4S (Society for Social Studies of Science), one of the world’s leading conferences on STS (Science and Technology Studies / Science, Technology, and Society, https://www.4sonline.org/what_is_4s.php), will take place in Seattle this year. Within the scope of our project, Dr. Melike Şahinol and Dr. Gülşah Başkavak have been accepted to present their papers at this prestigious conference! Şahinol and Başkavak will present the paper titled “Bridging Craft and Innovation: Surgical Instrument Manufacturing Between the Global South and North” at the conference, which will take place on September 3 – 6, 2025.
A paper challenging regional considerations from an STS perspective
Within the scope of the DFG-funded project MediCluster, “Bridging Craft and Innovation: Surgical Instrument Manufacturing Between the Global South and North” focuses on the manufacturing centers of medical instruments. Emphasizing knowledge, labor and technology interacting between the global North and South, the paper examines the clusters of Tutlingen (Germany), Sialkot (Pakistan) and Samsun (Türkiye) in their interrelatedness. In this way, the study aims to overcome the limitations of a regional perspective and attempts to explore the dynamic movement of expertise, trade and technology on a global scale. By focusing on different geographical clusters globally, the study makes an assessment based on the STS perspective between separate innovation clusters.
About the 4S 2025 Seattle Conference
The 4S 2025 Conference stands out as one of the most prestigious events in STS. Bringing together academics, researchers and experts from around the world every year, this conference provides an important platform for the most up-to-date discussions in the field of STS.
This year’s conference, which will be held in Seattle, themed “Reverberations” (https://4sonline.org/about_the_conference_seattle.php) invites participants to explore how science and technology echo across time, space, and cultures. The concept of reverberation—whether as seismic waves, cultural echoes, or transcontinental impacts—offers a rich framework for examining the interconnectedness of past and present, local and global, and material and symbolic practices. From Indigenous resistance in the Seattle region to the global ripple effects of technological innovations, the theme encourages a deep engagement with the layered histories and futures of STS.
Our researchers Şahinol & Başkavak will present a paper (see below) that resonates with this theme by examining the relationship between global power balances and local production practices in the context of medical technologies. By focusing on how global norms and local innovations reverberate through medical production processes, our contribution aims to shed light on the complex interplay of politics, economics, and technology in shaping healthcare systems worldwide.
“Bridging Craft and Innovation: Surgical Instrument Manufacturing Between the Global South and North”
Melike Şahinol & Gülşah Başkavak (Orient-Institut Istanbul, Türkiye)
Abstract:
Manufacturing practices of medical instruments are shaped by transnational networks of knowledge, labor, and technology that link regions across the Global South and North. While industrial automation increasingly dominates medical manufacturing, craft-based expertise remains essential for precision surgical tools. This paper examines the interconnected manufacturing clusters of Tuttlingen (Germany), Sialkot (Pakistan), and Samsun (Türkiye), exploring how knowledge, labor, and materials circulate across these sites and contribute to the evolving landscape of medical instrument production.
By situating manufacturing practices of surgical instruments within an oceanic framework, this study challenges rigid territorial lenses that separate “Asian,” or “Middle Eastern” studies. Instead, it highlights the dynamic movement of expertise, trade, and technology across the Indian Ocean and beyond. The concept of echoes and extensions provides a perspective to analyze how historical craft traditions resonate across time (echo) and adapt to changing global production networks (extend). Türkiye’s position between the Global South and North offers a compelling case to investigate how globalized medical manufacturing shapes and is shaped by regional innovation cultures, value chains, and geopolitical contexts.
By bringing manufacturing practices of medical instruments in globally different situated innovation clusters into a transregional frame, this contribution expands STS discussions on medical technologies beyond national or continental categories. It critically engages with decolonial and transnational STS perspectives, emphasizing the need to rethink established narratives of innovation, expertise, and technological development in the global medical technology landscape.