Mattering Press is dedicated to making empirically grounded monographs and edited collections within the field of Science and Technology Studies widely and freely available on an Open Access basis. At the same time, we are committed to producing books that can travel as physical entities and therefore to producing high quality, hard copies of all our books.
Mission and Values
Mattering Press prioritises community engagement over growth and therefore, as a ScholarLed publisher, is keep to support forms of publishing invested in ‘scaling small’. As a UK registered charity, all profits go back into the production of new, open access content.
Governance
The press was founded in 2012 and established as a UK
registered charity in 2013. It was set up following discussions amongst
members of the Flows, Doings, Edges collective, an international peer
network set up to support early career scholars working within the field
of Science and Technology Studies.
Mattering Press is led by six Editorial Board members, who also act as the Charity’s Trustees. All Editors provide their time to the press freely. The Press’s practical work is supported by many others, including external web designers, copy editors, type setters, and proof readers.
As a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, we are governed by our Board of Trustees, who also act as the Press’ Editors. The Board governs according to Mattering Press’ founding constitution. The constitution outlines, for example, the powers of the trustees, how the Press can use the income it receives, as well as procedures to manage any conflicts of interest that could arise. In addition, the Press benefits from the input of two advisory boards: an STS Advisory Board, who provide input on Mattering Press’ publication activities and community engagement work and an Open Access Advisory Board, who provide input on the Press’ work as an OA publisher.
Future Plans
An imminent title is the Second Edition of The Ethnographic Case, which critically examines how ‘the case’ can open space an intellectual politics where that which doesn’t fit is still allowed to matter. Other forthcoming texts include a monograph centred on an empirical examination of a particular parliamentary building, as a way of exploring the enactment of liberal democracy as a political reality and a further co-authored monograph that critically unpicks the construction of ‘value’ within biomedical research.
