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Konferens vid Mälardalens universitet

We have never been humans

Ett posthumanistiskt STS-perspektiv på liv och död.

Välkommen till STS-gruppens (Science and Technology Studies) första evenemang för att främja samarbeten över disciplinära och metodologiska gränser.

  • Studieort Room Pi, Campus Västerås
Datum
  • 2025-05-09 13:00–20:30

Detta är det första publika evenemanget organiserat av STS@MDU. Det är ett av flera initiativ vid MDU som syftar till att stärka samarbeten över disciplinära och metodologiska gränser.

Om konferensen

Konferensen kommer att hållas på engelska och även introduktionen nedan är på engelska:

This event is meant to be a forum for discussing what being a human means nowadays, whether this category – the human – is still relevant, and how a posthumanist STS view on contemporary life and death on Earth can contribute to a deeper understanding of the complexity of the entanglement between humans, nonhumans, and the more-than-humans.

Since their inception, Science and Technology Studies (STS) have been interested in critically approaching interactions between human beings and others. Actor-Network Theory, by proposing the radical thesis of nonhuman agency (for example, objects, technologies, and infrastructures), has contributed to pointing scholars’ attention to actors other than humans and in so doing has invited them to appreciate the limits of a perspective focused on human primacy. Feminist scholars in STS have, furthermore, highlighted the importance of caring for so called more-than-human worlds – animals, plants, and other biological organisms – emphasising the deep interconnection between humans and other creatures.

By cultivating a posthumanistic posture to studying the entanglement of multiple actors (humans, nonhumans, and more-than-humans) STS has paved the way for investigations that interrogate the meaning of being human. As feminist philosopher Donna Haraway, puts it: We have never been human, riffing on the fact that fungi, bacteria, and other microbes outnumber human cells in the space called human body. With this, she is also pointing out that the human subject has always been in sympoietic relation with other species and constantly transforming together with technological innovations and other nonhuman actors, so much so that human exceptionalism and species supremacy can be considered an artefact, the product of humankind to justify their position in the world.

The effort to decenter the human (the humanist ideal of Man as the universal representative of the human) and Anthropos (the species hierarchy placing the human species on top) pose a serious challenge to the definition of the human inherited from the Western intellectual and philosophical movement of the Enlightenment, which is now showing its cracks against the background of contemporary socio-technical transformations and multiple transitions. Such changes invite scholars in STS and other fields to interrogate their paradigmatic views and reflect on their capacity to account for the multispecies and multiagency complexity of the contemporary world.

This event is meant to offer – through the contributions of scholars and artists – a dialogical and creative space for reflecting upon the important and profound changes we are facing nowadays. Through the embodied and affective power of word, dance, and music, our guests will inspire and bring us to alternative scenarios and perspectives to re-imagine our present and future.

The event is open to anybody curious to learn more about posthumanism and STS and those who would like to engage in and contribute to a conversation about living and dying in our times.

Program

Du hittar hela programmet här (pdf). Pdf, 2 MB.

9 maj, 2025

  • 12:00-13:00 Registrering
    Registreringen sker vid ingången till hus R.
    Konferensen hålls i rum Pi.

  • 13:00-13:10 Välkommen!
    Rektor vid Mälardalens universitet, Martin Hellström, välkomnar dig till konferensen.

  • 13:10-13:30 Introduktion av STS@MDU

  • 13:30-14:10 Inspiration
    Talare: Cecilia Åsberg, Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för tema i Sverige.
    Titel: Storying Exposure: Posthumanities and the Promises of Cyborg Knowing.

  • 14:10-14:30 Q&A

  • 14:30-15:00 Fika (Origo Café)

  • 15:00-15:40 Inspiration
    Inspiration Talare: Andrea Botero Cabrera, Aalto-universitetet, Institutionen för design i Finland.
    Titel: Practical doings, reorganizing human-non-human relations.

  • 15:40-16:00 Q&A

  • 16:00-17:00 Inspiration (Origo Café)
    Framträdande: Henny Stridsberg (koreografi), Tuva Nordelius (dans), Ester Larsson (dans) och Desideria Thur (musik).
    Titel: Waterscaping.

  • 17:00-18:00 Inspiration (sal Omega)
    Framträdande: Rikard Vilhelm Lindell, Högskolan Dalarna, Dalarna Audiovisual Academy-DAVA i Sverige.
    Titel: Tapestry.

  • 18:00-20:30 Middag med mingel (Origo Café)

Registrering

Konferensen är kostnadsfri, men vi behöver veta hur många som kommer för att kunna beräkna måltiderna.

Det maximala antalet deltagare är 100 personer. När vi når detta antal stänger vi registreringen. Registreringen stänger när vi nått maxantalet eller vid sista anmälningsdatum, den 31 mars 2025.

Vi organiserar konferensen

  • Michela Cozza
  • Silvia Bruzzone
  • David Redmalm
  • Elin Sundström Sjödin
  • Karolina Uggla
  • Thomas Wahl

Kontaktinformation