[Air-L] CfP: 'Futures Work' panel at 4S/EASST

[Jessica Ogden]

Hi all

I suppose more apologies are in order for posting *yet another* (!) 4S/EASST Amsterdam CfP, but  we are still seeking proposals for our ‘Futures Work’ panel on STS and all things ‘futuring’, and I thought folks within this community might be interested! IMO it would be great to get some folks talking about web/internet futures :)

*Abstract*

Futures of one kind or another have been at the centre of STS work from its inception. Early concerns to counter over-simplified forms of determinism (MacKenzie and Wajcman, 1999), for example, encouraged explorations of a broader range of standpoints in relation to the future. Work on technology and society in-the-making (Callon, 1987), practices of innovation (Akrich, 1992) and the broadening of science studies to incorporate technology (Woolgar, 1991), each carried with them putative concerns for making sense of things emerging or yet to be. Futures have since flourished in STS conceptually and methodologically. In the last few years, we have seen a broad range of activities from events focused on nuclear futures (Lancaster, 2022) to future humans (Harvard, 2022). And we have seen groundbreaking research on futures and education (Dix, 2019), genes (Horst, 2005), soil (de la Bellacasa, 2015), promissory organizations (Pollock and Williams, 2010), and expectations (Brown and Michael, 2003), among many other areas. Methodologically, STS has found itself in the company of speculative futures, future labs and digital futures institutes and in different forms these each continue to push for the future to be a key matter of concern. Within this work, the futures of STS itself has also come under continual scrutiny: just what are the consequences of STS being conscripted to do futures work?

In this panel we seek to explore this varied ‘futuring’. We would be delighted to receive abstracts on: futures thinking and methodologies; digital futures and emerging technology; histories of the future; how STS approaches, perhaps in tandem with other disciplines (including STEM), can shape alternative, even better, futures; concerns for the futures of STS itself; experiments with different forms of futures work.

Abstracts are due by 12th February and details on the panel submission can be found here: https://www.easst4s2024.net/open-panels/#14094

Thanks all and hope to connect with many AoIR folks there!

All the best
Jessica

----
Dr Jessica Ogden
Lecturer in Digital Futures
Bristol Digital Futures Institute // School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies
University of Bristol
Twitter: @jessogden<http://twitter.com/jessogden> // Web Profile: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/persons/jessica-ogden

Latest publications:
Ogden, Summers & Walker (2023). Know(ing) Infrastructure: The Wayback Machine as object and instrument of digital research<https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565231164759>. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies

Ogden (2022). “Everything on the internet can be saved”: Archive Team, Tumblr and the cultural significance of web archiving<https://doi.org/10.1080/24701475.2021.1985835>. Internet Histories: Digital Technologies, Culture and Society.

Shah & Ogden (2021). Immigration, Race, and Nation in the UK: The Politics of Belonging on Twitter<https://doi.org/10.1177/13607804211029968>. Sociological Research Online.