CfP: Disability//Body//History of Technology (Event, 07/2020, Eindhoven); by: 03.01.2020

47th Symposium of  the International Committee for the History of Technology, ICOHTEC (Web)

Venue: Eindhoven Technical University TU/e
Time: 13.-18.07.2020
Proposals by: 03.01.2020

The topic of the 2020 ICOHTEC’s annual conference ist „A History of Technology for an Age of Crisis“. It is devoted to solutions the history of technology may offer in an age of crisis. In keeping with the conference theme, the Disability//Body//History of Technology a panel will take the concept of “crisis” as a core idea to examine at through the lenses of disability and bodily experience. In STS studies, disability is largely framed within medical intervention and recognized as a „crisis“ that affects the disabled person, their family and friends.

This panel moves away from this construction. The organizers leave the pathologizing notion of disability aside and approach it from the disability studies perspective: as a matter of diversity, not lack thereof, as an avenue for out of the box technological solutions that may act for the benefit of all in critical moments and situations. At the same time, they would like to reconsider the crisis itself for posing a question: whether ‘crisis’ means the same to able-bodied and disabled citizens.

The organizers aim to bring together fields of history of technology, disability history, and history of medicine with other research and methodological paradigms. Therefore there is a list of topics more as an inspiration than restricted catalog for consideration: … read more and source (Web).