Christopher KeltyAs chair of the 4S publications committee, I am chairing a workshop at #ESOCITE4S22 Cholula to think about the next "STS Handbook." Join me Friday between 11-1 in A110. Spread the word, engage here with the idea, participate? #STS @4sWeb 1/7
What's an STS handbook for the 2020s? Do we need a handbook? What are the alternatives? How can it serve the field best? Who wants to be involved? 2/7 #ESOCITE4S22 #STS
The current series, now in 4th Edition was first published in 1995 (1st/2nd ed.), with subsequent editions in 2008 and 2017. They have each been very different in focus and inclusion. 3/7 #ESOCITE4S22 #STS
Materially, the STS Handbook provides a revenue source (through royalties from MIT Press) for the 4S Scholarly Society, but symbolically they are often much more than just a book. 4/7 #ESOCITE4S22 #STS
There have been many other handbooks in STS too---postcolonial sts, digital STS, queer feminist science studies, Indigenous STS and many more programmatic statements. 5/7 #ESOCITE4S22 #STS
Does STS need a new edition of the handbook? Can such efforts actually "represent" the field rather than creating new exclusions? What is a programmatic statement for a field as diverse as STS? 6/7 #ESOCITE4S22 #STS
And if not a handbook, then what? And of course... can it create some revenue for the 4S and not be a cost to the membership? So many questions! Join me in Mexico to discuss! 7/7 #ESOCITE4S22 #STS
Nathan Schneider@ckelty pamphlet mini-manifestos!
David RibesHow to make the handbook synthetic, and synoptic of the field?
For digitalSTS we ran a long series of workshops, to coordinate and cross pollinate thought, and to provide feedback. (we also didn't call it a handbook, but a fieldguide: ie, out there you will see this STS bird, and then if you look over here, there is this other STS bird). I wonder, if done right, with funding for a few workshops, whether could it lead to a proper handbook...
@davidribes yes... digital STS is a good guide for the next whatever-it-is. I am also a big fan of bird guides and role playing games, so ... some models on the table :)