Call for submissions: 4S Panel on Gut Check: Microbiomes, Metabolic Justice and Technoscientific Capitalism

[Carlos Sanchez Pimienta]

Dear colleagues,

Please see below a call to submit applications for an open panel at the 4S Conference.

Warm regards,

Call for Papers

We invite applications to Gut Check: Microbiomes, Metabolic Justice and Technoscientific Capitalism, an open panel at the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) conference, October 7–10, 2026, in Toronto. Applications are due April 30, 2026 (more info below).

 

Gut Check: Microbiomes, Metabolic Justice and Technoscientific Capitalism

New biomedical technologies have allowed researchers to learn more about microorganisms, revealing that microbiomes, from gut to landscape to ecosystem, are linked to metabolism and play a fundamental role in supporting people’s health. As interest in the microbial ecosystem of the human gut has surged in the public domain, the science is increasingly being commercialized to promote “personalized medicine” tailored to individual genetic, environmental, lifestyle, and now, microbial factors. However, research findings that identify which foods and lifestyles best support what is often called "gut health" are most accessible to those with financial privilege. Additionally, the microbial focus in health conversations creates normative ideas of the "ideal" gut, naturalizing certain assumptions about (dis)ability, race, and gender, and obscuring whose bodies and metabolisms are prioritized in these standards.

This combined format panel integrates metabolic justice - an analytical concept developed by Sophie Chao and others that reveals how power influences metabolic processes - with interdisciplinary insights from critical disability studies, critical qualitative health research, and STS to explore the social, political, and environmental contexts of the human gut. Thinking with metabolism links the body to landscape and local environments, as well as to global systems, both human and more-than-human.

We invite presentations that explore these themes from a variety of disciplinary and methodological viewpoints, including, but not limited to, STS, metabolic justice, critical disability studies, critical race theory, and/or migration studies. Potential participants may suggest traditional academic talks, multimedia presentations, or creative approaches. We hope this panel will foster discussion on microbiomes, metabolic justice, disability justice, and technoscientific capitalism within STS and encourage future collaborations among the panellists.

 

 

Instructions for Submission: 

 

• The submission deadline is April 30, 2026.
  
  
• Submissions should be made through the 4S Conference Website here: https://www.4sonline.org/call_for_submissions_toronto.php
  
  
• For help navigating the submission website, please see this video: https://www.loom.com/share/83b7de2e5e7e494d99d77141d1524f2f?sid=834b6af8-b2f8-4076-a67d-cba4da1e8c90
  
  
• Independent and community scholars are encouraged to apply. 
  
  

If you have questions, please reach out to the panel co-convenors, Sarah Elton (Sarah...@utoronto.ca) and Aparna Raghu Menon (aparna...@mail.utoronto.ca).

We look forward to connecting with you around the human gut, metabolism, and justice.

Sincerely, 

Sarah Elton and Aparna Raghu Menon

University of Toronto