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The University of Padova will host the international workshop “Encounters on Technoscience and Democracy in the Digital Age” on 12–13 November 2026, bringing together scholars to explore the complex relationships between technoscience, digital transformations, and democratic life.
 Encounters on Technoscience and Democracy in the Digital Age
DeCo Workshop | 12–13 November 2026 | University of Padova, Italy
The workshop is organised by the PaSTIS Research Unit (Padova Science, Technology and Innovation Studies) of the Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology (FISPPA), University of Padova, in collaboration with the University of Lausanne (UNIL).
Drawing on perspectives from Science and Technology Studies (STS) and related fields, the workshop will examine how scientific knowledge, technological infrastructures, and digital systems participate in shaping contemporary democratic societies. Particular attention will be devoted to the ways in which technoscientific developments transform political participation, institutional arrangements, public knowledge, and the relationships between expertise, technology, and democracy.
The workshop offers an opportunity for interdisciplinary exchange on the political, social, and epistemic implications of technoscientific transformations, fostering dialogue between established scholars and emerging researchers working at the intersection of STS, digital technologies, and democratic participation.
Keynote Lecture: Geoffrey C. Bowker
A central highlight of the workshop will be the keynote lecture by Geoffrey C. Bowker, Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Irvine, and one of the most influential international scholars in Science and Technology Studies.
The Ontology of Democracy in the Digital Age, Thursday, 12 November 2026, 16:15
Geoffrey C. Bowker is internationally recognised for his pioneering contributions to the study of information infrastructures, classification systems, scientific knowledge, and the relationships between technology, memory, and society. His scholarship has played a fundamental role in understanding how information systems and technological infrastructures organise knowledge, structure social worlds, and shape the conditions of collective life. His keynote lecture, “The Ontology of Democracy in the Digital Age,” will provide a central intellectual focus for the workshop, inviting reflection on the fundamental relationships between digital technologies and the constitution of democratic realities. By bringing together questions of ontology, technoscientific infrastructures, and democracy, the lecture will offer an opportunity to reconsider how digital systems participate in defining the categories, relations, and possibilities through which democratic societies operate.
The lecture will be chaired by Paolo Magaudda (University of Padova), with an introduction by Alessandro Mongili (University of Padova). The discussion will feature Viola Schiaffonati and Paolo Volontè, both from Politecnico di Milano.
Workshop Programme
Thursday, 12 November 2026
16:00 – Opening Remarks, Federico Neresini (University of Padova), Stefano Crabu (University of Padova)
16:15 – Keynote Lecture
Geoffrey C. Bowker
Professor Emeritus, University of California, Irvine
The Ontology of Democracy in the Digital Age
Chair: Paolo Magaudda (University of Padova)
Introduction: Alessandro Mongili (University of Padova)
Discussants: Viola Schiaffonati (Politecnico di Milano), Paolo Volontè (Politecnico di Milano)
Friday, 13 November 2026
Venue: Via Cesarotti 10/12, Sala Seminari, Padova
09:30 – Welcome Coffee
10:00 – 12:30 | Session 1
Technoscience, Democracy, and Digital Transformations
Speakers:
- Attila Bruni (University of Trento)
- Olivier Glassey (University of Lausanne)
- Florian Jaton (EPFL / University of Lausanne)
- Paolo Volontè (Politecnico di Milano)
Chairs:
- Barbara Morsello (University of Padova)
- Stefano Crabu (University of Padova)
12:30–14:00 – Light Lunch
14:00–16:30 | Session 2
Opening the Black Box of STS: Technoscience and Participatory Democracy
Speakers:
- Luca Chiapperino (HES-SO Valais/Wallis)
- Samuele Fratini (Université Paris 8)
- Paolo Giardullo (University of Padova)
- Mylen Tanferri (University of Padova)
Chair: Francesco Panese (University of Lausanne)
Discussant: Alvise Mattozzi (Politecnico di Torino)
16:30 – Closing Remarks
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