About the conference

As in previous years, the EASST010 conference combines a broad platform for contributions along with a particular focus.  The 2010 conference  turns its attention on the performativity of technoscientific practices and, more generally, on science and technology as situated practices rooted and grown in the connections of a sociomaterial ecology.

The notions of “social construction” and “social shaping” of science and technology have been crucial for the development (and success) of science & technology studies.  Increasingly, however, the “social” is seen as a question  rather than as a distinctive explanatory category. The “social” begins to be viewed as the result of the connections that take place in an ecology of elements and heterogeneous relations, as well as of the scenarios these connections depict. Moreover, terms such as “construction” and “shaping” are frequently replaced by concepts, verbs and metaphors drawn from the cultures of performance. Science and technology, are seen as performative domains of the “social”; choreographies of sociomaterial relations where realities and representations are enacted simultaneously.

One approach recognizes the performative character of science and technology, understanding when, where and how a “thing” arises, and explores the ways in which science and technology “do things”. Another approach addresses the “doing” of things: namely, that the performances and the performativity of scientific and technological practices are embedded and embodied in material, symbolic and textual artefacts.

Through practicing science and technology, and in scientific and technological practices, so, “doing things” and the “doing of things” find a common ground of expression. A key characteristic of contemporary worlds, in fact, is the role played by knowledge practices in the production and reproduction of the sociomaterial configuration which is often called “society”. STS and the concepts of practice and performance enable a unique perspective for studying and observing scientific and technological innovations, as well as the articulation of different forms of sociality and ideas of the social. This is the challenge nowadays addressed in key areas such as medicine and genomics, body and gender, work and organizations, communication & technology, consumption & markets, geographies and space.

New organizational procedure

In contrast to previous EASST conferences, the 2010 conference involved a first stage call for track convenors. Thus, the EASST010 conference is organized in 40 thematic tracks (plus one ‘Open Track’), grouped in 15 parallel groups that run throughout the whole conference (please, have a look at the ‘Abstract Submission’ section for the submission guidelines and deadline).

Each thematic track has a Convenor (or a team of): Track Convenors will manage their theme within the call for abstracts, and will be responsible for reviewing, accepting/rejecting and organising submissions into their track. Convenors will independently set the session topics and overall organization of the track (in case a track collects less then 10 abstracts, there will be a discussion with the Programme Committee to decide whether to run the track anyway or join another track) and they are supposed to join the track they are organizing for its entire duration.

Important dates and deadlines:

- 2010, March 15 22: deadline for abstracts submission;

- 2010, May 15: Communication of acceptance/rejection of abstracts to authors and opening of online registrations;

- 2010, June 30: early registrations deadline;

- 2010, June 20: Final draft of the organization of each thematic session (to be sent by the convenors to the Scientific and Local Committee);

- 2010, July 5: Publication on the website of the final Conference program.