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CfP Critical Perspectives on Digital Capitalism: Theories and Praxis
by Christian Fuchs 10 Mar '23

10 Mar '23

CfP Critical Perspectives on Digital Capitalism: Theories and Praxis Special Issue of the journal tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique (http://www.triple-c.at) Edited by Thomas Allmer, Sevda Can Arslan, and Christian Fuchs (Media Systems and Media Organisation Research Group, Paderborn University) https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/announcement/view/40 Submission deadline: Thursday, April 20, 2023 Please submit abstracts of 250-600 words by e-mailing the completed submission form http://triple-c.at/f/FirstName_FamilyName_tripleC_DigitalCapitalism.docx to thomas.allmer(a)triple-c.at This special issue presents critical perspectives on digital capitalism. Its contributions show how we can best critically theorise digital capitalism and what forms of political praxis exist and are needed in social struggles that stand in the context of digital capitalism. The issue will feature contributions by Jodi Dean, Christian Fuchs, Michael Hardt & Antonio Negri, and Sabine Pfeiffer. Facebook and Google exploit our digital labour. That's digital capitalism. In late 2022 and early 2023, Google laid off 12,000 employees, Microsoft 10,000, Twitter more than 10,000, Amazon 18,000, and Facebook 11,000. That's digital capitalism. Algorithms are used by corporations for socially sorting and discriminating against customers who struggle to make ends meet and live in deprived neighbourhoods. That's digital capitalism. Lots of clickwork is conducted by poorly paid women in the Global South. That's digital capitalism. Digital fascism, fake news, post-truth culture and algorithmic politics circulate on capitalist and state-capitalist Internet platforms. That's digital capitalism. Information war and echo chambers polarise the digital public sphere, making a new World War between imperialist powers that compete at the global level for the control of territory, economic power and political as well as ideological hegemony and the nuclear annihilation of humankind and life on Earth more likely. That's digital capitalism. Recently, digital workers assembling iPhones protested against the poor working conditions they faced at Foxconn in Zhengzhou during the COVID-19 pandemic. That's a praxis that challenges digital capitalism. In 2021, warehouse workers founded the Amazon Labor Union. That's a praxis that challenges digital capitalism. The non-profit federated Internet platform Mastodon has become a viable digital alternative in the light of users' discontent with Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter. That's a praxis that challenges digital capitalism. Internet experts and users have co-written the Public Service Media and Public Service Internet Manifesto that demands turning the Internet into a public good and advancing digital democracy. That's a praxis that challenges digital capitalism. While fascists spread post-truth on social media, the progressive news hour Democracy Now! has since 1996 utilised the non-commercial Internet, Public Service Media, as well as community radio and television stations for broadcasting a high-quality, independent news programme that reaches millions of viewers and questions fake news. That's a praxis that challenges digital capitalism. Digital capitalism matters. Digital capitalism shapes our lives. Digital capitalism needs to be better understood. We need critical theories of digital capitalism. We need to better understand praxes that challenge digital capitalism and aim at fostering digital democracy and digital socialism. tripleC's special issue on "Critical Perspectives on Digital Capitalism: Theories and Praxis" wants to contribute to establishing foundations of critical theories and the philosophy of praxis in the light of digital capitalism. We invite contributions that engage with theoretical and praxeological questions. More information: https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/announcement/view/40

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2023 Conference of the Italian Association of Political Communication (AssoComPol)
by Antonio Martella 10 Mar '23

10 Mar '23

*** 2023 Conference of the Italian Association of Political Communication (AssoComPol) *** Beyond digital political communication: platforms, algorithm and automation 8-10 June 2023, University of Torino, Italy https://www.compol.it/eventi/convegno/convegno-2023/ Political communication is going through a phase of deep transformation. Communicative environments have reached full digitalization, and this new paradigm brings new challenges. The platformization of society and the web through its constitutive elements – data, algorithms, automations, and interfaces (Van Dijk et al., 2018) – has affected the public value of communication and information. Datafication affects different areas of society, and it is becoming increasingly relevant for both the production and communication of public policies. It changes the relationship between actors and processes. The development of information technologies has enabled the application of new analytical methodologies for investigating social phenomena by monitoring behaviours that would otherwise be difficult to detect (Theocharis & Jungherr, 2020). However, data produced by citizens/users and their interactions are not easily and/or fully accessible, mainly due to the convergence of proprietary platform logic and privacy protection. Access to these data have become increasingly difficult, even for academic institutions (Persily & Tucker, 2020). While data fuel platforms, algorithms allow and rule their functioning. >From a communication point of view, algorithms represent the manifestations and outcomes of media logic and how subjects perceive and interpret the latter, contributing to the development and deployment of algorithms (Klinger & Svensson, 2018). In this context, the development of increasingly advanced generative technologies such as Chat GPT raises questions from an ethical perspective and regarding the uses of platforms in relation to AI technologies as well. Algorithms have consistently raised the attention of social research on risks and possible consequences, such as the polarization and radicalization of public debate. However, successful concepts such as echo chambers (Sunstein, 2002) and filter bubbles (Pariser, 2011) seem fewer adequate to explain the complexity of the relationship between platforms and users. Indeed, polarization dynamics appear to be more related to the heterogeneity of opinions encountered on platforms than to the action of echo chambers (Tucker et al., 2018). Moreover, platforms driven by algorithms seem to widen the range of information sources to which citizens/users are exposed (Barberá, 2020) instead of “locking them up” in self-referential bubbles. Against this background, the success of Tik Tok, based on the algorithmic logic of #foryou selection (Newman, 2022), raises new and additional questions for main actors in political communication. Linked to polarization dynamics are also expressions of intolerance, hate, and incivility (Mason, 2018) that reinforce dimensions such as structural inequalities and biases based on gender, religion, ethnicity. These processes appear increasingly present in online public debate, especially during specific political events and controversial policies (Theocharis et al., 2022). In this case, the prominent role of platforms contributes to amplifying their visibility, but also the possibilities for detection and analysis through the use of computational methods (Theocharis & Jungherr, 2020). The spread of mis/disinformation is also often linked to the centrality assumed by platforms although, among its main causes is the way this is “packaged” (Vosoughi & Aral, 2018) beyond the support of coordinated online campaigns (Keller et al., 2019). Moreover, the ability to influence attitudes and behaviors depends primarily on alignment with pre-existing political, moral, beliefs (Freelon & Wells, 2020) and the citizens’/users’ level of partisanship (Druckman et al., 2021). Within the hybrid media ecosystem, even legacy media are not immune to these processes, considering that they are often forced to chase an increasingly faster flow of information that is difficult to verify. Platformization of communication has also affected information production and the journalistic profession. The dominance of platforms, in fact, has changed the ways through which users find information (Nielsen & Fletcher, 2020). However, news shared on social media are generally considered less credible, affecting trust in the media in the long run (Karlsen & Aalberg, 2021). Furthermore, the processes of adapting information to algorithmic logic play a relevant role in growing news avoidance (Skovsgaard & Andersen, 2019) and are increasingly changing newsmaking and publishing, including legacy media trying to remain competitive (Newman, 2023). Finally, all these processes take place in a scenario that has radically changed due to recent dramatic events such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The scale of these events, on the one hand, has accelerated the digitization of the information ecosystem (Newman, 2022). On the other hand, it has provided the opportunity for outsider actors and new information channels to compete with traditional elites by further challenging roles and power relations (Van Aelst & Blumler, 2022). Starting from this framework, we encourage the submission of papers investigating the impact of platformization processes on the fields of political communication, journalism, and all other forms of communication. Research that focuses on digital native phenomena and forms of communication, but also on traditional ones and their adaptation to the new platformed environments, are welcome. We are interested in both theoretical essays and empirical studies, and we welcome different methodological approaches and research designs (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods). Issues of interest include (but are not limited to): - new communication scenarios in the increasingly close and complex relationship between political communication and platforms; - political and government communication strategies, election campaigns, and voting in national and international contexts; - the role of data, platforms, algorithms, and automation (AI, bots, etc.) in the processes of political communication and news reporting by institutional and non-institutional actors; - data access policies for purposes of research, campaigning, and profiling of the communication message; transparency of platforms and related tensions with the privacy paradigm; - the trends that have emerged in the communication styles of leaders and parties in a hybrid and platformized communication ecosystem; - the technological infrastructure of political participation (digital parties, networks, influencers, memes, UGC); - new repertoires of extra-institutional political communication related to protests, social movements, and civil society actors; - the transformations and controversies of public debate concerning processes of ideological and affective polarization, incivility, and online and offline forms of discrimination; - changes in contemporary journalism, with a particular focus on the growth of the phenomenon of news avoidance; - techniques of (computational) propaganda and mis/dis-information in conflict scenarios and transformations of news coverage in war contexts; - methodological proposals and theoretical elaborations to approach the transformations of political communication generated in the intersection of platform use and communication datafication. *Useful information on how to write an abstract for AssoComPol conferences can be found in the section “Abstract instructions”*. - Paper proposals must include: Title, Name of authors, Affiliation with email, extended abstract of 600/800 words excluding bibliography, 3 keywords, and bibliograhpical references. - Deadline for submission of proposals: April* 4* to call-for-abstracts-convegno-2023 <https://www.compol.it/call-for-abstracts-convegno-2022/> - Notification of acceptance: *April 27* - Full papers must be submitted by *June 1 *in the conference paper room (accessible by login)

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Pulse Research Fellowship 2023 is no open
by Hanna Kreitem 10 Mar '23

10 Mar '23

The Internet Society has launched the Pulse Research Fellowship <https://pulse.internetsociety.org/fellowship> to support one researcher to work on data-driven analysis or develop tools that add value to understanding one or more of the Internet Society Pulse focus areas: Enabling Technologies <https://pulse.internetsociety.org/technologies>, Internet Shutdowns <https://pulse.internetsociety.org/shutdowns>, Internet Resilience <https://pulse.internetsociety.org/resilience>, and Market Concentration <https://pulse.internetsociety.org/concentration>, and Keeping Traffic Local <https://www.internetsociety.org/blog/2022/08/african-peering-key-to-keeping…> . The Pulse Research Fellowship is open to researchers based anywhere in the world who want to research a specific area that helps in upholding an open, globally-connected, secure, and trustworthy Internet using state-of-the-art and/or novel Internet measurement techniques. The duration of the fellowship is six months (mid-May to mid-November) and the selected candidate can work remotely. Applicants will be selected according to their: - Proposal’s relevance to the Internet Society Pulse focus areas. - Knowledge of the field of Internet measurements and experience necessary to accomplish the proposed research goals. - Ability to commit at least 25 hours per week to the fellowship. The selected applicant will receive a generous stipend based on experience and time commitment. See the fellowship webpage <https://pulse.internetsociety.org/fellowship> for more information, including how to apply. If you have questions about this program or the application process, please email pulsefellowship(a)isoc.org <foundation(a)isocfoundation.org>.

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Lecture: “Researching Disability and Play – Where’s the fun in that?” with Dr. Katta Spiel
by Gerald Voorhees 09 Mar '23

09 Mar '23

Dear Colleagues, Please join the Games Institute <https://uwaterloo.ca/games-institute/> at the University of Waterloo for a Lecture on “Researching Disability and Play – Where’s the fun in that?” with Dr. Katta Spiel on Thursday, March 9th, 2023 at 2 -3 PM! This is a free and hybrid event! *Registration is required. <https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/researching-disability-and-play-wheres-the-fun-…>* *About the event: * Games research is slowly diversifying in matters of representation as well as accessibility related investigations. Similarly, a materialist and embodied understanding of play (also digitally) seeps in more on a theoretical basis. However, we need to critically examine what kind of bodies are invited to participate in play and how. Where games and play are mostly conceptualised as entertainment for the majority of bodies, disabled people are often relegated to playing for externally motivated purposes that are often driven by deficit oriented medical models of disability. Using the theory on the surrogate body in play, I illustrate how it can be instrumental to critically engage with norms governing digital play and identifying design opportunities playing with said bodily norms to holistically cater to disabled audiences. I do so by focusing on the critical analytical category of disability not just through an access oriented lens per se, but rather to bring principles of disability justice to play. *About the speakers:* Katta Spiel is an FWF Hertha-Firnberg scholar at the HCI Group of TU Wien (Vienna University of Technology), where they work on the intersection of Computer Science, Design and Cultural Studies. Katta researches marginalised perspectives on technologies to inform interaction design and engineering in critical ways so they may account for the diverse realities they operate in. Drawing on methods from (Critical) Participatory Design and Action Research on a background heavily shaped by Queer Theories and Disability Studies, they collaborate with neurodivergent and/or nonbinary peers in conducting explorations of novel potentials for designs, methodological contributions to Human-Computer Interaction and innovative technological artefacts. -- ------------------------------ Gerald Voorhees, Ph.D. (he/him) Associate Professor Department of Communication Arts University of Waterloo 257A ML, Waterloo ON, N2L 3G1 President, Canadian Game Studies Association ------------------------------ *I acknowledge that I live and work on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron (Neutral), Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land promised to the Six Nations that includes ten kilometers on each side of the Grand River. *

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Registration for Algorithms for Her? Conference in Sheffield UK
by Sophie H Bishop 09 Mar '23

09 Mar '23

Hi everyone I hope you are doing well! We still have a few spaces to register *in person *for *Algorithms for Her? 2 *- a hybrid conference taking place at the Millennium Gallery in Sheffield on the 23rd and 24th of March 2022. Our Keynotes are Tiara Roxanne <https://www.tiararoxanne.com/about.html> and Professor Ros Gill <https://www.city.ac.uk/about/people/academics/ros-gill>- and we have a wide range of absolutely amazing presentations from many different disciplines and geographies. *Algorithms for her?* is a conference prioritising the study of intersectional forms of injustice that algorithms (and the systems in which they are embedded) often propagate and sustain. Given the significance of such processes in our daily lives, and how they disproportionately affect those marginalised across intersections of gender, sexuality, class and race, this event will create a dedicated space for the discussion of algorithmic oppression and inequality. We are lucky to have received support from the BRISTT cluster at the University of Sheffield, The University of Sheffield Digital Society Network and a Meta Seed Grant. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/algorithms-for-her-2-tickets-533785224977 Password: AFH2 Please sign up to be sent the link for the livestreamed programme here: https://algorithmsforher.wordpress.com/livestreaming/ We hope to see you there! Best wishes Sophie Bishop on behalf of the Algorithms For Her? Organising Committee -- Dr Sophie Bishop (she/her) Lecturer in Cultural and Creative Industries [image: SUMS logo for staff emails] Sheffield University Management School Conduit Road Sheffield S10 1FL [image: Triple Crown accreditation] Our Triple Crown accreditation places us within the global elite of business schools. It is an endorsement of the quality of our teaching, research, and links with industry. World top-100 university <https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/about/rankings> | Top northern university for graduate prospects <https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/nr/sheffield-top-north-employable-graduate…> | Top five in the UK for student experience <https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/news/student-experience-survey…>

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Call for Abstracts (400 words): Political Economy in Latin America (ULEPICC) Conference March 30
by Marcelo Santos 09 Mar '23

09 Mar '23

***Apologies for cross-posting*** Dear colleagues: Our university in Santiago de Chile will be hosting this event, perhaps some colleagues on the list might be interested. Please find the basic information in English, Spanish and Portuguese below, plus a link to the complete information in Spanish. Works in Spanish, English and Portuguese will be considered. Any consultations you may write directly to me. Best regards -- Marcelo Santos Profesor Asociado | Investigador CICLOS-UDP <https://ciclos.udp.cl/> Investigador Núcleo Milenio para el Estudio de la Política, Opinión Pública y Medios en Chile - MEPOP <http://www.mepop.cl/> Linkedin <http://cl.linkedin.com/in/marcelolbsantos/es> | Scholar <https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=e7_9UIgAAAAJ> | Orcid <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2658-3764> Twitter: @celoo <http://www.twitter.com/celoo> *-----ENGLISH-----* Call for abstracts for the XIII International Latin Conference on the Political Economy of Information, Communication, and Culture (In Spanish): *Inequality and Concentration:* *Inequality in the access, use and appropriation of ICTs in the face of economic and political concentration of transnational corporations.* *Place:* Diego Portales University (Santiago, Chile) *Deadline for abstracts*: March 30th, 2023 *Event date:* October 23, 24, 25th, 2023 *Description: *The recent pandemic has made visible worldwide the enormous inequality between people, as well as the excessive concentration of the supply of applications, platforms, connectivity and telecommunications services in the hands of a very few global companies. Both elements lead to increased exclusion of groups that cannot afford a connection and lack the necessary tools or knowledge to use digital technologies. At the same time, there has been an unprecedented increase in wealth accumulated by a handful of firms. Among the most important transformations due to the use of digital technologies are the work mediated by technology, which implies for employers the avoidance of the payment of benefits, for workers the isolation, as well as the extension of the working day. In the educational field, education, which had to be virtual, was left in the hands of platforms that offered universities their services free of charge; however, when the emergency ended, payment was demanded, which created financial difficulties for the institutions. Some governments are in the same situation. The prevalence of transnationals is possible because nations do not have the platforms or applications. This has generated a new dependency. However, the transition to the virtual world does not seem to be reversible and it is imperative to seek solutions. Within this framework, we want to develop analyses and proposals around the issue of inequality versus concentration of wealth as well as the possibilities of use and appropriation of digital technology. We invite the academic community in general to send their proposals to one of these five working groups: *Section 1:* Epistemology and Theory of the Political Economy of Communication and Culture *Section 2:* Communication and Cultural Policies. *Section 3:* Communication, Citizenship and Democracy *Section 4:* Structure of Communication *Section 5:* New technologies of information, communication and knowledge. *Submissions: *Send an abstract of 400 words respecting the IMRD standard (Introduction, Method, Results and Discussion) and add 4 to 6 key words at the end, as well as the name, surname and institutional affiliation of each author to the mail ulepiccchile2023(a)ufrontera.cl More info in the following link <https://ciclos.udp.cl/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Convocatoria-XIII-Cong…> (in Spanish) *-----ESPAÑOL-----* *Convocatoria de resúmenes: **XIII Congreso Internacional de la Unión Latina de Economía Política de la Información, la Comunicación y la Cultura (ULEPICC), Chile 2023* *Desigualdad y Concentración: Desigualdad en el acceso, uso y apropiación de las TIC frente a la concentración económica y política de las empresas transnacionales.* *Lugar:* Universidad Diego Portales (Santiago, Chile) *Fecha límite para envío de resúmenes:* 30 de marzo de 2023 *Fecha de la conferencia:* 23, 24 y 25 de octubre de 2023 *Descripción:* La reciente pandemia hizo mundialmente visible la enorme desigualdad entre las personas, así como la concentración excesiva en muy pocas empresas globales, de la oferta de aplicaciones, plataformas, conectividad y servicios de telecomunicaciones. Ambos elementos llevarían al acrecentamiento de las exclusiones de los grupos que no pueden pagar una conexión y carecen de los instrumentos o de los saberes necesarios para utilizar las tecnologías digitales. Paralelamente se produjo el hecho económico-político del aumento sin precedente de la riqueza acumulada por un puñado de firmas. Entre las transformaciones de mayor importancia debido al uso de lo digital, están el trabajo mediado por la tecnología que implica para los empleadores eludir el pago de prestaciones, para los trabajadores el aislamiento, así como la extensión de la jornada laboral. En el ámbito educativo la enseñanza que hubo de ser virtual, quedó en manos de las plataformas que ofrecieron a las universidades sus servicios de forma gratuita, sin embargo, al terminar la emergencia se exigió un pago, lo que creó dificultades financieras a las instituciones. Algunos gobiernos se encuentran en la misma situación. La prevalencia de las trasnacionales es posible debido a que las naciones no poseen las plataformas ni las aplicaciones. Se generó así una nueva dependencia. Sin embargo, el tránsito a lo virtual no parece tener marcha atrás y es imperativo buscar soluciones. En este marco ULEPICC quiere desarrollar análisis y propuestas en torno al tema de la desigualdad frente a concentración tanto de la riqueza como de las posibilidades de uso y apropiación de la tecnología digital. *Convocamos* a las y los miembros de ULEPICC y a la comunidad académica en general a enviar sus propuestas a alguno de los cinco grupos de trabajo, a saber: *Sección 1:* Epistemología y teoría de la Economía Política de la Comunicación y la Cultura *Sección 2:* Políticas de comunicación y cultura *Sección 3:* Comunicación, ciudadanía y democracia *Sección 4:* Estructura de la Comunicación *Sección 5: *Nuevas tecnologías de la información, la comunicación y el conocimiento Enviar resumen de 400 palabras respetando la norma IMRD (Introducción, Método, Resultados y Discusión) y añadir al final de 4 a 6 palabras clave, así como el nombre, apellidos y filiación institucional de cada autor/a. *Los resúmenes deben enviarse al correo ulepiccchile2023(a)ufrontera.cl <ulepiccchile2023(a)ufrontera.cl> hasta el* *el 30 de marzo de 2023* *-----PORTUGUÊS-----* *Convocatória de trabalhos: **XIII Congresso Internacional da União Latina de Economia Política da Informação, da Comunicação e da Cultura** (ULEPICC), Chile 2023* *Desigualdade e Concentração: Desigualdade no acesso, uso e apropriação de TIC frente à concentração econômica e política das empresas transnacionais.* *Lugar:* Universidad Diego Portales (Santiago, Chile) *Data limite para envio de resumos:* 30 de março de 2023 *Data da conferência:* 23, 24 y 25 de outubro de 2023 *Descrição:* A recente pandemia explicitou a enorme desigualdade entre as pessoas, assim como a concentração excessiva da oferta de aplicativos, plataformas, conectividade e serviços de telecomunicações em poucas empresas. Ambos elementos aprofundaram as exclusões de grupos que não podem pagar uma conexão e carecem dos instrumentos ou saberes necessários para utilizar as tecnologias digitais. Paralelamente, se produziu um um fato econômico-político inescapável: um aumento sem precedentes da riqueza acumulada por um punhado de empresas. Entre as transformações de maior importância devido ao uso de ferramentas digitais, estão o trabalho mediado por tecnologia que implica para os empregadores evadir o pagamento de prestações aos trabalhadores isolados, assim como a extensão da jornada de trabalho. No âmbito educativo, o ensino migrou aos ambiente virtuais, ficou em mãos de plataformas que ofereceram às universidades seus serviços de forma gratuita, não obstante, ao terminar a emergência se exigiu um pagamento, o que criou dificuldades financeiras para as instituições. Alguns governos também se encontraram com esta dificuldade. A predominância das transnacionais é possível porque as empresas nacionais não possuem as plataformas nem os aplicativos. Se gerou assim uma nova dependência. Não obstante, o trânsito ao virtual parece não ter volta atrás e é imperativo buscar soluções. Neste contexto, a ULEPICC quer desenvolver análises e propostas em torno ao tema da desigualdade frente à concentração tanto de riqueza como das possibilidades de uso e apropriação das tecnologias digitais. *Convocamos* aos membros da ULEPICC e à comunidade científica em geral a enviar suas propostas a algum dos cinco grupos de trabalho, a saber: *Seção 1:* Epistemologia e teoria da Economia Política da Comunicação e da Cultura *Seção** 2:* Políticas de comunicação e cultura *Seção** 3:* Comunicação, ciudadanía e democracia *Seção** 4:* Estrutura da Comunicação *Seção** 5: *Novas tecnologias da informação, da comunicação e do conhecimento Enviar resumo de 400 palavras respeitando a norma IMRD (Introdução, Método, Resultados e Discussão), adicionando ao final 4 a 6 palavras-chave, assim como nome, sobrenomes e afiliação institucional de cada autor/a. *Os resumos devem ser enviados ao correio eletrônico ulepiccchile2023(a)ufrontera.cl <ulepiccchile2023(a)ufrontera.cl> até 30 de março de 2023* *Mais informações neste link <https://ciclos.udp.cl/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Convocatoria-XIII-Cong…> (em Espanhol)*

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Call for papers for special edition of Digital Culture and Education
by Harry Dyer (EDU - Staff) 09 Mar '23

09 Mar '23

Dear all, Digital Culture and Education has a new call for papers out for a special edition exploring the practices and politics of inclusion and exclusion through digital technology. Particular focus is given to algorithms, public spheres, and methodologies. Details of the call can be found here: https://www.digitalcultureandeducation.com/call-for-papers/special-issue-di…. Manuscripts are due by September 1st, 2023. You can also find our ongoing latest volume of DCE here https://www.digitalcultureandeducation.com/volume-14-4. As always, submission are welcome exploring the overlaps between digital technology, education, and culture. All the best, Harry Dr Harry T Dyer Lecturer in Education, Course Director BA Education School of Education and Lifelong Learning University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ Follow me on Twitter at @harrytdyer<https://twitter.com/HarryTDyer>. You can find my TED talk here<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZteEZbAtsNI>, or read my latest book here<https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789811557156> Find out more about Digital Culture and Education here<http://digitalcultureandeducation.com/>

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New Book and Article on the Dark and Creepy Sides of Robotics, Autonomous Vehicles, and AI
by Oravec, Jo Ann R 09 Mar '23

09 Mar '23

[Apologies for duplicate posts] Greetings from Wisconsin! My new article on anti-robot activity has been published in Technological Forecasting & Social Change. According to the kind Elsevier folks I am allowed to share the link below. After March 14th, please email me if you need access for your research efforts. Rage against robots: Emotional and motivational dimensions of anti-robot attacks, robot sabotage, and robot bullying is now available online, containing full bibliographic details. To help you access and share this work, we have created a Share Link – a personalized URL providing free access to your article. Anyone clicking on this link before March 14, 2023 will be taken directly to the final version of your article on ScienceDirect, which they are welcome to read or download. No sign up, registration or fees are required. Your personalized Share Link: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1gTZk98SGsuYN My new book on the social and ethical aspects of robotics and AI also just came out from Palgrave Macmillan Springer (Good Robot, Bad Robot: Dark and Creepy Sides of Robotics, Autonomous Vehicles, and AI). The book is available at https://link.springer.com/book/9783031140129 [https://media.springernature.com/w153/springer-static/cover/book/978-3-031-…]<https://link.springer.com/book/9783031140129> Good Robot, Bad Robot<https://link.springer.com/book/9783031140129> This book explores how robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance human lives but also have unsettling “dark sides link.springer.com Here is the book blurb: This book explores how robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance human lives but also have unsettling “dark sides.” It examines expanding forms of negativity and anxiety about robots, AI, and autonomous vehicles as our human environments are reengineered for intelligent military and security systems and for optimal workplace and domestic operations. It focuses on the impacts of initiatives to make robot interactions more humanlike and less creepy (as with domestic and sex robots). It analyzes the emerging resistances against these entities in the wake of omnipresent AI applications (such as “killer robots” and ubiquitous surveillance). It unpacks efforts by developers to have ethical and social influences on robotics and AI and confronts the AI hype that is designed to shield the entities from criticism. The book draws from science fiction, dramaturgical, ethical, and legal literatures as well as current research agendas of corporations. Engineers, implementers, and researchers have often encountered users' fears and aggressive actions against intelligent entities, especially in the wake of deaths of humans by robots and autonomous vehicles. The book is an invaluable resource for developers and researchers in the field, as well as curious readers who want to play proactive roles in shaping future technologies. Again, please contact me for any questions and requests. I welcome collaboration on these themes. Thanks so much! Jo Ann Jo Ann Oravec (MA, MS, MBA, PhD) Professor, Information Technology and Supply Chain Management, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies, UW-Madison, USA https://uww.academia.edu/JoAnnOravec http://oravec.org/ Author of Good Robot, Bad Robot: Dark and Creepy Sides of Robotics, Autonomous Vehicles, and AI (2022), Springer Nature <https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-14013-6>Good Robot, Bad Robot | SpringerLink<https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-14013-6>

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examples of qualitative/ethnographic research on NFTs and/or online communities build around blockchain technology
by Marie Hermanova 09 Mar '23

09 Mar '23

Dear colleagues, I'm writing on behalf of a student of mine, who's working on a digital ethnography project mapping the buying of deeds in the Otherside metaverse. He's interested in the construction of value around NFTs. We have struggled to find interesting theoretical approaches or qualitative studies/examples of qualitative (ideally ethnographic) research in this area. It's not exactly my area of expertise (so I hope I'm explaining the topic correctly), but I'm sure there are people on this list who know more - if you could point me to articles or books that you think are relevant and worth reading and could be an inspiration for the student, I would be very grateful! best wishes, Marie *Dr Marie Heřmanová* Research Associate, Gender & Sociology Editor-in-Chief, Gender and Research <https://www.genderonline.cz/> Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences Jilská 1, 110 00, Prague https://www.soc.cas.cz/en/lide/marie-hermanova *Latest publications:* Heřmanová, M. (2022). Politicisation of the Domestic - Populist Narratives About Covid-19 Among Influencers. Media and Communication 10(4), 180 - 190, https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v10i4.5736 Heřmanová, M,. M. Skey and T. Thurnell-Read (2022). Cultures of Authenticity <https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/doi/10.1108/9781801179362>, Emerald Publishing Limited, Bingley

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two-year postdoctoral position in the fields of comparative analysis of digital media and political contention with computational methods@University of Copenhagen
by Jun Liu 08 Mar '23

08 Mar '23

The Department of Communication, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen (UCPH), Denmark, invites applications for a two-year postdoctoral position in the fields of comparative analysis of digital media and political contention with computational methods, to be filled on 1 September 2023 or as soon as possible thereafter. Deadline 30 April, 2023. We invite original proposals for a post-doc project advancing a comparative study of how people across different contexts (e.g., countries, cultures, and socioeconomic statuses) make choices regarding technology adoption and use for political contention across the globe. The postdoc is expected to have a strong educational background in sociology (political sociology), political science (comparative politics), digital communication, with a background of computation and (social) data science or related disciplines. The position also represents a unique opportunity for close collaboration with researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds (sociology, political science, data science, and journalism) and will advance interdisciplinary skills and perspectives. https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/?show=158773&fbclid=IwAR0P9i0bdwJ4rv07XvsZ… Best, Jun Jun Liu, Ph.D., Associate Professor Department of Communication, University of Copenhagen Karen Blixens Plads 8, DK-2300 Copenhagen S Denmark The Danish Independent Research Fund’s Research Leader 2021, https://tech-in-movement.ku.dk/ **********************************************************

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