Conference Theme: Technoscience of/as Islands and Chains
Date: June 27 (Saturday) – June 28 (Sunday), 2026
Location: National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Yang Ming Campus, No. 155, Section 2, Linong Street, Beitou District, Taipei City
Call for Papers：
Taiwan is situated on the imagined “First Island Chain.” This geopolitical vocabulary has long symbolized Taiwan’s strategic position and multiple dependencies. As a technological island, Taiwan is deeply embedded in the global flow of knowledge, technology, capital, and products. Islands and chains serve as both geographical metaphors and historical narratives; they are real landscapes and continuously constructed and reimagined.
If islands symbolize isolation and self-sufficiency, chains imply connection and dependence; islands are places of geography and materiality, while chains weave power and imagination. However, chains not only connect but can also constrain; islands, though seemingly isolated, contain possibilities of openness and generation. The logic of chains often serves order and purpose, while the existence of islands can summon deviation and creation. The tension between islands and chains not only depicts Taiwan’s situation but also reveals the power and potential of technology.
This conference aims to weave together the dual axes of island society and technological development, starting from the interrelated images of islands and chains. They shape and generate each other, just as the multifaceted nature of technology and social research in Taiwan do. We invite participants to reflect on, depict, and practice the relationship between islands and chains from various pathways: in the dialogue between theory and experience, in the intersection of narrative and action, reimagining the islands and linkages of technology and social research, allowing knowledge archipelago to resonate, connect, and continue to evolve.
Submission Topics:
- Science and technology under geopolitical and global supply chain contexts
- Cross-border flow of technology and international cooperation and competition
- The history of STS theory development and its acceptance and appropriation
- Borderless or transnational technology
- Citizen science, public engagement with technology, and technology controversies and communication
- Gender and technology
- STS and interdisciplinary and innovative research
- Other STS topics
Submission Formats:
A. Individual Papers: Please provide an abstract of 800-1200 words.
B. Organized Papers: Groups of 3-4 papers, with the organizer writing the theme and organization description, along with abstracts for each paper.
C. Poster Papers: Please provide an abstract of 800-1200 words.
D. Roundtables: Please provide an abstract of 800-1200 words.
Form : 2026 STS Call for Papers
Important Dates:
- Abstract Submission: March 2, 2026, by 5 PM (UTC+8)
- Announcement of Abstract Review Results: April 30, 2026 (tentative)
Organizers:
Taiwan Science, Technology and Society Association
Institute of Science, Technology and Society, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
Co-organizers:
Center of Society, Technology, and Medicine, National Cheng Kung University
Department of Medical Sociology and Social Work, Chung Shan Medical University
* The paper abstract should be submitted along with the registration form; no separate mailing is required.