Feminist STS

Have you ever thought about how much a life is worth? It might sound like a bit of a morbid question, but the answer to this question has far-reaching implications for our society. As interest in populationism has grown, that is the ideology that attributes social and ecological ills to human numbers. This ideology leverages left- and right-wing political strategies as well as the environment (Bahatia et. al., 2020) . Biopopulationism is a subset of populationism which I believe is a huge proponent of how technology assists in reproducing ideas of race.  One definition of biopopulationism that I found particularly interesting highlighted the role of technology and scientific advancements being sold as consumer products  (Bahatia et. al., 2020) . This ranges from reproductive surgeries like vasectomies to women's oral contraceptives like birth control. It alters how people engage with their reproduction, placing a very important emphasis on individuals’ desires, wants for famil...

For most of my life, I feel that people have been categorised into two categories. People who are interested in maths and science, and then there are people who are interested in art and music. Are you left brained or right brained? Do you support Western epistemic knowledge that is modern and based on empirical evidence and “rational” thought? Or do you support African epistemology that is more holistic, spiritistic and traditional? One thing that has always been certain is that science and the social sciences and technology and culture have always been positioned as two diametrically opposed conceptions. Every conception that is scientific and technological exists in a mutually exclusive space from what is traditional and cultural.  These contrasting and sometimes combative concepts are reminiscent of a subject that I am extremely passionate about. I am extremely passionate about the preservation of African languages, cultures, traditional practices, and knowledge systems. As I o...

When I arrived at UCT I was handed two PG courses to teach. In shaping the content of those, I kept coming back to the ways that every course we teach could be a STS course. Development is shaped by the stories of science and society, identity is made and remade through science-society knots.  This is why a space dedicated to teaching this field is such a treat and also an exercise in restraint and curatorship. Our first iterations of the course outline tried to think about the ways we could take you all on a guided overview of the field of STS. Our first motivation to faculty is captured in an image below. I have also included a screenshot so you can see one of the very early drafts of our course outline. We only have six weeks where we can be physically co-present in a seminar though, and Amrita and I have taken the leap to, with you, to move away from the usual weekly thematic course design. We have asked each of you to choose a book from our selection and to be our guide throug...