Mag.a Dr.in Katja Mayer
Biography
Katja Mayer is a sociologist and works at the interface of science, technology and society. Since 2019, she is working as senior postdoc with the Elise Richter Fellowship (FWF) at the Department of Science and Technology Studies at the University of Vienna. Her research focuses on the interaction between social science methods and their public spheres.
As part of her postdoc position at the Professorship of Computational Social Science and Big Data, she established the field of "Critical Data Studies" at TU Munich.
Her research focus is on the cultural, ethical and socio-technical challenges at the interface of computer science, social sciences and society. Data is treated less as a new raw material, but as a highly variable and fragile phenomenon. In the context of data-driven decision-making, data are not considered as "given", but the way we collect, transform, analyze, and trust data is up for discussion.
In addition, Katja also works as Senior Scientist at the Center for Social Innovation in Vienna. Until recently she was Associate Researcher at the University of Vienna's research platforms "Governance of Digital Practices" and "Responsible Research and Innovation in Scientific Practice". For many years she has been teaching Sociology, STS and Web Sciences at the University of Vienna, the Danube University Krems, the University of Art and Design Linz and the University of Lucerne. She was a visiting fellow at the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University (USA). Moreover, she was a member of the core team of the Open Access Network Austria (OANA), co-heading the working group "National Strategy for the Transition to Open Science". In the years 2011-2013 she was a research fellow of the President of the European Research Council (ERC).
Publications
A Rocket to Protect?
- Author(s)
- Nina Klimburg-Witjes
- Abstract
When we think about European integration practices, we rarely consider how they may extend to outer space. Yet, a new global space race is in full swing, in which commercial and government actors worldwide are putting forward bold visions of human futures in outer space. Europe is at the cusp of deciding which role to play in this new Space Age, with the European rocket program Ariane being at the centre of many debates about the future of Europe in space. Controversies about the future of the jointly built and heavily subsidised rocket entangle questions of innovation, in/security, and geopolitical power constellations. This paper traces which kind of space futures are projected onto and realised through Ariane, how the current geopolitical dynamics in the accelerating New Space Age are co-constitutive of how European strategic autonomy is envisioned, and how these futures relate to ideals and tensions of European integration. Mobilising work in science and technology studies (STS) on sociotechnical imaginaries and insights from the emerging social studies of outer space (SSOS), the paper offers unique and timely insights into how future visions of space shape forms of European collaboration in the present and how, conversely, geopolitical relations on Earth shape how and by whom these futures are imagined. The empirical part builds on two years of fieldwork in the European space sector, including interviews and participant observation. It presents three vignettes that highlight different aspects of strategic autonomy. The vignettes concern (1) the broader geopolitical dimension of the European rocket programme, (2) the issue of dual-use and the blurring of boundaries between civilian and military innovation, and (3) European technopolitical integration and the question of power in changing actor configurations. It is argued that the current emphasis on strategic autonomy in the European context represents a significant transformation of the role of space for European (security) integration and direct response to both the commercialisation and the securitisation of space. Moreover, it is shown how the securitisation of (access to) outer space has become a vital force to spur innovation – channelling resources, marshalling funds, and creating political legitimacy, entangling political economies of innovation with geopolitical transformations.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Science and Technology Studies
- Journal
- Geopolitics
- Volume
- 29
- Pages
- 821-848
- No. of pages
- 28
- ISSN
- 1465-0045
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2023.2177157
- Publication date
- 02-2023
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 506004 European integration, 509025 Technology studies, 509024 Security research
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geography, Planning and Development, Political Science and International Relations
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/69715707-e739-43de-b161-88b0a63b0e9f