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DigiLabour Book Talks
by Rafael Do Nascimento Grohmann 21 Jan '26

21 Jan '26

Hi AoIR, I would like to invite you to join us in a series of book talks (online and in-person) we are co-organizing in the next few weeks. ---- January 23, 7pm, In-person, College Street United Church, 452 College St, Toronto Book Talk: Cybernetic Circulation Complex: Big Tech and Planetary Crisis<https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/3109-cybernetic-circulation-compl…> with Alessandra Mularoni and Nick Dyer-Witheford Description Big Tech firms dominate the global economy. But what value do they actually produce? In Cybernetic Circulation Complex: Big Tech and Planetary Crisis (Verso, 2024), Alessandra Mularoni and Nick Dyer-Witheford argue that the role of firms like Amazon and Google, Palantir and Uber, is in the speeding up and automation of the circulation of commodities. Big Tech aims to subject everything from advertising and shopping, to logistics and financial services to the level of control and predictability that capital has secured in industrial production. But there is a way out of the multiple crises that Big Tech has helped precipitate. If we are to break their grip on the global economy then it’ll take more than just antitrust legislation or reducing individual time online. What is required instead is a new, ambitious and comprehensive program of democratic collective planning that can move us beyond capitalism and benefit life on earth over profit. “Techno-feudalism is obsolete. The future is digital degrowth. This book proves it.” – Kohei Saito, author of Slow Down The Leo Panitch School for Socialist Education is honoured to host the authors of the book for the Toronto launch of this exciting new book! All are welcome to join us for this timely discussion as we grapple with how to challenge the Big Tech firms that are quickly cementing their control over international commerce and policy. We would like to acknowledge the vital support of the Jackman Humanities Institute and the Digital Labour Working Group at the University of Toronto. Please stick around after the evening’s program for complimentary refreshments and to continue the discussion. A number of books will be available at a special discounted price! Register here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/panitchschool/1976270 ---- January 27, 10am, Online, DigiLabour YouTube channel Book talk: <https://www.ucpress.edu/books/silicon-elsewhere/paper> Silicon Elsewhere: Nairobi, Global China, and the Promise of Techno-Capital<https://www.ucpress.edu/books/silicon-elsewhere/paper> with Andrea Pollio Discussants: Julie Yujie Chen and Rafael Grohmann Description Heralded as Africa's "Silicon Savannah"—a cradle of innovation—Nairobi has become a technology and innovation capital for Kenya and for the continent at large. With a national strategy that has prioritized digital technology for the last two decades, many Chinese digital champions, smaller startups, and investors have since chosen Nairobi as their African landing pad. Mapping the interface between Nairobi's innovation scene and China's digital presence there, Silicon Elsewhere tells a unique story of ingenuity and adaptation, failure and speculation, and hopefulness and pragmatism. Andrea Pollio's ethnography draws on interviews with cautious venture capitalists, renegade entrepreneurs, dedicated bureaucrats, and ambitious data scientists to explore the competing meanings of contemporary techno-capital. Moving between leafy coworking spaces and the temperature-controlled rooms of brand-new data centers, Pollio locates Nairobi among the experimental capitals, not peripheries, of technological change in the early twenty-first century Join us here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wkm6eWTj2c ---- February 5, 9am, Online, DigiLabour YouTube channel Book Talk: The Social Codes of Tech Workers: Class Identity in Digital Capitalism<https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262553537/the-social-codes-of-tech-workers/> with Robert Dorschel Discussants: Helena Wright and Kenzo Seto Description Digital technologies shape nearly every aspect of our lives. Yet little attention has been paid to the tech workers who design and program these technologies. Instead, the spotlight often falls on two extremes: the elite class of tech entrepreneurs and the precarious digital proletariat of gig and crowd workers. This narrow focus has left a critical gap in understanding the middle-class professionals operating behind the scenes of digital capitalism. Drawing on over 50 original interviews and discourse analytical research conducted in the US and Germany, The Social Codes of Tech Workers takes readers deep into their hearts and minds. Robert Dorschel demonstrates how tech workers’ subjectivity is structured by a return of social critique, hybrid professional roles, and distinctive lifestyles. The book identifies tech workers as a contradictory class formation, oscillating between a spirit of emancipation and yet another spirit of capitalism. This work will appeal to scholars across disciplines concerned with digital labor, identity, and class, as well as to the broader public interested in the culture of the tech industry and the evolving future of work. Join us here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5j_bpnzKIQ ---- February 5, 7pm, In-person, College Street United Church, 452 College St Book talk: Organizing Amazon: Building Worker Power Under Conditions of Fragmentation, Precarity and Regimentation<https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/professional-business/organizing-amazon> <https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/professional-business/organizing-amazon> with Tom Vickers, and a delegation of international Amazon worker-organizers Description Amazon workers in Coventry, England have won breakthrough wage gains through years of strikes and organizing at the global giant. Now, a new book documents these achievements, and the militant, grassroots methods the workers and their GMB union employed to build worker power. Organizing Amazon: Building Worker Power Under Conditions of Fragmentation, Precarity and Regimentation offers a rich case study of the factors contributing to the union’s successes and setbacks. It provides a practical organizing model applicable beyond Amazon, offering strategies to engage the workforce, sustain support and develop leadership. We are incredibly honoured to host the author of the book Tom Vickers, and longtime labour activist Jonathan Rosenblum, as well as two workers from the Coventry facility for the first stop on their North American organizing tour. The evening will feature a discussion of the lessons to be learned from the campaign in Coventry and what strategies will be needed for the Canadian labour movement to begin challenging the Amazon behemoth. We would like to thank our friends at the Digital Labour Working Group at the University of Toronto for their support of this event. Please stick around after the evening’s program for complimentary refreshments and to continue the discussion. Register here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/panitchschool/1899722 ---- February 12, 7pm, In-person, Friends House, 60 Lowther Ave Book talk: Notes Toward a Digital Workers Inquiry<https://www.commonnotions.org/buy/notes-toward-a-digital-workers-inquiry> with The Capacitor Collective. The Capacitor Collective is a research collective dedicated to digital worker inquiry rooted in labor organizing within and against digital capitalism. The collective includes: Enda Brophy, Julie Chen, Alessandro Delfanti, Brian Dolber, Lilly Irani, and Tamara Kneese. Description Join us as we celebrate the launch of Notes Toward a Digital Workers Inquiry, a brand new book full of first-hand accounts from the tech sector’s resurgent labor movement as artificial intelligence gains ground in every facet of our lives. As tech billionaires align with Trump, they are also launching a renewed assault on labor through artificial intelligence and alienating tactics. But for now, it still takes workers to make fortunes for the bosses, and collective action is again on the rise. Previously thought to be “unorganizable,” these workers are part of a North American movement that is reaffirming faith in collective revolutionary action through new methods of organizing, new ways of association, and a new synthesis of traditional labor activities with original research. To capture this growing class consciousness, the Capacitor Collective has conducted ten illuminating interviews with platform workers and organizers whose efforts align traditional motives with new tactics in a text that shakes up the worker inquiry tradition and imagines new ways to produce knowledge with and for the movement. All are welcome to hear directly from the contributors to the book about the findings of this important work and to discuss what lessons can be taken forward by activist-researchers, organizers, and workers alike. The book is available now from Common Notions Press! Register here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/panitchschool/1978820 ---- March 3, 2pm, In-person, Knowledge Media Design Institute (KMDI), UofT, 130 St. George Street, Toronto Book talk: Digital Queers and High Tech Gays with Alex Ketchum Description Digital Queers and High Tech Gays is the history of LGBTQ+ cyber activism in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and beyond! Beginning in 1980, these queer cyber activists founded regional, national, and international organizations of engineers, scientists, and high tech professionals. They formed LGBTQ+ employee resource groups at tech companies. Throughout the 1990s, queer cyber activists collected money, hardware, and software to distribute to LGBTQ+ community organizations. They wrote guidebooks, zines, and manuals as part of their larger project of information activism. They utilized print, phone lines, and the World Wide Web to teach, share, and advocate. Queer cyber activists built Internet infrastructures and expanded the idea of who could be an Internet user. Through their work with LGBTQ2S+ archives, queer cyber activists ultimately also created the tools needed to preserve their own history. They engaged in this serious labor while continuing to center joy; through sharing food, celebrating together, and making jokes, queer cyber activists nourished a community that could undertake these technical transformations. From advocating for tech workers’ rights, to equipping LGBTQ+ organizations with the hardware and software needed to do their work, to creating in-person and online spaces where they shared information, socialized, and preserved queer histories, LGBTQ+ cyber activists used analog and digital technologies to transform queer folks’ lives both on the Internet and away from the keyboard. Ultimately this book explores how marginalized groups, particularly LGBTQ+ people, respond to, re-work, build, and shape digital technologies. Rather than passive users, marginalized peoples, particularly LGBTQ+ people, have played a role in shaping Internet culture More info soon ---- And you can expect 2-3 more book talks in March and April. See you there! best, Rafael -- dr. Rafael Grohmann Assistant Professor of Media Studies Department of Arts, Culture and Media<https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/acm/rafael-grohmann> Faculty of Information<https://ischool.utoronto.ca/profile/rafael-grohmann/> University of Toronto Leader, DigiLabour<https://digilabour.com.br/> Research Associate, University of Oxford<https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/profiles/rafael-grohmann/> Founding Editor, Platforms & Society<https://journals.sagepub.com/home/PNS> Principal Investigator, Worker-Owned Intersectional Platforms (WOIP)<https://digilabour.com.br/worker-owned-intersectional-platforms-woip/> Co-Lead, Creative Labour and Critical Futures (CLCF)<https://criticaldigitalmethods.ca/creative-labour-critical-futures/> Researcher, AI Policy Observatory for the World of Work<https://www.essex.ac.uk/research-projects/ai-policy-observatory-for-the-wor…> Senior Fellow, Massey College<https://www.masseycollege.ca/> Faculty Affiliate, Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society<https://srinstitute.utoronto.ca/> <https://srinstitute.utoronto.ca/>

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Third Issue of Esoteric Gaming released!
by Nathaniel Poor 21 Jan '26

21 Jan '26

(Resending this to AoIR since neither Mark nor I saw it come over the wires.) Waaaaay back before the pandemic, Mark Chen started an experimental online journal (that wasn't a journal) as a place mostly for qualitative research on gaming practice, but also mostly for people to just share cool stories about games and gaming. It was partly in response to feeling constrained by traditional academic channels and meant for short snippets of thoughts that could be incomplete or otherwise just didn't fit anywhere in a regular paper or presentation. It was also in response to the crap that was going on 10 years ago as a way to celebrate diversity in gaming, geeking out on the varied bodies who play them and the varied ways they get played. But, then things happened (pandemic etc.) and EG had a bit of a hiatus. And, we're back! The Third Issue of Esoteric Gaming is ready for your perusal! We added another editor, Nick Lalone, we decided to each write something, and invited Nick Bowman to join us. Go read the journal here: https://esotericgaming.com <https://esotericgaming.com/> The intro to the Third Issue here: https://esotericgaming.com/intro-third-issue-2018/ And the CfP for the Fourth Issue here: https://esotericgaming.com/cfp-for-issue-4/ -Mark and the editorial team (sent by Nat) ------------------------------- Nathaniel Poor, Ph.D. (he/him/his) Underwood Institute http://www.underwood-institute.org/ http://github.com/natpoor http://sites.google.com/site/natpoor/

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Last Call for ICA Mobile Comm Preconference Submissions
by Campbell, Scott 21 Jan '26

21 Jan '26

This is the final call for extended abstracts and panel proposals to be submitted for the ICA Mobile Communication Preconference. Submissions will be closed after January 30. See the call for papers<https://www.icamobile.org/calls> for information about how to submit: https://www.icamobile.org/calls Scott W. Campbell Professor, School of Communication Rinehart Chair in Mediated Communication The Ohio State University

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Invitation | City St George's, U of London | MCCI Connect: A Seminar Series Bridging Research, Innovation, Education, and Professional Practice
by Devina Sarwatay 21 Jan '26

21 Jan '26

Dear all, The Department of Media, Culture and Creative Industries (MCCI), School of Communication and Creativity (SCC), City St George's, University of London (CSG) invites you to *MCCI Connect*: A Seminar Series Bridging Research, Innovation, Education, and Professional Practice! *MCCI Connect* aims to foster connections between traditionally siloed areas, encouraging interdisciplinary and cross-sector dialogue. Our focus is emphasising integration and collaboration through these events which are organised by MCCI Research Lead, Dr Carolina Matos and supported by MCCI Presidential Fellow, Dr Devina Sarwatay. These events are free and open to the public, with prior registration required for both in-person and online attendance. Light refreshments will be provided to in-person attendees. Attendees are encouraged to share their experiences on social media using the hashtag *#MCCIConnect* and *#CityStGSCC*. We look forward to welcoming you to an evening of critical dialogue bridging research, innovation, education, and professional practice! Please see *MCCI Connect* events planned over the 2025-26 academic year: *February 4th 2026, 5 pm | Gen Z Market Research* | Karis O'Leary-Smith, One Minute to Midnight and Konrad Collao, Craft, in conversation with Ayesha Taylor-Camara, MCCI Event details & Registration: https://www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/2026/february/bridgi… --- *April 15th 2026, 5 pm | Reflections on practice-led climate fiction research* | Jasmin Kirkbride, University of East Anglia Event details & Registration: https://www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/2026/april/mcci-conn… --- *May 7th 2026, 5 pm | Sustainable Storytelling in Fashion Media: Reorienting Sartorial Desire* | Morna Laing, The New School, Parsons Paris in conversation with Rosie Findlay, MCCI Event details & Registration: https://www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/2026/may/mccis-conne… --- *May 27th 2026, 5 pm | The Politics of National Promotion: Nation Branding and the State in Latin America - MCCI & Journalism Joint Event* | Cesar Jimenez-Martinez, London School of Economics and Political Science Event details & Registration: https://www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/2026/may/mccis-conne… *Devina Sarwatay, PhD* Presidential Fellow <https://www.city.ac.uk/about/people/academics/devina-sarwatay> Department of Media, Culture and Creative Industries School of Communication & Creativity City St George’s, University of London Northampton Square London EC1V 0HB My pronouns are she/her Email: devina.sarwatay(a)citystgeorges.ac.uk www.citystgeorges.ac.uk <http://www.city.ac.uk/> @DevinaSarwatay Vice-Chair, Media Education Research, IAMCR <https://iamcr.org/> International Liaison, Children Adolescents and Media Division, ICA <https://www.icahdq.org/> Publishing ThinkIN Group, The British Academy <https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/> *Selected publications:* 🆕Social Media + Society: Kidfluencers in India <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20563051251356169> 🆕Children, Media, and Technology: Access/Use <https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003453123-3/access-…> Journal of Autoethnography: From the Self to the Community <https://online.ucpress.edu/joae/article-abstract/4/2/298/196099/From-the-Se…> Media International Australia: Exploring children’s TikTok cultures in India <https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X221127037> 🏆Information, Communication & Society: Young People and Social Media in India <https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2021.1988129> (ICA CAM Best Published Article 2023) Frontiers in Human Dynamics: Media Literacy, Social Connectedness, and Digital Citizenship in India <https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2021.601239/full> Wiley-Blackwell: Young People's Meme Cultures in India <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781119166900.ch6> Journal of Communication: Decolonizing Open Science <https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqab027> *Confidentiality Notice * This message (including any attachments) contains information that may be confidential. Unless you are the intended recipient (or authorised to receive for the intended recipient), you may not read, print, retain, use, copy, distribute or disclose to anyone the message or any information contained in the message. If you have received the message in error, please advise the sender by e-mail, and destroy all copies of the original message (including any attachments). Thank you.

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Call for Proposals — All Things in Moderation (ATiM) 2026
by Venessa Paech 21 Jan '26

21 Jan '26

Hi everyone, Call for Proposals — All Things in Moderation (ATiM) 2026 25–26 June 2026 • Fully Online • Theme: “CARE” All Things in Moderation is the annual global gathering for moderation practitioners, community managers, policy makers, technologists, and researchers working at the intersection of platform governance, community labour, and digital culture. We invite scholars, researchers and practitioners to submit proposals for ATiM 2026, taking place 25–26 June 2026 in a fully online format designed to maximise accessibility across time zones and contexts. ATiM brings together diverse perspectives on moderation and community governance, emphasising practice, reflection, and interdisciplinary exchange. While the conference is most attractive to scholars of online community, social media, moderation, platform governance and trust and safety, previous instalments have proven valuable for scholars across domains and disciplines. We welcome interdisciplinary perspectives and collaboration. The 2026 theme is CARE. Moderation is a form of care work: protecting participants, establishing and enforcing boundaries, responding to harm, sustaining participation, and navigating organisational and platform-level demands all involve ethical labour. This year’s programme will explore how care is articulated, enacted, and contested across policy, product design, organisational structures, and grassroots practice. We welcome contributions that critically examine care in moderation, including its political, cultural, economic, affective, and infrastructural dimensions. We invite submissions addressing, but not limited to: * Balancing enforcement, risk management, and organisational or platform demands * Community or social media governance and moderation in practice, across different models and contexts * How power shapes decision-making, authority, and accountability in moderation * How can/does AI support care (or work against it) in governance, moderation, and trust and safety? * Can care practices mitigate online harms such as misogyny and racial hate? * Compliance, regulation, and operational pressure in online communities * What care-informed regulation could look like in practice? * How ideas of care are translated between policy, product, and frontline work? * Moderation across different cultural, regional, and governance contexts * Sustainable approaches to workload, boundaries, and responsibility Proposals should be clear about conceptual framing and relevance to the theme of care. They may be fully developed papers, research in early or partial stages, conversations and provocations, workshops or panels. We welcome submissions that do not necessarily direct engage with the theme, but otherwise off value to our audience of moderators, community managers, academics, policy makers and technologists concerned with moderation practices. Full submission details and deadlines are on the ATiM website. Note the slightly different timing of this year’s conference (June, not May - so as not to conflict with RightsCon in Zambia). I would love to have you join our growing international community of scholars and practitioners advancing critical dialogue about moderation and the futures of online social life. We are also seeking partners for the event. If you or your institution is interested in working with us, please reach out. Warm regards, VENESSA PAECH, BFA, MA Waddawurrung Country | Geelong PhD Student | Community in the Age of Machine Culture Convenor: All Things in Moderation Department of Media and Communication | Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Phone: + 61 0435 217 315 Email: venessa.paech(a)sydney.edu.au

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Final call for papers
by Harry Dyer (EDU - Staff) 20 Jan '26

20 Jan '26

Dear AoIR community, This is a final announcement for paper submissions for the 2026 International Conference on Social Media & Society (#SMSociety), which will take place in Glasgow, Scotland, from July 13th-15th. As a reminder, the deadline for extended abstract submissions (1000-1500 words abstracts) is Monday, January 26, 2026 at midnight (Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time). We look forward to receiving your submissions and seeing you in Glasgow! #SMSociety is a biennial gathering of leading social media researchers from around the world. It is the premier venue for sharing and discovering new peer-reviewed interdisciplinary research on how social media affects society. #SMSociety provides participants with opportunities to exchange ideas, present original research, learn about recent and ongoing studies, and network with peers. The call can be found below: https://socialmediaandsociety.org/smsociety-2026/ The 2026 conference is co-organized by the Digital Cultures and Economies Research Hub<https://www.arts.ac.uk/colleges/london-college-of-communication/research-at…> at the University of the Arts London (UAL), the University of East Anglia<https://www.uea.ac.uk/groups-and-centres/critical-cultural-studies-in-educa…> (UEA), and the hosts at the Division of Urban Studies and Social Policy<https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/socialpolitical/research/urban-studies-social…> at Glasgow University. The conference's three-day program will feature panels and paper presentations, workshops, tutorials, networking events, and a poster session. In keeping with the conference's inter- and transdisciplinary focus, we welcome both quantitative and qualitative scholarly and original submissions that crosses disciplinary boundaries and expands our understanding of current and future trends in social media research across many fields including (but not limited to): Communication, Computer Science, Critical Data Studies, Education, Journalism, Information Science, Law, Management, Political Science, Psychology, Public Policy, Public Administration, Science and Technology, Sociology, Urban Studies, among others. TOPICS OF INTEREST (the list is not exhaustive) * Affordances * AI and LLMs * Algorithms * Computational, digital and data methods * Creators and Influencers * Cyberbullying, Trolling and Antisocial Behavior * Digital Education * Digital Intimacies * Discourse and Public Opinion * Health and Wellbeing * Infrastructures, platformisation and datafication * Marketing and Promotional Social Media * Misinformation and Disinformation * Online and Offline Communities * Platform Cultures * Platform Governance and Regulation * Emerging and Established Social Technologies, Apps and Platforms * Politics, Policy, and Regulation * Privacy, Security and Trust * Social Media Cultures and Everyday Life * Use and Users * Vibes, memes and trends SUBMISSION DETAILS * Submission types and guidelines<https://socialmediaandsociety.org/submission-types-and-guidelines/>: You can submit an extended abstract for a paper or poster presentation, and/or propose a panel, workshop or hands-on tutorial<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSftm_yw8HDDrnuliY7GkhIy4UkebDWviCI…> SUBMISSION DEADLINES * Papers (Extended Abstracts): January 26, 2026 (1000-1500 words) * Panels: February 16, 2026 (2000-3000 words) * Workshops & Tutorials: February 16, 2026 (2000-3000 words) * Posters (Extended Abstracts): March 13, 2026 (1000-1500 words) ORGANISING EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: * Zoetanya Sujon - Reader and the Programme Director for Communications and Media courses at London College of Communication (LCC), University of the Arts London, UK * Harry Dyer - Associate Professor of Education, School of Education & Lifelong Learning, University of East Anglia, UK * Mark Wong - Senior Lecturer and Subject Group Lead of Social and Urban Policy, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK * Devina Sarwatay - Presidential Fellow City St. George's, University of London, UK * Estaban Morales Velasquez - Assistant Professor / Media and Digital Cultures Centre for Media and Journalism Studies University of Groningen, NL * Irida Ntalla - Senior Lecturer in Digital Storytelling at London College of Communication (LCC), University of the Arts London, UK * Daniel Jordan - Postgraduate Research Student University of Glasgow, UK * Yingwen Wang - Postgraduate Research Student London College of Communications, University of the Arts London, UK * Yue Qin - Postgraduate Research Student London College of Communications, University of the Arts London, UK

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PhD position in AI and Law @ KIT
by Paul Friedl 20 Jan '26

20 Jan '26

Dear AoIR Community, I am delighted to share the following call for applications for a position as Doctoral Researcher. Prof. Frederike Zufall’s chair offers a truly fantastic interdisciplinary environment for research at the intersection of AI and public law. Best regards Dr. Paul Friedl ======================================================================== Doctoral Researcher (f/m/d) in AI and Law / Computational Law @ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) ======================================================================== Details: https://www.zar.kit.edu/downloads/Karriere/2026/Zufall_PhD.pdf Job description: The chair of public law and computer science (T.T.-Prof. Dr. iur. Frederike Zufall) is looking for a doctoral researcher with a keen interest in interdisciplinary research between public law and computer science. The chair is located at the computer science faculty of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), one of Germany's leading technical universities. For lawyers this environment offers the unique opportunity to actively collaborate with computer scientists and pursue new ideas as to the interdependence of law and computer science. The candidate will write a PhD thesis in law, located in the area of public law and computer science, and conduct interdisciplinary research with computer scientists. Ideally, the thesis should draw on the insights gained through this interdisciplinary research. Research topics connect - AI and law / Computational law / Agentic AI / Legal NLP / Legal informatics with research questions in public law on - Fundamental rights / Democratic legitimacy / Rule of law / Procedure / Administrative decision-making How can legal concepts be carried over to computational systems while upholding public law principles such as the protection of fundamental rights and democratic legitimacy? The position should be filled with a lawyer. Additional technical/CS background and/or expertise are a plus. Teaching obligations are subject to German state law. Qualification: · Master degree / First State Exam / JD (or equivalents) in law with top grades · English fluency · Affinity with technological questions, especially regarding AI and machine learning · Interest in bridging research questions in public law to CS concepts and AI approaches + willingness to conduct interdisciplinary research · Strong skills as to coordination, communication and collaboration We offer: We offer a young and international team☺︎, an attractive and modern workplace with access to the excellent equipment of the KIT, a varied work, a wide range of training opportunities, flexible working time models, an allowance for the job ticket BW and a casino/cafeteria. Salary: Salary category TV-L E13, 50 % (around 2.300 - 2.600 EUR depending on the fulfillment of professional and personal requirements) Contract duration: 2 years with planned contract extension for the PhD Starting date: at your earliest convenience Application up to: 15 February 2026 Application: Please send your application including a motivation letter, your CV, and relevant certificates in electronic form to: lawcs-applications(a)zar.kit.edu Feel free to also state and suggest specific research ideas and interests. We prefer to balance the number of employees (f/m/d). Therefore, we kindly ask female applicants to apply for this job. Recognized severely disabled persons will be preferred if they are equally qualified.

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MA in Digital Media and Society, Media and Public Engagement (15 MAR Deadline)
by Christian Katzenbach 20 Jan '26

20 Jan '26

Dear AoIR colleagues, at ZeMKI, University of Bremen, we are opening up for applications again in our internet-research-related MA programmes. The MA Digital Media and Society and the MA Media Public Engagement will be open for applications FEB 1 to MAR 15. Teaching faculty includes many long-time AoIR scholars like Cornelius Puschmann, Rebecca Scharlach, Andreas Hepp, Paloma Viejo Otero and me. Please share with your students if you think this might be a good fit. Strong research focus, high level of international students (80%), fully taught in EN-language, lively city, No tuition fees. And we got a nice video clip made by students: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDthOZEMI58 See more info below, including dates for info sessions in the next weeks. Best, Christian ### The Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) at the University of Bremen hosts two international EN-language MA programmes. Both programmes have a strong focus on research. and methods training to understand and analyse media-related developments in contemporary societies. There are no tuition fees. This year’s closing date for applications for both programmes is 15 March 2026 for the in-take in October 2026. Applications can be submitted via the university’s application portal: https://moin.uni-bremen.de/ The M.A. Digital Media and Society is an ENlanguage programme marked by an interdisciplinary focus, advanced methods training, comprehensive internationalisation, and a clear link to media-related research and professional practice. Professors and staff at ZeMKI work with students on key topics such as deep mediatisation, social media platforms and their governance, election campaigns, and digital methods. More Info: https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/zemki/studies/ma-digital-media-and-society Video Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDthOZEMI58 Digital Flyer: https://nc.uni-bremen.de/index.php/s/CS2KbTJ6tejQy4L The M.A Media and Public Engagement is an ENlanguage programme situated at the intersection of media, communication, and society, with a focus on how media and communication can be used to create a more sustainable, equitable, and participatory world. Students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the role of media in public engagement, political action, and sustainability, and will develop the skills to analyze and critique media practices and to design socially responsible and sustainable media solutions. More Info: https://www.uni-bremen.de/zemki/studium/ma-media-and-public-engagement In our Online Q&A session for applicants and prospective students ZeMKI staff and programme instructors will be available for questions related to the content of the programmes and admissions requirements. No registration for the Q&A is required - you can simply access the session using the link below. 22 Januar 2026, 13:00-14:00 (CET) 27 Februar 2026, 16:00-17:00 (CET) 3 März 2026, 10:00-11:00 (CET) https://uni-bremen.zoom-x.de/j/66784295700?pwd=fMIq7Xw0eyouzvfgX14HSNVW0dlb…

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Deadline extended: ICA 2026 pre-conference “Whose Protest Counts? Power and Exclusion in Online Activism”
by Jun Liu 19 Jan '26

19 Jan '26

In response to strong interest and numerous inquiries, we are pleased to extend the deadline for the ICA 2026 preconference “Whose Protest Counts? Power and Exclusion in Online Activism” til 31 January 2026. We invite original, rigorous, and innovative contributions that critically explore how power, participation, and inequality shape digital activism today. Why do some voices resonate while others remain unheard? How do socioeconomic structures, policy regimes, and platform logics enable or constrain activism across contexts? For the call, please see attached file. Abstract submission deadline: 31 January 2026 Submit abstracts (400–600 words, excl. references) to: activism.preconf(a)gmail.com<mailto:activism.preconf@gmail.com>. Include: author names, affiliations, contact info, and a brief note on how your paper addresses the CFP 📅 Timeline Acceptance notification: 28 February 2026 Registration (50 USD): by 15 March 2026 Preconference date: 3 June 2026. Best, Jun, on behalf of the organizing committee

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CfP session on “Uneven and Contested Geographies of Data Centers”
by Finn Dammann 19 Jan '26

19 Jan '26

Dear colleagues, please find here a call for abstracts for a session on “Uneven and Contested Geographies of Data Centers” at the Annual International Conference of the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers 2026 (September 1-4, London). We would be pleased to receive contribution proposals from AoIR! Best regards, Finn Dammann & Boris Michel +++ Uneven and Contested Geographies of Data Centres In recent years, data centres have become an increasingly common subject of public and political debate (Edwards, 2024). The focus and criticism in these debates are usually directed at the massive consumption of natural resources (Brodie, 2024; Hogan, 2015), their effect on local communities (Bridges, 2024), and the concentration of geopolitical power – especially with regards to large data centers that are currently being planned or built in the context of the hype surrounding artificial intelligence. As essential infrastructure for living in our increasingly datafied worlds and for organising digital capitalism, data centres also raise a variety of geographical questions and problems. These range from the conflict-ridden embedding of data centres in local environments (Rone, 2024), to their role in larger infrastructure constellations (Atkins, 2021; Velkova, 2016), urban settings, and geopolitical issues such as digital sovereignty, digital colonialism (Kwet, 2019) and data localisation (Rosa, 2022). This session brings together conceptual and empirical contributions to critical data centre studies and research on the geographies of digital infrastructures. Against this backdrop, we look forward to contributions from researchers in digital geography, political geography, urban studies, political ecology and science and technology studies, examining the socio-technical imaginations, material effects and geopolitical and infrastructural embeddings of data centres. Papers might engage with topics such as data centers in the Global South / Global Majority regions, contested infrastructuralization of data centers in rural and urban areas, the embedding of data centers in geopolitical strategies, programs, and conflicts, sociotechnical imaginations of AI data centers or social movements mobilizing against the data centers. Please send a 250-word abstract and a 50-word bio to boris.michel(a)geo.uni-halle.de <mailto:boris.michel@geo.uni-halle.de>and _finn.dammann(a)fau.de_ by 16th February 2026. Keywords: Digital Infrastructures, Data Centers, digital Geography, Cloud, AI Literature Atkins, E. (2021). Tracing the ‘cloud’: Emergent political geographies of global data centres. Political Geography, 86, 102306. _https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2020.102306_ Brodie, P. (2024). Smarter, greener extractivism: Digital infrastructures and the harnessing of new resources. Information, Communication & Society, 1–20. _https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2024.2341013_ Bridges, L. E. (2024). Competing digital capacities: Between state-led digital governance and local data center tradeoffs. Information, Communication & Society, 27(10), 1906–1923. _https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2024.2331765_ Edwards, D., Cooper, Z. G. T., & Hogan, M. (2024). The making of critical data center studies. Convergence, 13548565231224157. _https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565231224157_ Hogan, M. (2015). Data flows and water woes: The Utah Data Center. Big Data & Society, 2(2), 2053951715592429. _https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951715592429_ Kwet, M. (2022). Digital colonialism and Infrastructure as dept. Frontiers in African Digital Research, 65–77. Rone, J. (2024). The shape of the cloud: Contesting date centre construction in North Holland. New Media & Society, 26(10), 5999–6018. _https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221145928_ Rosa, F. R. (2022). Code Ethnography and the Materiality of Power in Internet Governance. Qualitative Sociology, 45(3), 433–455. _https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-022-09517-3_ Velkova, J. (2016). Data that warms: Waste heat, infrastructural convergence and the computation traffic commodity. Big Data & Society, 3(2), 2053951716684144. _https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951716684144_ -- Dr. Finn Dammann Institut für Geographie Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg https://www.geographie.nat.fau.de/ng-geographien-digitaler-infrastrukturen/ https://www.geographie.fau.de/personen/finn-dammann/

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