Paper short abstract:

Though the shape of STS has always been a bit queer, the content of ‘mainstream’ STS certainly has not. If the time has come to queer STS, then this occasion begs several questions about the diverse consequences of institutionalizing queer studies within the (inter)discipline.

Paper long abstract:

Though the shape of STS has always been a bit queer, the content of 'mainstream' STS certainly has not. If the time has come to queer STS, then this occasion begs several questions about the diverse consequences of institutionalizing queer studies within the (inter)discipline. Indeed, disciplines are good at many things, not the least of which is disciplining subjects. How might queer STS resist the conservative forces of institutionalization while also claiming meaningful space in STS? How can queering STS offer opportunities to engage social justice and simultaneously critique identitarian moves that might bucket or silo queer issues as distinct from transnational, disability, feminist, and critical race work? What risks are worth taking for the purposes of increased visibility and community building, and how can queer STS provoke radical, transformative scholar-activism within or without the confines of STS proper? In the spirit of Ahmed's (2012) provocations about the (im)potency of institutional diversity, I ask: can queer STS maintain a transgressive politics of social transformation while being included?