeth Shove and Gordon Walker once coined the reverse
dynamics?
Governing discontinuation and phase-outs can open up new horizons for,
among others, effective climate action policy. Alongside nurturing niches
and supporting sustainable novelties, a phasing-out of undesired
technologies seems required to speed up low-carbon transition, not unlike
the precedents of DDT and inefficient light bulbs discontinuation or the
ongoing phasing out of nuclear and coal energy in Germany or gas in the
Netherlands. Yet, a phase-out may pose many risks to economies, welfare,
democracy and the natural environment (e.g. lost jobs, threatened food
security, increased costs).
This session invites contributions to describe, characterize and analyze
the decline, discontinuation, ‘death’ and ‘afterlife’ of (formerly)
established technologies. How radically is discontinuation pursued in
various cases? What remains (e.g., waste, special purpose technology,
unused expertise, stranded assets)? One can also study discontinuation from
a systemic point of view and ask (a) which parts of a larger system are
phased out and which remain, and (b) what happens to the remaining parts,
whether they change after the removal of other parts. We welcome empirical
cases of discontinued technologies; comparisons between technologies,
sectors or countries; and theoretical elaborations on trajectories of
phase-outs.
Best wishes, on behalf of the convenors,
Zahar Koretsky
PhD Candidate at Maastricht University Science, Technology and Society
Studies (MUSTS)Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS)
z.koretsky@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Grote Gracht 76, 1.13
P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
T +31 43 38 82 767
Note on name spelling: Zahar Koretsky is my publishing name, while my
passport name, which is used only for bureaucracy-related matters, is Zahar
Coretchii.
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