We were glad to welcome so many of you to our inaugural conference in March this year. Although it has been some months since then, we want to take the opportunity of the release of the most recent EASST-Review to look a bit back at the conference.
If you have not yet already, please take a look at the conference report in the recent issue of EASST-Review.
In addition to that, we want to showcase some reflections we got from conference participants on Leakage. From leaks to creeps, to the Robotron and 5G, leaking into the city and into the space between disciplines:
Staying with the Creeps: On Forensics and Uncontainable Leaks
by Lukas Adolphi
Four day of conference have demonstrated the productive potential of studying leakage. Metaphorically or literally, leakage draws attention to what resists containment, leaves the prescribed paths and has undesired effects in unexpected places. Leakage refers to the unruliness of materiality while implying the attempt to control and re-contain it. As soon as something is considered leaky, it is also considered containable, which is why leakage always already points to the possibility of its overcoming.
However, not all leaks can be plugged, as the numerous panels on the topic of waste illustrated. Chemicals, greenhouse gases, radioactivity – some things can no longer be caught once they have escaped. As soon as we no longer try to stop leakage, but recognize it as irreversible, something changes. The hope of an orderly, contained world fades and uncertainty spreads. What is it that resists our systems? What is it up to? And what impact does it have on us?
Inspired by Sam Godfrey's talk, I propose to understand these uncanny, uncontainable entities not as leaky, but as creepy. Like the leak, the creep is characterized by a transgression, a non-conformity, a being-out-of-place-and-time. Unlike the leak, however, the creep does not point to its own overcoming. While we think we are able to defeat the leak through technical or organizational adaptations, we are afraid of the creep. We cannot predict it, we do not know what it is up to and at some point we start to doubt ourselves. Maybe it is not planning anything bad after all, but is actually quite normal? In the end, we will never be completely sure. We do not understand creeps and that is precisely why they remain creepy.
But what to do? In her keynote, Amade M`charek suggested understanding forensics as an art of paying attention and thus as a strategy against ignorance, neglect and abjection. In forensics, one examines death, devotes oneself to it with all one's senses and techniques without trying to overcome or contain it. In forensics, death is no longer scary, but something to learn from. Perhaps we should deal with creeps in the same way. Staying with the creeps, even if they are scary, enduring the fact that we do not understand them and slowly learning how to coexist in the best possible way.
A Wireless Walk Tour with 5G
by Renée Ridgway
At the stsing conference on March 21,2024, I first presented my paper ‘Reverse search warrants: How leaky legislation facilitates Google locative data surveillance’ at the panel on State Power and Regimes of Control and Containment. I then caught the bus to take part in the Wireless Walk Tour and arrived at the Robotron Kantine around 11:30. Built on an industrial site in the centre of Dresden during the 1960s-1970s, this canteen of the socialist industry alliance promoted the former GDR’s computer technology and microelectronics. Flanked by two twin spaces on either side that served meeting places for the Robotron workforce in the GDR times, a kitchen in the middle had also served up food to the employees. Unlike the surrounding area, Robotron was not demolished because in 2019 citizens and spokespeople from influential Dresden institutions and museums fought to have the building preserved. As a loca l organizer of Robotron explained, today half of the building has been renovated and was a disco, with a view onto the ‘Kreuzkirche’. The space has also been utilized for public activities and temporary exhibitions, such as the Ostrale, a contemporary art biennale. Moreover, Robotron created interest from companies such as Vodafone and therefore became associated with 5G wireless technology.
As the organizer of the tour Nona Schulte-Römer writes in the PDF flyer, ‘this was once the nucleus of today’s microelectronics stronghold, what has come to be known as “Silicon Saxony”’. This includes embodying the complexities of 5G, which has caused controversies in Dresden, greater Germany, the EU and the world in mainly three ways. At the Robotron Kantine Nona showed video clips from a recent discussion where the public raised concerns about the health implications of radio waves and 5G. Yet, as Alex Harder states in the handout, 5G is not a single piece of technology: it is a standard with values that question how fast a data connection should be, how many devices may use it and how much energy data transmission should cost. Moreover, who ‘owns’ the 5G network? As walk talker Brett Mommersteeg revealed on the way back to the conference, this radio spectrum is ‘held together through regulations, international conferences and agreements, licenses, standards, national regulators, and equipment like base stations, antennas, modulation techniques and crystals, among others’. Could this ubiquitous, invisible ‘spectrum space’ then also be compared to other ‘finite’ or ‘scarce’ resources and conceived of as a commons?
Nowadays most countries operate a market-based approach via an auction that determines the spectrum allocation, going to the highest bidder. With the rise of mobile telephones as the major device for communication with the internet, this invisible infrastructure (whichever version) will be organising wireless experiences, shaping technological developments and geopolitical relations. Which brings us back to the third controversy: the now implemented sanctions against Chinese hardware and technology transfer that concern the ‘digital sovereignty’ of 5G. However, with each generation of spectrum technology the debate will continue whether 5G will be a commons or property and who will negotiate these finite resources, which are shared by stakeholders from around the world. As Nona writes, perhaps Robotron’s Open Future Lab mentioned on the website will invigorate science, creative industries and digital culture, through innovation, prototyping and research in Dresden as well as being involved in the next phase of wireless technology––global 6G development.
Leaking in and out, and through and with…
by Franziska Wolf
“We want our conference to leak into the city.” These words, uttered during the welcome address of Leakage have stayed with me over the course of the four conference days. I kept thinking about how this is an enormously important goal for an academic conference and especially for one entitled thusly. While we have approached “leakage” from an immensely fruitful and productive plethora of theoretical, (inter-)disciplinary, empirical, and artistic angles, I was especially struck by how Leakage lived up to its name beyond the immediate conference program. I have never come together with so many people from such a diverse range of academic and artistic backgrounds, never received so much inspiring cross-disciplinary input which made me see and consider my research interests from perspectives that had not come to my mind before and probably wouldn’t have either had I presented this paper at a disciplinarily more homogeneous conference. It was so wonderful to experience how productive the consideration of one concept from so many different points of view can be. I also deeply appreciated and enjoyed how Leakage actually managed to leak out of the university and into the city, incorporating different conference venues from a club, over a museum to the very city of Dresden itself. One of my favorite panels took me on a walk through Dresden tracking wireless signals in the urban infrastructure, illuminating the embodiedness and the very material implications of our research that can, from time to time and depending on one’s discipline feel somewhat detached from “reality.” I am truly grateful for the numerous ways in which Leakage has given room for leakage in all conceivable manners and directions and I could not have thought of a better-fitted conference subject for an association that thrives on and celebrates, that actually lives relationality and encounter.
A stranger is a solidaric scholar on the discussion floor
by Ozan Altinok
In “1984,” George Orwell mentions that perhaps the best ideas are the ones you can conceive but cannot express yourself. These are the ideas that people would most like to hear. The Leakage conference became a space where such familiar yet ineffable ideas took shape, resonating with many in attendance. I, as a relative outsider coming from philosophy, was happy to see such similar interests to my own thinking, although in ways that I did not express. The conference, while deeply engaged in exploring diverse medical epistemologies and forms of resistance, also celebrated the beauty of embracing new vocabularies and perspectives.
These discussions, although initially couched in relatively unfamiliar terminologies, remained accessible enough to expand my perspectives while simultaneously challenging my prior understanding. This duality—of clarity and challenge—struck me profoundly. It encouraged me to envision these newly acquired perspectives as instrumental to future projects. The ability to comprehend and later employ these nuanced concepts made the experience particularly enriching.
As a newcomer to the STS community in Germany, one of the most fundamental takeaways was witnessing a community in formation. This unfolding process was vividly illustrated in a workshop dedicated to establishing good practices in academia. It addressed the ongoing issue of power abuse within professional, non-professional, and educational contexts. The workshop was not merely a theoretical session; it actively sought to foster strategies for reducing or resolving such abuse through the organisation of the event itself. This approach highlighted the practical, problem-solving ethos of the stsing community. A defining moment for me at the event concerned discussions around German academic freedom, prompted by developments sparked by a controversial statement of the German minister of science. There were different sessions over several days of the event organized to address issues about the threats to academic freedom in Germany. This conversation displayed the community’s deep engagement, transcending mere academic paperwork to embrace broader societal responsibilities. Such activism, reminiscent of my experiences in Türkiye, felt refreshing and necessary. It underscored the academic community being not only disinterested researchers but also as individuals with both personal and social interests.
Visiting the Science and Technology Museum added another layer to this experience. The museum served as a testament to the enduring and multifaceted nature of science and technology. It offered a tangible connection to broader scientific narratives, allowing attendees to immerse themselves in the evolving tapestry of technology-related work. This visit underscored the importance of uniting theoretical discussions with real-world implications. Another memorable experience was visiting Objekt Klein A (OKA), a venue outside the campus. Situated in a repurposed factory, the space had been transformed into a dynamic event hub. The collective running OKA extended a warm welcome, sharing the venue’s fascinating history, which exemplified the fusion of tradition and innovation, reflecting the conference’s broader themes.
In conclusion, the event was a powerful testament to the collective pursuit of knowledge and understanding within the stsing community. It facilitated a rich exchange of ideas while fostering a warm and engaging environment, an environment both familiar and yet new to me.