JafariNaimi Organized Two-Part Panel Discussion “Smart yet (in) Sensible? Feminist Critical Perspective on Smart Cities” Session at 2017 4S Conference

Posted October 2, 2017

Nassim JafariNaimi, assistant professor at Georgia Institute of Technology School of Literature, Media, and Communication (LMC) in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, organized a two-part panel discussion on smart cities titled “Smart yet (in) Sensible? Feminist Critical Perspectives on Smart Cities” at the 2017 4S Conference held in Boston on September 2, 2017.

The title of the session referenced this year’s conference theme of STS (In) Sensibilities, which intersected concerns with the way technologies are integrated in cities with little or no attention to their social, political, and human consequences. The panel was conveyed from a collective dissatisfaction with the technology-centered and industry-driven initiatives under the umbrella of smart cities.

Eight presenters attended the session from a variety of fields — anthropology, communication, journalism, geography, community development, and computing policy—representing work from the United States, France, Brazil, and South Korea.

The presentations put forward cases that were attentive to social differences and politics, and highlighted the situated and value-laden nature of smart city projects and initiatives.

JafariNaimi’s reflection piece was published as part of the inaugural feature of Transmissions, the companion blog to the Journal of Social Studies of Science.

For the entire reflection piece, visit Transmission’s website.