+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Posted Tue, 4 Oct 2005 23:51:14
This message was forwarded through MEDSOCNEWS.
If you wish to make an announcement or publicise
an event then please send the text to:
[log in to unmask]

MEDSOCNEWS is the electronic companion to
Medical Sociology News - published 3 times a year
by the Medical Sociology Group of the BSA.
Please subscribe to this publication - details below
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Call for Papers EASST 2006

EASST Conference in Lausanne, Switzerland, August 23-26, 2006

The biennial conference of the European Association for the Study of 
Science and Technology will be held in Lausanne from 23rd to 26th August, 
2006. All members of the European science, technology and innovation 
studies community are invited to attend. Contributions are particularly 
encouraged which address the general conference theme.

"Reviewing humanness: bodies, technologies and spaces"

What is it to be human today ? Human "nature" is made and re-made by ideas 
and practices assembling bodies, technologies, and spaces. Three processes 
in particular seem to be transforming the very notion of humanness:

1. it is reconfigured by the life sciences, from genetics to neurobiology, 
with the invention of new forms of human corporeity. Within contemporary 
philosophy and STS literature, this is associated with conceptual changes, 
displacing traditional binaries such as human/animal, animal/machine, 
nature/technology, mind/body towards all kinds of hybrids.
2. it is reassigned to and redistributed throughout sociotechnical 
networks and artifacts. In other words, the notion of humanness is 
rethought; it is considered no longer to be enclosed within the human 
subject, but instead disseminated in and through human-made objects and 
technological systems.
3. it is rescaled by the increase in transnational connections and the 
development of a cosmopolitan imaginary. The increase of spatial mobility 
(international migration, tourism, professional travel, etc.) and 
information flows, 'stretching' social relations across space, have 
reterritorialized, and in the best cases broadened, our conceptions of 
humanness.

The conference organizers invite contributions that address both a general 
conceptualization of humanness and these three particular processes.

The further aim of this conference is to address the political (in the 
broad sense of the term) dimension of a reviewed humanness. The re-
fabrication of humanness is not only an academic thought-experiment but a 
daily life experience, and sometimes an object of concern, for society as 
a whole. The organizers therefore also invite contributions specifically 
focusing on the politicization of contemporary humanness. Such topics 
include:

a) issues related to participative forums created by state or 
supranational organizations to trigger public debate around the 
anthropological consequences of scientific and technological innovations;
b) initiatives of different segments of civil society (patient 
organizations, feminist movements, indigenous groups, consumer 
associations, etc.), including public action and mobilizations, regarding 
the definition of research agendas, the organization of knowledge 
production and diffusion, or the political regulation of the three above-
mentioned processes;
c) questions regarding participation in the global redefinition of 
humanness. Are not large sectors of humankind excluded from these changes? 
Do they mean the same thing regardless of social class, gender and 
ethnicity?

Threads:

1. Biomedical practices, politics and markets
2. Medicine, healthcare & patients
3. Information and communication technologies
4. Technological artifacts & users
5. Environments, landscapes and resources
6.  Spatialities, transnationalism and governance
7. Expertise, governance & publics
8. Normative issues & the production of norms
9. Science, politics & markets
10. Knowledge objects, practices & cultures
11. Science, culture & arts
12. Practices and processes of innovation
13. STS in practice (methods, research networks, computer tools)

Contributions will be welcome from the range of disciplines found within 
the broad field of science, technology, and society studies. For those 
whose work does not relate directly to the Conference's theme, there are 
open paper sessions.

Deadline for abstracts and session proposals:  December 16th, 2005

Abstract submissions should include all contact details, the text of the 
abstract (300 words), three keywords and the preferred Conference Threads. 
Please use the ad-hoc template file on the website as the basis for your 
submission and send it by December 16th, 2005, to [log in to unmask]

If you plan to propose a session, please send a message to the organisers 
as soon as possible, and put « session proposal » in the subject of your e-
mail. In order to help the preparation of the programme, session proposals 
will be posted on a page of the Conference's website. Session proposals 
should include all contact details, the text of the proposed session (600 
words max.). Please use the ad-hoc template file on the website as the 
basis for your submission and send it by December 16th, 2005, to 
[log in to unmask]

All information can be found on the Conference's 
website:www.unil.ch/easst2006

Contact : [log in to unmask], Tel/Fax : +41 21 693 84 77
Address: EASST 2006, University of Lausanne, IEPI, Bat. Humense, CH-1015 
Lausanne, Switzerland

**********************************************************************
1. For general enquires or problems with the list or to CHANGE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS send a message to:

[log in to unmask]

2. To suspend yourself from the list, whilst on leave, for example,
send an email to [log in to unmask] with the following message:

set medsocnews nomail

3. To resume email from the list, send the following message:

set medsocnews mail

4. To leave MedSocNews, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the message (leave the subject line blank and do not include a signature):

leave medsocnews

5. To join or subscribe to MedSocNews, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the message (leave the subject line blank and do not include a signature):

SUBSCRIBE medsocnews firstname lastname

6. Further information about the medsocnews discussion list (including
list archive and how to subscribe to or leave the list) can be found
at the list web site:

http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medsocnews.html

To subscribe to the paper version of Medical Sociology News - published 3 times a year by the Medical Sociology Group of the BSA please
email Maureen Porter at:

[log in to unmask]

**********************************************************************