Cui bono, Data Science? Four questions from Science and Technology Studies

Abstract

In the introduction to Ecologies of Knowledge: Work and Politics in Science and Technology (1995), Susan Leigh Star asks: “Cui bono? Who is doing the dishes? Where is the garbage going? What is the material basis for practice? Who owns the means of knowledge production?” These questions sum up an approach to the social studies of science and technology (STS) that take science and technology “off the pedestal” (Chubin and Chu 1989) – by treating both as something that people do together, that understands science as practice and technology as socio-political.

Taking Leigh Star’s questions as a starting point, I will engage with some of the critical work on data science that has emerged in STS. This includes for example, questions about the invisible human labour required to run our AI-based infrastructures, questions about social justice and racial bias in AI-based systems as well as proposals for community-led socio-technical innovation.


About the Speaker

Juliane Jarke is a senior researcher at the Institute for Information Management (ifib) and the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) of the University of Bremen. Her research focuses on public sector innovation, digital (in)equalities and participatory design. Prior to Bremen, she worked as a research associate at the Centre for the Study of Technology and Organisation at Lancaster University. In 2013, she completed her PhD in Organisation, Work and Technology at Lancaster University Management School which is part of a vivid STS community across Lancaster University. Prior to her PhD studies, she earned degrees in MSc Information Technology, Management and Organisational Change (Lancaster University); MA Philosophy (Hamburg University) and BSc Informatics (Hamburg University). Since 2009, Juliane Jarke serves as an independent expert to the European Commission within the areas eInfrastructures, Data Infrastructures and Digital Science.

Juliane Jarke is a co-founder of the DSC. She is particularly interested in the increasing relevance of data science for society and the related implications (e.g. in terms of transparency, accountability, in(equalities) as well as design opportunities. She is currently Co-PI of a 3-year research project examining the increasing datafication of education.

Speaker:
Dr. Juliane Jarke