Linguists first used the term backchannel to refer to the spontaneous responses and signals that provide interactivity to what is only apparently a one-way communication. Social media users have adopted the term to refer to the unofficial, multi-directional online conversation that parallels formal academic exchange at a lecture or conference. The Backchannels blog is intended to have a similar relationship to scholarly discourse in STS. It provides an outlet for alternative-format scholarly communications, publishing shorter, timelier, media-rich communiques of interest to the global STS community. The editors welcome proposed contributions.



Possession as Ruse—A Conversation about Digital Dispossession

Dec 9 2024

This conversation reveals how traditional frameworks of dispossession, while valuable, may not fully capture the complexities of exploitation in today's digital economy.

Reframing histories of vaccine development through non-human animal lenses

Dec 2 2024

In this post, Alexis Bedolla explores vaccine development in Mexico through non-human animal lenses, arguing for the transgression of epidemiological representations.

Zines as communication tools to engage the public in debates about technology

Nov 25 2024

Engaging the public in critical conversations about technology presents a key challenge for researchers in STS and related fields. Jussara Rowland and Ana Delicado argue that zines are a valuable, yet under-utilized, tool for achieving this goal.

Can science ensure “100% Halal”?

Oct 7 2024

As part of her PhD project on the transformation of the concept halal in Indonesia, Arum Budiastuti offers a reflection on how technology-based halal certification introduces a new meaning of halal and what implications this has.

Bee smellscapes: olfactory relations in urban everyday ecologies

Nov 11 2024

In this post, Ceall Quinn describes multispecies smellwalking, a method for attuning to olfactory pollinator relations in urban ecologies.

ST&HV Summer School 2024: Reflections on academic generosity and doing STS in Singapore

Oct 3 2024

Lauren Kelly reports back from the STS Summer School in Singapore in June 2024, sponsored by Science, Technology and Human Values

Intervention and Responses: a critical historical period for Feminist Science Studies and STS. By Daiwie Fu. Taiwan: China Times Publishing, 2022, 208 pp.

Sep 30 2024

While today feminist science studies and STS are often considered inseparable, Daiwie Fu examines their once tumultuous relationship. In this post, he offers a brief review of the convergence between feminist studies and STS.

Missing Indian Bodies in the Medical Research on Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Sep 23 2024

In this post, Maitreyi Redkar reflects on the medical research on Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, identifying how it neglects Indian women and their lived experiences.

Regulating Generative AI Threats and Social Commons in the Public Interest

Aug 26 2024

In this post, Sarah Cheung (University of Edinburgh) examines the ways in which generative AI continually refigures the 'digital public sphere', portending new regulatory regimes and possibilities.

The hidden health dangers of data labeling in AI development

Aug 20 2024

Carlos Andrés Arroyave Bernal offers a commentary on the role of health among data labelers in artificial intelligence, most of whom are Venezuelan immigrants. The text is based on the preliminary findings of his doctoral research titled "Dignity as a Commodity? Labor Process and Partial Inclusion among Data Labelers in Artificial Intelligence in Colombia"

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