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The term “forensics” derives from the Latin word "forensis" meaning "belonging to the forum, market (place)". The etymology recalls that court proceedings and investigations are public affairs and so they were often conducted on the Forum in ancient Rome.
Following this line of thought, several STS works have depicted how experts present forensic findings in the courtroom, explain their evidence and put them up for evaluation. Recent papers have then turned to the epistemic foundations of forensic science. In our panel we want to take up these discussions and push them in a new direction. For while the relationship between forensics and law is already well studied, the intersections of forensics and the society/public, forensics and basic science, and forensics and the police have hardly been explored so far. We propose to take a closer look at these relations by using the example of forensic devices. By forensic devices we do not only mean machines and tools, but also databases, information technologies, and procedures guiding forensic practices. We are looking for studies dedicated to the social life of forensic devices, to their role as mediators or boundary objects between different areas and fields of practice, as well as the public debate about their trustworthiness, risks and chances. We particularly encourage contributions focussing on how these devices help their users to navigate the gap between – and the quest for loyalty to – the realm of investigation on the one hand and the realm of science on the other.
Building a Postcolonial Carceral State: South Africa's Forensic DNA Database - Noah Tamarkin, Cornell University
In the Name of Peace: Coexisting Forensic Practices ss Transitional Justice Devices. The Case of The Colombian (Post) Conflict. - Maria Fernanda Olarte-Sierra, Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, University of Amsterdam
Post-mortem Imaging in the Forensic Device: Practices of Seeing and Interprofessional Debates - Celine Schnegg, Haute Ecole de Sante Vaud; Séverine Rey, Haute école de santé Vaud HES-SO; Alejandro Dominguez, Haute Ecole de Sante Vaud