In our age of converging environmental, ecological, and health crises, decision-makers and commentators often state we need to “listen to the science”. But what structures lie beneath these assumptions of…
Podcast: Forest of Thought – Andy Stirling on ‘imaginations of control’
Call For Papers: International Research Symposium on Post-Automation
International Research Symposium Post-Automation? Exploring Democratic Alternatives to Industry 4.0 11-13 September 2019 Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), University of Sussex, Brighton, UK About the Symposium We are delighted to…
Power to the people: making & politics at the Science Museum
by Cian O’Donovan and Adrian Smith The maker movement in the UK, and globally, has grown rapidly over recent years. Hundreds of maker spaces, equipped with 3D printers, laser cutters,…
What we talk about when we talk about technology
In casual conversation ‘technology’ usually means something like a device, gadget or machine. Your smartphone for instance, or the satellite navigation system in your car; maybe the car itself, why…
How to move beyond technology in ‘Sustainable Intensification’
by Saurabh Arora and Ravic Nijbroek Sustainable Intensification (SI) promises more food from the same amount of land, while minimizing pressure on the environment. In Sub-Saharan Africa, considerable research and…
Civilising Hypocrisies and Fundamental Questions: on “emancipating transformations”
This week Manchester Tyndall Centre hosted a provocative and highly interesting seminar. Professor Andy Stirling, who spent the 80s in the trenches for Greenpeace, had schlepped up to deliver a…
How can African countries really provide sustainable energy for poor people?
Last month, delegates drawn from across the world gathered at the UNEP headquarters in Nairobi for the second session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-2) to discuss the theme…
Contested Agronomy: Four big questions to debate
We have just finished a fantastic conference co-hosted by the STEPS Centre on ‘Contested Agronomy’ with 80 participants and a vibrant discussion. I was asked to give some comments at…
What would a sustainable city look like?
On Thursday, India announced the first 20 cities to receive funding to become ‘Smart Cities’. It’s a high profile mission to modernise and transform urban infrastructure, especially using digital technologies…
Call for papers: EASST/4S session on makers, manufacturers and politics of digital fabrication
STEPS member Adrian Smith is one of the organisers of a session at this year’s EASST/4S conference. The session title is ‘Digital fabrications amongst hackers, makers and manufacturers: whose “industrial…