The theme of 2026 asks how Science and Technology Studies can speak to the futures of post-industrial societies. We take the Ruhr area (Ruhrgebiet) as a site to go through social, ecological, and technological transformations that follow industrial decline. And trouble we all face. Participants will engage with local histories, infrastructures, and knowledge practices to reflect on dynamics of transition that we experience on a planetary scale. Think climate change, growth and degrowth struggles, decolonisation, and war. The event invites collaborative formats to reflect on how STS can contribute to, and understand, just and situated responses to change in its various flavours.
Organisers
The stsing 2026 conference is organized by RUSTlab, the Ruhr area STS lab and node of the stsing e.V., in collaboration with the Virtuelle Lebenswelten (SFB 1567), both based at the Ruhr University Bochum.
stsing e.V.
stsing e.V. is an association (“Verein”) doing Science and Technology Studies (STS) in and through Germany, established in 2020. STS is an interdisciplinary field of research and activity interested in how science and technology are practically done and socially embedded. The association stsing is informed by international discussions and receives attention from plenty of senior and early career researchers. We are currently in the process of preparing and implementing fresh modes for gathering.