February 2024 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Book Release: Israeli Masculinity, Sex Work, and Consumerism
by yeela lahav-raz 29 Feb '24

29 Feb '24

[Sorry for cross-posting] Dear all, I trust this email finds you well. I want to share the release of my new book "Israeli Masculinity, Sex Work, and Consumerism," as part of Routledge's Focus on Global Gender and Sexuality series, in case it is of interest: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003128670/israeli-masc… Based on digital ethnography spanning three distinct time periods and on various Israeli-based digital platforms, this book delves into the impact of digitalization on the economics of demand. Furthermore, the book underscores the intricate interplay between masculine heteronormative sexual scripts and the prevailing cultural repertoires of Israeli society. By revealing the inner world of Israeli sex work consumers and their use of digital technologies, the book illustrates how profound sentiments of camaraderie, homosociality, and brotherhood give rise to thriving online communities of sex consumers who function as a platform on which power relations between men themselves are publicly displayed and are constantly challenged. Finally, to address the elephant in the room, I acknowledge the current polarization of opinions on Israel. I trust that your position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will not hinder your interest in reading the book. If this sentence is redundant, ignore it. Furthermore, despite being written prior to the war, I am confident that the book can illuminate aspects of Israeli masculinity that have been particularly prevalent in our lives in recent months. Best regards, Yeela -- *Yeela Lahav-Raz*, PhD*| **Senior Lecturer* (Assistant Prof.)*| * Department* of Sociology & Anthropology**| The Ben-Gurion University of the Negev* *Head of the B.A Behavioral Sciences Program* *Recently published*: Lahav-Raz, Y. (2024). *Israeli Masculinity, Sex Work, and Consumerism: Heteronormativity and Sexual Repertoires*. Global Gender and Sexuality Series: Routledge. E: lahavraz(a)bgu.ac.il <lahavraz(a)post.bgu.ac.il>

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Symposium Call for Papers: Financialisation of Play & the Gamification of Finance, May 31-June 1, Abertay University
by Darshana Jayemanne 29 Feb '24

29 Feb '24

Call for Papers: Financialisation of Play & the Gamification of Finance Key information Organised by Dr. Darshana Jayemanne and Dr. Martin Zeilinger Keynote lecture by Dr. Rachel O’Dwyer (National College of Art & Design, Dublin) Hosted in-person at Abertay University (Dundee/UK), with funding support from the Royal Society of Edinburg (RSE) (remote presentations can be arranged) Important dates – Symposium: May 31- June 1 2024; Abstract submission: April 8. Format: 20-minute presentations (submission: 200 word abstract & 100 word bio) Contact, questions and submissions: m.zeilinger(a)abertay.ac.uk<mailto:m.zeilinger@abertay.ac.uk> Call for papers We are pleased to invite submissions for an interdisciplinary symposium focusing on the convergence between gamification (the practice of adding game mechanics to non-game environments) and financialisation (the inclusion of financial processes in non-finance contexts). When playful activities are becoming more and more financialised (such as in monetised casual videogames) and when financial activities are becoming more and more gamified (such as in many online banking and investment apps), how does this impact our attitudes towards finance, money, and the value of attention? In light of such trends, how should we rethink the concept of play? We invite abstracts for presentations that reflect critically on the convergence of gamification and financialisation, for example through case studies, theorisation, outlines for future research to be undertaken, or speculative design projects. With an emphasis on the interdisciplinary nature of this complex topic cluster, we invite submissions from researchers and designers with wide-ranging expertise and interests, including (but not limited to) game studies, internet studies, economics, cultural theory, sociology, critical finance, capitalism studies, technology, and digital art. Topics of discussion could include: * Financialised play in online multiplayer videogames * The gamified web3 * Monetisation strategies in digital games, such as lootboxes * Influencers and gamified structures/behaviours * Analysis of gamified finance platforms (online banking, investment, etc.) * Gamified fintech (NFTs, blockchain projects, blockchain games) * Monetisation strategies of specific games - typologies and histories * Policy, law and regulation of gamification and financialisation * Cultural, spatial and temporal aspects of gamified finance and/or financialised play The symposium will feature academic presentations, networking opportunities, and a workshop/play event during which a RPG-boardgame on the network theme will be presented. We are delighted to host Dr. Rachel O’Dwyer as our keynote speaker for the symposium. Rachel is a lecturer at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, and author of the recently published, highly acclaimed Tokens: The Future of Money in the Age of the Platform (Verso 2023). Note that there will be opportunity for symposium presentations to be included in a peer-reviewed journal special issue or co-edited book (details to be determined). We look forward to welcome you in Dundee, the UNESCO City of Design! [Abertay Named UK University of the Year for Teaching Quality]<https://abertay.co/ZTQw> Abertay University is a charity registered in Scotland, No. SC016040 Follow us: www.abertay.ac.uk<http://www.abertay.ac.uk> | @AbertayUni<https://twitter.com/AbertayUni> | AbertayLinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/edu/school?id=12685> | AbertayFacebook<https://www.facebook.com/AbertayUni> Any views or opinions expressed in this email and any attachments are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Abertay University. This email and any attachments may be confidential and are intended solely for the use of the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, you must take no action based on the email or its attachments, nor must you copy or show them to anyone. Please contact the sender if you believe you have received this email in error.

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CfP - Eptic Journal – Call for papers: Artificial intelligence through the lenses of Marxism and critical thinking
by Jonas Valente 29 Feb '24

29 Feb '24

Hi, all, Please check the below call for papers. Kind regards, Jonas Valente Oxford Internet Institute *Eptic Journal – Call for papers: Artificial intelligence through the lenses of Marxism and critical thinking* NEW DEADLINE to submissions: 24 March, 2024 Editors: James Steinhoff - University College Dublin Jonas Valente - Oxford Internet Institute Rodrigo Moreno Marques - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Artificial intelligence is a subject that has been increasingly popular in academia, in public debates, among authorities, and in mass media. Therefore, different knowledge fields have been dealing with it, pushing the debate out of the limits of exact sciences and computer science. In the fields of the humanities and social sciences, artificial intelligence has been analyzed through different approaches, such as power relations (Dyer-Whiteford et al., 2019), the limits of autonomy and its relation to humankind (Davies, 2008), the impacts on the relations of production (Benanav, 2020), the adverse effects such as in discriminatory practices (Benjamin, 2023), and the automation of human activities in areas such as law (Pasquale, 2019) and education (Zhai et al. 2021). Nevertheless, it is worth noting that a significant part of these approaches, far from the critique of political economy, falls under the traps of fetishism (Marx, 2013, 2014, 2017) and does not reveal the essential aspects hidden in the manifestations of the phenomenon. But there are exceptions, such as the works of Dyer-Whiteford et al. (2019), Lindgreen (2023), Steinhoff (2021), Gong (2021), Yi (2020), Cole et al. (2022) and Verdegem (2021), among others. However, these kinds of efforts need to be further expanded. It is urgent to adopt Marxist thinking and the arms of critique to unveil and analyze the social form that artificial intelligence assumes as an instrument of capital, as well as an instrument of alienation and estrangement of human labor, of labor instruments, of fruits from labor, and, ultimately, of human essence (Marx, 2004). In this vein, Eptic Journal (ISSN 1518-2487) invites authors to submit articles to the Special Issue entitled Artificial intelligence through the lenses of Marxism and critical thinking. We will receive submissions that deal with the following subjects: - Labor and social relations in the realm of artificial intelligence. - How artificial intelligence affects working relations and capitalist exploitation in different sectors of the economy. - Aspects of formal subsumption and real subsumption of labor under capital in the context of artificial intelligence. - Impacts of artificial intelligence on the technical division of labor and on the social division of labor. - How economic agents design and/or adopt artificial intelligence techniques. - Policies concerning the development and use of artificial intelligence. - The struggles in the sphere of regulation of artificial intelligence. - How the process of production and distribution of value and wealth are affected by the adoption of artificial intelligence. - Dependence and economic subordination of periphery countries in relation to countries that lead the design and use of artificial intelligence. - Artificial intelligence as a capitalist instrument of economic, symbolic, and political power. - Impacts of artificial intelligence in communication and culture from Marxist and critical perspectives. - Ethics challenges in the field of artificial intelligence from a critical perspective. - Resistances and possibilities of use of artificial intelligence as an instrument to face the capital order and its sociability. The focus of the Special Issue will be theoretical and empirical analyses based on the critique of political economy, as well as Marxist and critical thinking. Submissions guidelines and further information are available at: https://periodicos.ufs.br/eptic More information: https://periodicos.ufs.br/eptic/announcement/view/463 -- Jonas Valente http://twitter.com/jonasvalente

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New open access book: Ageing with Smartphones in Urban China (UCL Press)
by Fox, Alison 29 Feb '24

29 Feb '24

*** We apologise for any cross-posting*** UCL Press is delighted to announce the publication of a new open access book that may be of interest to list subscribers: Ageing with Smartphones in Urban China, by Xinyuan Wang. Download it free: https://bit.ly/3Ik5Bgm ******************************************* Ageing with Smartphones in Urban China >From the cultural to the digital revolution in Shanghai Xinyuan Wang Free download: https://bit.ly/3Ik5Bgm ******************************************* If we want to understand contemporary China, the key is through understanding the older generation. This is the generation in China whose life courses almost perfectly synchronised with the emergence and growth of the 'New China' under the rule of the Communist Party (1949). People in their 70s and 80s have double the life expectancy of their parents' generation. The current oldest generation in Shanghai was born in a time when the average household could not afford electric lights, but today they can turn their lights off via their smartphone apps. Based on 16-month ethnographic fieldwork in Shanghai, Ageing with Smartphones in Urban China tackles the intersection between the 'two revolutions' experienced by the older generation in Shanghai: the contemporary smartphone-based digital revolution and the earlier communist revolutions. We find that we can only explain the smartphone revolution if we first appreciate the long-term consequences of these people's experiences during the communist revolutions. The context of this book is a wide range of dramatic social transformations in China, from the Cultural Revolution to the individualism and Confucianism in Digital China. Supported by detailed ethnographic material, the observations and analyses provide a panoramic view of the social landscape of contemporary China, including topics such as the digital and everyday life, ageing and healthcare, intergenerational relations and family development, community building and grassroots organizations, collective memories and political attitudes among ordinary Chinese people. Free download: https://bit.ly/3Ik5Bgm ---------------------- uclpress.co.uk | @uclpress

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SIGCIS Mahoney Prize Nominations
by Kevin Driscoll 29 Feb '24

29 Feb '24

Dear AIR-L, Nominations are now open for the SIGCIS 2024 Mahoney Prize. The Mahoney Prize recognizes an outstanding article in the history of computing and information technology, broadly conceived. The Mahoney Prize commemorates the late Princeton scholar Michael S. Mahoney, whose profound contributions to the history of computing came from his many articles and book chapters. The prize consists of a $500 award and a certificate. For the 2024 prize, articles published in the preceding three years (2021, 2022 and 2023) are eligible for nomination. The Mahoney Prize is awarded by the Special Interest Group in Computers, Information, and Society (SIGCIS). We plan to present the prize at the SIG’s annual meeting in July. Please email a PDF of the article you would like to nominate to the 2024 Prize Committee by April 15, 2024. Self-nominations and repeat submissions are welcome. If you have any questions about the award or nomination process, please contact the committee chair, Prof. Janet Toland. For committee email addresses and a list of previous winners, see: https://www.sigcis.org/mahoneyprize On behalf of the committee, Kevin Driscoll

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Registration is open for the AoIR 2024 Flashpoint Symposium
by Michelle, Association of Internet Researchers 28 Feb '24

28 Feb '24

AoIR is excited to open registration for the 2024 AoIR Flashpoint Symposium in Hyderabad, India. Sessions will be offered for both in person and online participation. This one day event will take place on Saturday, 13 April 2024. *What are the cultural, political and economic dynamics behind digital interfaces? How is the digital constructed--as material and social infrastructure--in contexts of the Global South? *The AoIR Flashpoint Symposium 2024 <https://aoirhyd2024.github.io/>, held in Hyderabad, India, will examine these broad questions through two keynote panels, three sessions of research presentations, with time for informal networking and discussion. The Programme is available at this link: https://aoirhyd2024.github.io/ Registration is available at this link: https://members.aoir.org/event-5617847 Registration is required for online participation. Streaming details will be provided to registrants. Very best, Nik John President, AoIR

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CfP IAMCR Pre-conference : Approaches to digital platforms from Latin America and other margins Social mediation, market structures, labour relations and sovereign alternatives
by Regulação UFS FAPESP 28 Feb '24

28 Feb '24

Dear, The pre-conference will discuss the impacts of the development of digital platforms, considering the ensemble of these changes and the centrality of the new global system of culture in economic, political and cultural terms. For our purposes, three themes that constitute the basic methodological model of the Brazilian Political Economy of Communications (PEC) analysis will be discussed: (1) in the core level, the problem of labour, which is related to the forms of value production involved in them, the work in the production of the platforms and the labour mediated by the platforms; (2) in the microeconomic level, the relations between market structures and the strategies of relevant actors in different countries; (3) in the macro-social level, the problem of sovereign responses, considering regulation, governance, the development of public policies and community alternatives. Date and time: 29-30 June 2024 Location: University of Canterbury, in Christchurch. https://obscomplataformas.com.br/en/cfp-iamcr-pre-conference-approaches-to-… -- OBSCOM/UFS Observatório de Economia e Comunicação Projeto Governança Econômica de Plataformas <https://bv.fapesp.br/pt/auxilios/111180/a-governanca-economica-das-redes-di…> Processo Fapesp: 21/06992-1 Contato: regulacao.ufs.fapesp(a)gmail.com Site: www.obscomplataformas.com.br Universidade Federal de Sergipe

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Seeking Distributed Research Teams to Participate in Study
by Jordan Duran 28 Feb '24

28 Feb '24

Dear Air-L community, Are you working in a research team that regularly meets online? We at the VICE lab (Virtual Identity, Community, and Entitativity) at UNC Charlotte are conducting a study on how distributed research teams develop and maintain their connections during and between their virtual meetings. We are currently seeking a wide variety of research teams in STEM, social sciences, and humanities to participate in this research. Research teams can have a variety of purposes including but not limited to basic research, applied research & development, grant writing, policy creation, data collection & analysis, and manuscript preparation. We prefer teams ranging from 3 and 10 people who have regular virtual meetings. Participation will include completing a series of surveys and sharing recordings of four consecutive meetings. One member of the research team will serve as our lead contact to help with coordination. If chosen to participate in the study, the team contact will receive compensation of up to $250 and each team member will receive up to $150. Please note that at this time we can only enroll teams where all members are in the United States. If you are interested, you can fill out this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc0atML-6NzsxWVpXWxa0WWPuNXYYzVJ92… Filling out the form is not a commitment to participate, it is just letting us know that you are interested in participating and a member of our lab will follow up with you individually. If you have questions, you can visit our study website https://pages.charlotte.edu/researchteams/ or contact Dr. Anita Blanchard (Anita.Blanchard(a)charlotte.edu) Kind regards, Jordan Duran VICE Lab <https://pages.charlotte.edu/virtual-communities-lab/>, UNC Charlotte Doctoral Candidate, Organizational Science Ph.D. Program

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Call for applications: PhD School on Visual Analysis & Contentious Politics"
by Özkula Suay 28 Feb '24

28 Feb '24

Dear Colleagues, We would appreciate it if you could disseminate this call to any interested PhD students. It promises to be a lovely and engaging retreat in a beautiful location with fantastic scholars! PhD School on ‘Visual Analysis & Contentious Politics’, call for applications Scuola Normale Superiore, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences will be organising a PhD Spring School on ‘Visual Analysis & Contentious Politics’, held in beautiful Cortona, Tuscany, from May 29-June 1. We are accepting applications from students worldwide enrolled in PhD programs in the fields of social and political sciences and related disciplines . There will be no fees. Accommodation will be provided at reasonable cost in Cortona Confirmed speakers: Alice Mattoni, University of Bologna Suay Melisa Özkula, University of Salzburg Ofra Klein, University of Rotterdam Manuela Caiani, SNS Hans-Joerg Trenz, SNS More information about the school and on how to apply: https://www.sns.it/it/evento/summer-school-visual-analysis-contentious-poli… -- [I support fair work & do not expect colleagues to read or respond to emails after-hours, during weekends, outside of their part-time allocation, or during strike periods] Dr. Suay Melisa Özkula Post-doctoral Researcher Abtlg. Center for ICT&S Fachbereich Kommunikationswissenschaft Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg Sigmund Haffner Gasse 18 | 5020 Salzburg | Österreich/Austria https://www.kowi-salzburg.at/team/oezkula-suay/ Recent work: MSCA project "DIGI-EMP"<https://www.sis.unitn.it/2753/international-experiences-of-digital-empowerm…> https://visualculturesecrea.wordpress.com/the-visual-methods-collective/ Özkula, S. M. , Prieto-Blanco, P., Tan, X., & Mdege, N. (2024) Affordances and platformed visual misogyny: a call for feminist approaches in visual methods, Feminist Media Studies, https://doi.org/<https://doi.org/1:10.1080/14680777.2024.2311355>1<https://doi.org/1:10.1080/14680777.2024.2311355>:10.1080/14680777.2024.2311355<https://doi.org/1:10.1080/14680777.2024.2311355> <https://doi.org/1:10.1080/14680777.2024.2311355> Özkula, S. M. 2023. “The Vulnerability Triad: New Considerations for Ethics and Risk Identification in Ambiguous and Antagonistic Digital Spaces.” Comunicazioni Sociali, 2, 152-166, https://doi.org/<https://doi.org/10.26350/001200_000182>10.26350/001200_000182 <https://doi.org/10.26350/001200_000182> Kirby, D., & Özkula, S. M. (2023). The dead pig's photo album: Affective visual rituals in collective identity formation. International Journal of Cultural Studies. https://doi.org/10.1177/13678779231172788 Özkula, S. M., Lompe, M., Vespa, M., Sørensen, E., & Zhao, T. (2022). When URLs on social networks become invisible: Bias and social media logics in a cross-platform hyperlink study. First Monday, 27(6). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v27i6.12568 Özkula, S. M., Reilly, P. J., & Hayes, J. (2022). Easy data, same old platforms? A systematic review of digital activism methodologies. Information, Communication & Society. https://doi.org/<https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2021.2013918>10.1080/1369118X.2021.2013918<https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2021.2013918> ________________________________ From: Özkula Suay <suay.oezkula(a)plus.ac.at> Sent: Monday, February 12, 2024 5:29 PM To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org <air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org> Subject: Call for applications: PhD School on Visual Analysis & Contentious Politics" Dear Colleagues, We would appreciate it if you could disseminate this call to any interested PhD students. It promises to be a lovely and engaging retreat in a beautiful location with fantastic scholars! PhD School on ‘Visual Analysis & Contentious Politics’, call for applications Scuola Normale Superiore, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences will be organising a PhD Spring School on ‘Visual Analysis & Contentious Politics’, held in beautiful Cortona, Tuscany, from May 29-June 1. We are accepting applications from students worldwide enrolled in PhD programs in the fields of social and political sciences and related disciplines . There will be no fees. Accommodation will be provided at reasonable cost in Cortona Confirmed speakers: Alice Mattoni, University of Bologna Suay Melisa Özkula, University of Salzburg Ofra Klein, University of Rotterdam Manuela Caiani, SNS Hans-Joerg Trenz, SNS More information about the school and on how to apply: https://www.sns.it/it/evento/summer-school-visual-analysis-contentious-poli… -- [I support fair work & do not expect colleagues to read or respond to emails after-hours, during weekends, outside of their part-time allocation, or during strike periods] Dr. Suay Melisa Özkula Post-doctoral Researcher Abtlg. Center for ICT&S Fachbereich Kommunikationswissenschaft Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg Sigmund Haffner Gasse 18 | 5020 Salzburg | Österreich https://www.kowi-salzburg.at/team/oezkula-suay/ Recent work: MSCA project lead "DIGI-EMP"<https://www.sis.unitn.it/2753/international-experiences-of-digital-empowerm…> https://visualculturesecrea.wordpress.com/the-visual-methods-collective/ Özkula, Suay M. 2023. “The Vulnerability Triad: New Considerations for Ethics and Risk Identification in Ambiguous and Antagonistic Digital Spaces.” Comunicazioni Sociali, 2, 152-166, https://doi.org/<https://doi.org/10.1177/13678779231172788>10.26350/001200_000182<https://doi.org/10.1177/13678779231172788> Kirby, D., & Özkula, S. M. (2023). The dead pig's photo album: Affective visual rituals in collective identity formation. International Journal of Cultural Studies. https://doi.org/10.1177/13678779231172788 Özkula, S. M., Lompe, M., Vespa, M., Sørensen, E., & Zhao, T. (2022). When URLs on social networks become invisible: Bias and social media logics in a cross-platform hyperlink study. First Monday, 27(6). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v27i6.12568 Özkula, S. M., Reilly, P. J., & Hayes, J. (2022). Easy data, same old platforms? A systematic review of digital activism methodologies. Information, Communication & Society. https://doi.org/<https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2021.2013918>10.1080/1369118X.2021.2013918<https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2021.2013918>

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Governable Spaces: Democratic Design for Online Life
by Nathan Schneider 27 Feb '24

27 Feb '24

Dear AoIR, Please permit me to share news about the release of my new book today, Governable Spaces: Democratic Design for Online Life. It is available from University of California Press in paperback and, most importantly, as a free, open-access ebook. Get it here<https://nathanschneider.info/govbook>. Some basics: When was the last time you participated in an election for a Facebook group or sat on a jury for a dispute in a subreddit? Platforms nudge users to tolerate nearly all-powerful admins, moderators, and “benevolent dictators for life.” In Governable Spaces, Nathan Schneider argues that the internet has been plagued by a phenomenon he calls “implicit feudalism”: a bias, both cultural and technical, for building communities as fiefdoms. The consequences of this arrangement matter far beyond online spaces themselves, as feudal defaults train us to give up on our communities’ democratic potential, inclining us to be more tolerant of autocratic tech CEOs and authoritarian tendencies among politicians. But online spaces could be sites of a creative, radical, and democratic renaissance. Using media archaeology, political theory, and participant observation, Schneider shows how the internet can learn from governance legacies of the past to become a more democratic medium, responsive and inventive unlike anything that has come before. “This visionary book points a way to scrapping capitalist realism for community control over our digital spaces. Nathan Schneider generously brings together disparate wisdom from abolitionists, Black feminists, and cooperative software engineers to spark our own imaginations and experiments.”—Lilly Irani, author of Chasing Innovation: Making Entrepreneurial Citizens in Modern India I hope this community finds it useful! Nathan -- Nathan Schneider Assistant Professor, Media Studies University of Colorado Boulder

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