Tech Power Seminar Series
Call for Participation
INTERROGATING POWER
in critical digital technology research and practice
Date: Fortnightly meetings (14th and 28th February, and 13th March; 4-5:30pm NL)
Location: IVIR (UvA) and hybrid/remote
Digital technologies have transformed economic systems, cultural production, and governance and statecraft in both subtle and overt ways. Many of these technologies have become fundamental to the ways in which we work, play, live – they are the infrastructures that enable collective action.
These technologies have also reconfigured systems of power and control across these contexts. Large corporations dominate software production, computational deployment and use through private platforms, and have come to define much of the landscape of ‘data-based’ production today. Platforms are able to filter and control participation within technological networks and establish standards, as well as exert influence over legal and political institutions of state and market, among other means. Algorithmic systems and data-based technologies increasingly intervene in and shape social relations, embodying specific biases and worldviews of their creators and users.
How do we study and make sense of the emerging patterns of political-economic and social change wrought by new configurations of these technologies? What are the ways in which these technologies are becoming infrastructural, and what are its political implications? How may these systems' power implicate changes across social, cultural, political, and economic contexts? Who makes decisions about governing these infrastructures, and how?
This seminar series aims to provide a space for researchers of technology to diagnose, interrogate, and respond to changing dynamics of power and domination in digital technologies. We invite contributions and participation from researchers, scholars, artists, and activists to workshop their work in progress which addresses these and other issues, interrogating how digital technologies are reconfiguring power in different ways.
We are particularly interested in empirical, theoretical, and methodological contributions on the subject. A discussion of this nature is by necessity an interdisciplinary exercise. As such, we encourage researchers of law, political sciences, policy studies, media studies, science and technology studies, as well as related disciplines to apply. We also welcome activists and artists to share insights from their interventions and practice in this context.
Format: We will hold fortnightly discussions in an informal setting, akin to a reading group. In each session, we will discuss two or three contributions by participants in detail. Each contribution will be introduced by a discussant, after which the discussion will be opened up to all participants. Participants are expected to have read contributions prior to the discussion. Participants may join us at the University of Amsterdam (IVIR), or via remote participation. Each session will last 1.5 hours.
If you are interested in participating, there are two options: 1) As a contributor. Please submit a short abstract (200-500 words) on the link below. You'll be expected to submit your full draft paper 10 days before the discussion; 2) As a discussant/participant. Submit a short paragraph on why you're interested in joining the event. We expect all participants to join all three sessions. Deadline for expressions of interest is January 31st.
Made with LiberaForms at my.liberaforms.org