While the lab is a physical and virtual space, a crucial part of the lab is its people.
We expect the lab to be a friendly space, where we see where we consider ourselves equals while recognizing and encouraging our differences in our ways of doing and thinking. Nonetheless, the lab exists within a university structure in which people have different employment positions that grant them different material, discursive and social values. The university directly employs some of us; others are not employees; some were active in the RUSTlab but now have taken different paths while remaining connected to us.
All these positions do not disappear in the lab. Still, we seek to provide equal discursive and social opportunities to all, independently of the status individuals carry due to their employment position. lab members have different personalities, different competencies, and other resources that each grant them different possibilities to participate in lab activities.
Part of the lab is to experiment with our roles as teachers, professors and students and become issue experts, affected, caregivers and care receivers. The lab is not one entity among other institutionalized entities at the university. Members of the lab are always involved in other groups and things. Activities of members and the lab itself reach out to other groups and people. The lab is located in one building with the interdisciplinary Centre for Anthropological Knowledge in Scientific and Technological Cultures, CAST, and right below the research Centre for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS). We are situated in these spatial conditions and collaborate as neighbours and friends. The lab is also the people who often carry the sensibilities of ethnography with them. We needed a material space to serve as a compound for our sensibilities and reflexivity and hence the lab. The lab is always enabling as well as a result of our work in different constellations.
Even though most lab activities implicitly prioritize some forms of participation over others (for example being present during the meetings), we seek to make it possible for people to participate in different ways such as staying connected to Slack channels or come through skype to the meetings (STS and social science suggest various forms of participation: ‘the other’, ‘outsider’ or ‘trickster’ (Haraway), ‘Woman who makes a fuss’ (see Stengers & Despret), ‘Gino’, who doesn’t want to be cared for (see Callon & Rabiharisoa), cyborg, etc.). We value all contributions and all our activities involve shared ownership and allow people to contribute legitimately in different ways.
As the lab has general inclusive interest, and in connecting with interested colleagues inside and outside the university, we encourage people to participate in lab activities and to become lab members. Aside from the core active members, there are several other occasional participants: bachelor, master and doctoral students, postdocs, student assistants, assistants to events and friends or collaborators from other universities and public and private institutions. We treasure and engage with a strong network of STS labs and institutes (you can see here).
All current members of the lab have different circumstances, and the common trait that defines membership is care and participation. In other words, a member is part of the core group that takes care of the lab, participates in lab activities, and meets regularly with us (virtually or physically). Even though the regularity and manner of participating vary, this definition of membership includes a lot of different engagements, from plants’ quiet participation over students involved in one or two activities to colleagues at other universities or abroad passing by once in a while and to those engaging daily in on- and offline relations with the lab.
The following are some of the most explicit roles and activities that give some orientation about the lab’s structure. These roles are fluid and can be assumed by different people:
Members: A group of stable members – who you can get to know through the lab's website overview – take care of the lab and plan its activities. The lab members have different roles that enact the lab and make it function. Regular attendance of stable members is expected but not enforced (it can be via video conferencing as we continue to improve our online platforms!). We also understand that it is not necessary to participate in every single activity of the lab or even most of them to be part of it. Among current members, there are varying intensities and proximities. It is possible to relate and participate in a close and intense way (being present and active in almost every lab activity or even setting up new ones) or to relate and participate more distantly and less intensely (attending the Lectures and MR sessions but not the reading group, instead, contributing by other means), or anywhere in between. Being considered a member will come out organically (see section 8). Joining and having a contract with the chair comes with expectations regarding membership to the lab. Nonetheless, if you don't have a contract or have a different kind of affiliation (e.g., “Lehrbeauftragte” or student), you can still be a full member. In that case, expectation regarding your participation is somehow lower in terms of intensity, as we know you must spend your time studying, making a living or cannot be expected to incur expenses to attend meetings. Nonetheless, your interest and investment are most appreciated, and you will be considered a full member regardless of your employment relationship with the Ruhr University.
Head of the lab: Estrid is the person legally responsible for the lab, the formal link between the lab and the university, the financer, and often the final editor of our contents and most of our activities. In the case of fundamental disagreements or conflicts, she is the ultimate person to mediate and make a hard decision. Estrid’s decisions can be disputed, and even though she cannot be dismissed as the head of the lab, lab members can surely require of her to change decisions, attitude or behaviour, in case these are detrimental to the labs functioning in accordance with the coding.
Lab coordinator: Currently, our lab coordinator is (tba). While we are all encouraged to collaborate and participate in organizing activities, we recognize the need and value of having a person in charge (with the power this implies) of this collaborative organizational stuff. The coordinator’s role includes taking care of our website and Twitter, preparing the schedule of the RUSTlab lectures and machine rooms, organizing the office hours and the schedule, looking out for funding opportunities for the lab, and being the primary plant caretaker. The lab coordinator is appointed by Estrid, ideally among university employees, whose contract will compensate for the work that coordination involves. More info can be found in the section on lab coordination.
Coding coordinator: While this document is the product of a collaborative writing process, we appoint one person who makes sure coding is not forgotten. They do not work as moral police but put coding on the schedule and remind us to write assigned parts in the document or clean our comments from time to time. The current coding coordinator is Jan (summer 21). Past coordinators were Olga (winter 20-21), Stefan (summer 20), and Susana (winter 19-20).
Keyholders: Only people with a working contract have a key that gives access to the lab. Nonetheless, we have come up with a schedule to have open hours for students to use the lab (consult here). Also, we are flexible to the reach of our unique possibilities to open the lab at different times. If you don't have access and need to use it, please get in touch with the lab coordinator to request access.
Plant caretakers: non-human living beings are part of the lab, too. They need regular water and care. While one person assumes the role officially, others with key access are encouraged to help. But don't just water without coordinating with the official plant caretaker (currently: Laura), or we might have an "overcare" accident and drown our plant fellows.
Coffee maker and tricks buyer: this is a vital role since we aim to make the lab a pleasant and comfortable space where we can learn and discuss while eating nice things (and hopefully healthy) and drink good coffee (hopefully Columbian). We are all encouraged to assume this role and to always thank the one who carries it in a specific meeting. But if you can't do it for logistical reasons, don't worry, you will find another way to contribute. In a secret box, you’ll find money to purchase snacks and drinks. No one apart from Estrid is asked to add funds to the secret box. Ask other members where to find the box.
Pixel Pushers / Designers: The lab needs people who contribute to it by creating and maintaining a range of forms and formats for the lab’s communicative channels. Currently, this is mainly (but not exclusively) taken care of by Miriam. At the moment, it is first and foremost a matter of producing visual layouts for posters, flyers and web content. But we hope, in the future, to broaden the scope to also include other modes of artful engagement and production. These forms of commitment are just as much part of the creative processes of the lab as is the production of text and, therefore, should be acknowledged in the same way. If you are interested in contributing this way, please get in touch.
Students: Student involvement is a significant aim that may start by using the lab space for seminars. Students who have visited the RUSTlab during seminars will get a short introduction to the lab and can henceforth use it according for their own work during the opening hours. Students are explicitly addressed when advertising for lectures and machines rooms. They are also encouraged to join as more stable members and discuss and carry out their thesis with the lab.