Science and technology communities come in many forms, from the elite community of research scientists within the academy to the myriad grassroots communities that spring up to take direct action on technology policy issues. Yet despite this wide variation in technoscience communities, many continue to reproduce gendered patterns of exclusion visible in science and technology more broadly.

This panel provides space for critiquing community practices and structures of exclusion that contribute to limiting who can participate in the production of technoscientific knowledge, who can contribute to decision-making around policy and innovation priorities, and who gets to design the technological products and infrastructure that shape our lives. But, in line with this year’s theme of “good relations”, it also aims to celebrate successful inclusion strategies, to identify replicable practices for enhancing community diversity, and to highlight radical experiments in relationship-building and community development. We believe that this year, of all years, this celebration of progress is particularly important.

We welcome contributions–from any geographical location in the Global South or North–that explore feminist community inclusion strategies from a wide range of theoretical approaches. These could include (but are not limited to): communities of practice; space and place-making; social field theory; identity theory; affect theory; participatory design and co-design practices; and critical making. We also welcome practice-oriented presentations that are not necessarily based in theory. We particularly welcome intersectional contributions that look at issues of gender inclusion/exclusion alongside axes of “race”, ethnicity, class, (dis)ability, transgender status, sexual identity, etc.