4S CFP: STS of, in, and Against Fascism

[Jonathan Wald]

Hi everyone,

Please consider sending in a proposal for the Toronto 2025 4S panel, "STS in, of, and Against Fascism."

You can find more information about the conference and upload a proposal at this link: https://www.4sonline.org/call_for_submissions_toronto.php. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Best,

Jonathan

STS in, of, and Against Fascism

With the surge of right-wing authoritarian movements worldwide, STS scholars are forced to reckon with fascism. This panel addresses fascism both as an object of inquiry to be studied and as a context within which scholars increasingly live and work.

Attacks on academic institutions have played a central role in fascism. With its historical strengths in feminist, anti-racist, environmentalist, and other critical traditions, STS may be both a particular target and important standpoint in making sense of contemporary authoritarianism. This crucial role for STS is underscored by the growing alliance of technology companies with authoritarian politics in the development of policing, surveillance, and military technologies. Likewise, the mobilization of activists and critiques on social media and in scientific communities provides another opportunity for STS to respond.

This panel invites scholars interested in the relationship between STS and fascism historically, presently, or speculatively. Questions may include (but are not limited to):

• What can STS tell us about fascism?
• How have fascist movements and institutions impacted scientific and educational practices?
• How might STS researchers and educators respond to fascist attacks on critical scholarship?
• How have attacks on the humanities and social sciences, including but not limited to STS, contributed to the intensification of fascism?
• What roles do scientific and technological institutions play in bolstering or undermining fascism?
• What roles might STS play in antifascist organizing?

--
Dr. Jonathan Wald (he/him)
Lecturer, Centre for Engineering in Society 

Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science, Concordia University