ADM+S Students present work at Australian Science and Technology Studies 2024 Conference
Author Natalie Campbell
Date 28 November 2024
ADM+S PhD Students from Monash University, QUT and the University of Melbourne recently travelled to Canberra to present their work at the Australian Science and Technology Studies 2024 (AusSTS 2024) Conference.
The 2024 event took place at Australian National University from 18-20 November.
The theme ‘(De-)Territorialising STS: Discipline, Place, Power’ invited participants to build on conversations convened in last year’s conference, thinking with the theory and practice of STS through the lens of ‘territory’.
ADM+S students from Monash University, Dante Alone, Trang Le and Berwyn Kwek attended the conference and presented their work in the unique ‘paper workshop’ format.
Dante explains, “In this format, each conference attendee is assigned a specific workshop to attend, where they are encouraged to provide feedback on works in progress.”
Dante and Berwyn presented their draft paper ‘Towards a theorisation of State-based decentralised verification systems’ in the ‘State and policy making’ workshop group, which questions why certain nation-states, such as Singapore and Korea, are seeking to incorporate Blockchain techniques of decentralised verification into their digital identity management assemblages.
“In contrast to other identity management technologies, such as facial recognition technology, that seek to digitally mediate a frictionless, unobservable, and unaccountable relationship between individual identity and state apparatuses, state-backed blockchain technologies organise the verification of identity around the active enrolment and participation of their citizenry,” says Dante.
Berwyn adds, “While blockchain technology promises individual control over one’s data, our work raises critical questions about how institutions, who often prioritize centralised oversight and control, re-appropriate these principles.”
Trang Le also presented a draft paper about her PhD research which explores how the pursuit of gender justice and the fight against gendered violence are increasingly shaped by the logic of smartness and the securitisation of the smart city.
This work is forthcoming and has been developed for a special issue on ‘Automated Space’ to be published in the ‘Environment and Planning F’ journal.
Trang reflected on the workshop format, explaining “The open flowing conversational format of the workshop was a refreshing change, and I found this setting incredibly generative.”
“I got some very valuable feedback from the session, which prompted me to explore further certain aspects of my research—such as the transnational logics underlying the phenomenon I’m examining.”
The conferences unique workshop format offers the opportunity for presenters to receive constructive criticism and advice for their ongoing research.
Berwyn said, “One key takeaway for me was recognising the immense potential of our work in studying how socio-technical systems shape the world.
“I was particularly grateful for the input from Dr Courtney Addison of Victoria University of Wellington, who provided valuable guidance on how we might shape our nascent work into something more substantial and suitable for publication.”
ADM+S members Emma Finlay and Dr Fan Yang form the University of Melbourne, and Vishnu Padinjaredath Suresh from QUT also attended the conference,
AusSTS 2024 was sponsored by Science, Technology, & Human Values, the Deakin Science and Society Network, and the Research School of Social Sciences at the ANU.
This experience was supported by the ADM+S Research Training and Development program.
