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Online policy panel 'The Geopolitics of Tech: Europe in an Era of Realignments?' (16 Jan)
by Orsolya Gulyás 07 Jan '26

07 Jan '26

Happy New Year! The Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation (CD2I) at the Brussels School of Governance is organising an online panel discussion on The Geopolitics of Tech: Europe in an Era of Realignments? on 16 January 2026. The priorities of the first Von der Leyen Commission (2019-2024) focused on a human-centered digital transition firmly rooted in European values. However, anno 2025, the geopolitical landscape has shifted and the three most salient concepts in European policymaking circles today are security, resilience, and competitiveness. This is most recently evidenced by the EU’s Digital Omnibus Regulation that has been criticized for walking back on democratic commitments laid out in the AI Act or GDPR, in the name of simplification needed for the flourishing of European businesses. Indeed, the new approach of the second Von der Leyen Commission (2024-2029) is illustrative of the challenges, shifts, and realignments that have been reflected in global digital politics, often symptomatic of the increasing intertwining of the public and private tech sectors. While the traditional ‘like-minded’ partnership with the US is under pressure and the rivalry with China intensifies, this panel discussion aims to take stock of the rapidly changing geopolitics of the tech arena and the possibilities brought about by building closer relations with newly emerging digital powers, such as India. What do the EU’s nascent efforts in the face of geopolitical power struggles mean for global security, the global data economy, the AI race, and the digital politics of the future? Speakers: * Antonio Calcara, Head of the Geopolitics and Technology Programme at CSDS, Brussels School of Governance * Julia Pohle, Co-head of the Research Group on Politics of Digitalization, WZB Berlin Social Science Center * Shyam Krishnakumar, Executive Director, The Pranava Institute The panel discussion will take place on 16 January, 15:00 (GMT/UTC+1) on Zoom, please register to receive the meeting link. Registration: https://www.brussels-school.be/output/events/online-panel-discussion-geopol… Our best wishes for 2026, Orsolya Gulyás and Trisha Meyer

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CfP for the Special Issue “Imperialism, Information, Communication and Culture in the Age of Digitalisation”
by Jonas Valente 07 Jan '26

07 Jan '26

Dear AoIR community, We are pleased to share this CfP for the Eptic Online International Journal. We welcome articles in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Kind regards, Jonas Valente Research Associate - Oxford Internet Institute Deputy-lead - Media Economy, Technology and Policies Lab (Telas-UFC, Brazil) Assistant Editor - Eptic Online *Call for Papers for the Special Issue “Imperialism, Information, Communication and Culture in the Age of Digitalisation”* The International Electronic Journal of Political Economy of Information, Communication and Culture (Eptic Online) <https://periodicos.ufs.br/eptic/announcement/view/548>invites interested parties to submit papers for the Special Issue “Imperialism, Information, Communication and Culture in the Age of Digitalisation”. Articles must be submitted by 28 February 2025. The issue is expected to be published in June 2026. The relationship between imperialism and information, communication and culture (ICC) is not recent. Decades ago, authors pointed out the role of the ICC in the advancement of imperialism and its manifestation in the cultural industry and the media (Schiller, 1976, 1978). In Latin America, these approaches were also discussed under the umbrella of the notion of “cultural dependence” (Pasquali, 1980). EPC approaches offered critical reflections and nuances to these theses, noting that the problems were not limited to the influx of external companies, services, and content into countries in the Global South (Bolaño, 2015; Sparks, 2012). More recently, the theme of imperialism has been revisited by scholars in communication, information, and culture (Sulehria, 2019). In light of the rise of digital conglomerates, particularly digital platforms, the term has also been used to describe this process (Jin, 2015; 2025). With the reconfiguration of global information, communication, and culture systems in the age of digitalisation, the theoretical approach to imperialism has also expanded to encompass the production, circulation, and consumption of digitalised products and services (Nothias, 2025). While the controversial concept of digital colonialism (Kwet, 2019; Faustino & Lippold, 2023) has gained much more visibility, the explanatory key of imperialism has been less explored. Although imperialism has never ceased to be a dimension of capitalist evolution, recent events indicate a resurgence of imperialist agendas and movements, such as the genocide in Palestine, the worsening conflict in Sudan, and the most recent interventions by the United States in Latin America, especially in Venezuela. Under these conditions, information and communication take on an unusual centrality in the mode of production, while forms of legitimisation change with the implementation of a new global system of culture, to use Furtado's expression (1978), based on extensively horizontalised and interactive forms of communication, whose democratic appearance hides the essence of a technical system designed for control and surveillance on a massive and global scale, with an expanded capacity for manipulation concentrated in a few American companies, whose power of censorship has proven to be superior to that of the Cultural Industry of the 20th century. Under these conditions, it is the historical task of scholars of the Political Economy of Communication and Culture (PECC) to clarify the coherence of this articulation between imperialism and the rise of digital platforms, without neglecting the roles of traditional media and international news agencies, as well as the contradictions involved. Editors: Dr Farooq Sulehria (BNU, Pakistan, and Sodertorn, Sweden), Dr Jonas C. L. Valente (Oxford Internet Institute, UK, and UFC, Brazil), and Dr Fabricio Zanghelini (UFF, Brazil). The Special Issue welcomes submissions on: The dossier welcomes submissions on: - The concept of imperialism and its history in the field of communication; - The notion of imperialism as a key to understanding recent transformations in information, communication and culture; - The contemporary role of information, communication and culture in imperialism in the 21st century; - How information, communication and culture transform nations and imperialist agendas; - Digital imperialism, driven by platforms and digital corporations; - Imperialism and asymmetric global flows of information, communication and culture; - Attacks on freedom of expression and the right to information and communication; - New and old forms of dependence related to information, communication and culture in nations and regions on the periphery of capitalism in the face of imperialist advances; - Use of data for surveillance and promotion of disinformation and hybrid wars; - The role of digital corporations in conflicts such as the genocide in Palestine; - Attacks on freedom of expression and the right to information and communication; - Impacts on subjectivity and forms of resistance to digital imperialism and related to information, communication and culture. *References:* BOLAÑO, César. *The culture industry, information and capitalism*. Springer, 2015. BOLAÑO, César Ricardo Siqueira. *Campo aberto para a crítica da epistemologia da comunicação*. Aracaju: Edise, 2015. BOLAÑO, César. *Ucrânia: imperialismo e guerra da informação*. Outras Palavras, 21 mar. 2022. Disponível em: *https://outraspalavras.net/geopoliticaeguerra/ucrania-imperialismo-e-guerra-da-informacao/* <https://outraspalavras.net/geopoliticaeguerra/ucrania-imperialismo-e-guerra…>. Acesso em: 6 jan. 2026. FAUSTINO, Deivison; LIPPOLD, Walter. *Colonialismo digital*: por uma crítica hacker-fanoniana. São Paulo: Boitempo, 2023. FURTADO, Celso. *Criatividade e dependência na civilização industrial*. São Paulo: Paz e Terra, 1978. JIN, Dal Yong. *Digital Platforms, Imperialism and Political Culture*. Routledge, 2015. KWET, Michael. Digital colonialism: US empire and the new imperialism in the Global South.* Race & Class*, 60(4), 2019, 3-26. NOTHIAS, Toussaint. An intellectual history of digital colonialism. *Journal of Communication*, 2025. PASQUALI, Antonio. *Comunicación y cultura de masas*. Venezuela, Monte Avila Latinoamericana, 1980. SCHILLER, Herbert I. *Communication and Cultural Domination*. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1976, 98-103. SCHILLER, Herbert I. Media and imperialism. *Revue française d'études américaines*, p. 269-281, 1978. SPARKS, Colin. Media and cultural imperialism reconsidered. *Chinese Journal of Communication*, *5*(3), 2012, 281–299. SULEHRIA, Farooq. *Media imperialism in India and Pakistan*. Routledge, 2018. -- Jonas Valente

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ZeMKI Visiting Research Fellowship 2026 (paid)
by Leif Kramp 07 Jan '26

07 Jan '26

ZeMKI Visiting Research Fellowship 2026 (call closes on January 30, 2026, 23:59 CET) Come and work with us! Our Fellowship Program invites international researchers to Bremen to deepen and connect their research in the transformation of media, communication, and information. We are looking for established scholars who want to enjoy the thriving interdisciplinary research environment at ZeMKI. Disciplines include media and communication studies, computer science, film studies, educational science, studies in religion, and history. Since mid-2017, ZeMKI has regularly hosted colleagues from all over the world. What we expect: The duration of the fellowship is one month. Applicants should demonstrate experience in their respective field of research and a strong interest in working jointly with principal investigators at ZeMKI to develop new ideas together. The main focus of the ZeMKI Visiting Research Fellowship is to pursue a joint project with at least two ZeMKI Labs (find all descriptions here: https://zemki.uni-bremen.de/en/research/labs/) The joint project can take various forms and should aim to have an impact on academic and public debates in their respective area of scholarly focus. The following outputs are expected: - a research paper submitted to the peer-reviewed ZeMKI Working Paper Series - a public presentation in the ZeMKI Research Seminar For a successful application it is highly recommended to inform oneself thoroughly about current activities in the ZeMKI Labs of interest and the work of principal investigators at ZeMKI. What we offer: - Research Resources: Fellows are welcome and encouraged to make use of and connect with ZeMKI’s research resources in the context of their collaboration with ZeMKI labs, including the research studios, IT pools/technical equipment, cooperatives, and initiatives. - Access to the State and University Library Bremen: All fellows will be provided with access to the central academic library of the University of Bremen. - Courses: Fellows are eligible to participate as listeners or guest lecturers in courses in the diverse media study programmes at ZeMKI. They have to individually ask for permission directly from the professor or lecturer. - A stipend of 3,000 euros plus a budget for research-related expenses of up to 1,500 euros Please fill out all fields of the application form and submit it in order to apply by January 30, 2026 (23:59 CET): https://nc.uni-bremen.de/index.php/apps/forms/s/WHTbJbx8wfPjkSEGt5JdakNo Call website: https://zemki.uni-bremen.de/en/call-for-applications-zemki-visiting-researc…

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JoSSIT 9 on “Networked Creativity: Musicking in the Social Media Era”, Out Now in Open Access
by Juan Bermudez 07 Jan '26

07 Jan '26

Dear colleagues (with apologies for cross-posting), I am delighted to share that Issue No. 9 of the Journal of Sound, Silence, Image and Technology (JoSSIT), entitled “Networked Creativity: Musicking in the Social Media Era”, which I had the honor of editing, has been published in open access. This issue explores the diverse ways in which musicking takes shape across different contexts, with particular attention to social media and multimedia environments. These are understood as spaces that foster the development of interconnected forms of creativity among music producers and their audiences. It includes articles by Juan Bermúdez, Thomas Michel (Université Paris Cité, France), Elizabeth Falade (University of Groningen, the Netherlands), Paula Aguilera Martínez (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), Beatriz Medeiros (Universidad Mayor, Santiago de Chile), Lucas Bazzara (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina), and Ariel Grez Valdenegro (Universidad de Santiago de Chile), as well as reviews by Maritxu Alonso (Universidad de Oviedo), Ana Sedeño-Valdellós (Universidad de Málaga), and Cande Sánchez-Olmos (Universitat d’Alacant). JoSSIT 9 (PDF and EPUB): https://raco.cat/index.php/JoSSIT/issue/view/32488 best regards, Juan Bermúdez ——————————————— Dr. Juan Bermúdez (he / him / his) Senior Scientist – APART-GSK Fellow (Austrian Academy of Sciences) Institut für Ethnomusikologie / Institute for Ethnomusicology Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz / University of Music and Performing Arts Graz Academia<https://kug.academia.edu/JuanBerm%C3%BAdez> / ResearchGate<https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Juan-Bermudez-7> Recently published: J. Bermúdez (2025). Musicking TikTok: A Musical Ethnography from a Glocal Austrian Context<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/385255930_Musicking_TikTok_A_Music…> (=New Approaches to Sound, Music, and Media 15). New York: Bloomsbury. J. Bermúdez (Ed.) (2025). "Networked Creativity: Musicking in the Social Media Era / Creatividad Interconectada: Musicar en la era de las redes sociales<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/398870191_Creatividad_Interconecta…>,“ Special Issue, Journal of Sound, Silence, Image and Technology 9 J. Bermúdez (Ed.) (2025). "TikTok-Music-Cultures. Perspectives on the Study of Musicking Practices On & Through TikTok<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389194585_TikTok-Music-Cultures_Pe…>," Special Issue, Musicologica Austriaca - Journal for Austrian Music Studies. J. Bermúdez (2025). "Ethnographing TikTok: Toward an E3thnomusicological Approach to a Multimedia Musicking<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389186853_Ethnographing_TikTok_Tow…>,” Musicologica Austriaca - Journal for Austrian Music Studies, 8-32. J. Bermúdez (2025). "Ethnomusicology, Artificial Intelligence, and the Intimate Work of Connection<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/397975281_Ethnomusicology_Artifici…>,“ Ethnomusicology Forum 34(2), 233-237. J. Bermúdez (2025). "TikTok Persona: Explorando la performance de identidades musicales en un contexto multimedia<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/395920049_TikTok_Persona_explorand…>," Boletín Música 63, 3-19. J. Bermúdez (2025). "Más allá de lo Viral: Musicando en un Mundo Multimedia<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/398870062_Mas_alla_de_lo_viral_Mus…>“, Journal of Sound, Silence, Image and Technology 9, 6-17.

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CFP & Update: International Conference on Social Media & Society (#SMSociety), Glasgow UK July 13-15, 2026
by Devina Sarwatay 07 Jan '26

07 Jan '26

Dear all, Hope you had a lovely start to 2026! We just wanted to gently remind you of our call for submissions for the International Conference on Social Media & Society (#SMSociety), Glasgow UK July 13-15, 2026 ( https://socialmediaandsociety.org/2025/call-for-submissions-smsociety-july-…) as deadlines are coming up soon. We have also put up our pricing for the conference ( https://socialmediaandsociety.org/conference-fees-and-registration/) We are going to keep our registration costs low once again, as we think this encourages participation and helps a range of scholars come to the event. Given the interdisciplinary design of the conference, we’re hoping it will appeal widely, so please do submit and promote it within your networks. Contact us at ask(a)socialmediaandsociety.org in case of questions. Looking forward to seeing you in Glasgow, Tìoraidh! - on behalf of the Organizing Executive Committee. *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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REMINDER: CFP - Global Institutional Perspectives on GenAI & Cultural Industries
by Tom Divon 07 Jan '26

07 Jan '26

Dear community! Friendly reminder that submissions for our special issue - Global Institutional Perspectives on GenAI & Cultural Industries - are due in two weeks, on January 19, 2026. Our full intellectual agenda is detailed in the call for papers below (hosted by the Cambridge Forum on AI: Culture and Society), but in brief, we’re especially interested in how GenAI is reshaping cultural industries through new and old economic partnerships, infrastructural dependencies, and governance arrangements, and how these dynamics differ across regions. We aim to multiply our frames of reference in the field beyond its Anglo-American focus by encouraging work that takes diverse cultural, political, and historical contexts as starting points for theory-building. Contributions are welcome to focus on one or a combination of the following topics and issues: - Economic relations between major AI companies and cultural producers - Local AI intermediaries, funding, or infrastructures facilitating GenAI integration - Economic objectives and incentives for cultural producers to use GenAI tools - Hierarchies of class, caste, gender, and language, shaping the development of or access to GenAI tools - Development of local GenAI alternatives - Boundary resources shaping access to GenAI tools - Embedding of access to GenAI within wider material cultures - Friction between GenAI models and local requirements of cultural production - GenAI models and companies shaping cultural production - GenAI models and region- and industry-specific cultural sensitivities - Regulation of GenAI for cultural production by governments and public institutions - Political and cultural interests involved in GenAI governance in cultural industries For the full CFP https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-forum-on-ai-culture-and-s… We’re here for any questions, thoughts, or sparks of curiosity you want to exchange at - siglobalgenai(a)gmail.com The editorial team, Thomas Poell, Arturo Arriagada, Lorena Caminhas, Tom Divon, Smith Mehta, David Nieborg, Godwin Simon, and Zhen Ye. -- *Tom Divon* Creators & Platforms R*esearcher* Dept. of Communication & Journalism, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Sammy Ofer School of Communications, IDC, Herzliya Tel: +972-547-532681 [image: Twitter] <https://twitter.com/TomDivon>[image: Instagram] <https://www.instagram.com/divon.tom/>[image: Facebook] <https://www.facebook.com/tom.divon> Website: https://tomdivon.com/ Co-Founder: The Content Creator Scholars Network <https://www.ccsn.site/> *Publications*: >> Playful Activism: Memetic Performances of Palestinian Resistance in TikTok #Challenges <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20563051231157607> >> #JewishTikTok: The JewToks' Fight against Antisemitism <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359548581_JewishTikTok> >> Serious TikTok: Can You Learn About the Holocaust in 60 Seconds? <https://reframe.sussex.ac.uk/digitalholocaustmemory/2022/03/24/can-you-lear…> >> Playful Trauma: TikTok Creators and the Use of the Platformed Body in Times of War <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20563051241269281> >> Platform gaslighting: A user-centric insight into social media corporate communications of content moderation <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/29768624241303109> >> The unsolicited algorithm: unveiling gendered harms and (non)consent in apple iOS features <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09589236.2024.2433683?src=> >> The sound of disinformation: TikTok, computational propaganda, and the invasion of Ukraine <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14614448241251804?icid=int.sj-full…> >> Youthful Platform Commemoration: TikTok as a Frontier for Holocaust Education and Memory <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383957738_Youthful_Platform_Commem…>

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SAGE Handbook of Digital Labour is out!
by Rafael Do Nascimento Grohmann 06 Jan '26

06 Jan '26

Hi there, The SAGE Handbook of Digital Labour, edited by Ergin Bulut, Julie Chen, Kylie Jarrett, and myself, is out! Check it out: https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/sam/the-sage-handbook-of-digital-labour/book28… Description The Sage Handbook of Digital Labour is a comprehensive exploration of the multifaceted and evolving concept of digital labour. Originally coined in Marxist analyses to explain the exploitation of user data in the digital economy, the term has since expanded to encompass a wide range of paid work influenced by digital technologies. This includes traditional jobs transformed by platforms, new roles emerging in today's digital society, and cultural producers like influencers and online creators. The handbook also addresses the material aspects of digital labour, highlighting its dependence on traditional manufacturing and manual labour. This volume brings together leading scholars from diverse disciplines to examine the intersections of labour and digital technologies. It approaches digital labour as an interdisciplinary field of inquiry, exploring the material and ideological conditions of work in contemporary society. The handbook aims to chart the extensive territory of digital labour studies, covering theoretical traditions, key concepts, emblematic sites of production, normative cultures, and worker subjectivities. It also showcases the spectrum of worker organizing repertoires and tactics across the world. The handbook is organized into seven sections. Section 1 highlights major theoretical traditions, while Section 2 focuses on the material sites along production chains. Sections 3 and 4 delve into key concepts and sites of production, and Section 5 explores normative cultures and worker subjectivities. Section 6 examines worker organizing tactics, and Section 7 introduces research methods for scholars in the field. The volume concludes with discussions on how digital labour studies can provide unique perspectives to imagine digital futures. Table of Contents Authors Chapter Ergin Bulut; Julie Yujie Chen; Rafael Grohmann; Kylie Jarrett Introduction: Digital Labour as a Field of Inquiry Section One: Foundations of Digital Labour Ergin Bulut; Julie Yujie Chen; Rafael Grohmann; Kylie Jarrett Section One Introduction Marcos Dantas Chapter 1: Globalization and Information Work Ned Rossiter; Soenke Zehle Chapter 2: The Social Factory of Data Capitalism: Cybernetics, Logistics, Labour Nicole Cohen Chapter 3: Digital Labour, Precarity, and Employment Status: Continuity Through Change Aphra Kerr; Marguerite Barry Chapter 4: Retooling ethics for a critical and just digital future Sareeta Amrute Chapter 5: Race, Digital Labor, and Gig: Concepts, Histories, and Solidarities for the Why (and How) We Study Race Mayo Fuster Morell Chapter 6: Platform Work and Gender Equality Section Two: Digital Labour Infrastructures Ergin Bulut; Julie Yujie Chen; Rafael Grohmann; Kylie Jarrett Section Two Introduction Abel Guerra Chapter 7: An Infrastructural Optic to Digital Labour Evelyn Wan Chapter 8: Mining for Digital Culture: Dispossessed lives through the lens of art Paola Ricaurte Chapter 9: Data centers and labor politics: Political economy, geopolitics, and narratives of labor Prince K. Guma Chapter 10: Materialities of Everyday Digital Labour Melissa Mazmanian; Maggie Jack; Ingrid Erickson Chapter 11: The Rise of Independent Work and the Challenges of Realizing Autonomy Mira Wallis; Manuela Bojadzijev; Moritz Altenried Chapter 12: Platform Mobilities: Migration and Digital Labor Section Three: Labour Transformations Ergin Bulut; Julie Yujie Chen; Rafael Grohmann; Kylie Jarrett Section Three Introduction Harry Pitts Chapter 13: Value Struggles in Digital Taylorism: Scientific Management and Social Mediation Yu Huang Chapter 14: Rethinking Industrial Automation: Marxist Perspective Fabricio Barili Chapter 15: Dynamics of surveillance: Unveiling Surveillance in Workspaces and Work Management Uma Rani; Raghav Mehrotra; Sona Mewati Chapter 16: Redefining skills in a digital age: Fragmentation and underutilization Phoebe Moore; Gwendolin Barnard Chapter 17: Affective computing, algorithmic affect management, and the quantified worker Aneesh Aneesh; Shiv Issar Chapter 18: Labor's Odyssey Through Algorithmic Systems Niels van Doorn; Aaron Shapiro Chapter 19: Studying the gig economy ‘beyond the gig’: A research agenda Section Four: Sites of Production Ergin Bulut; Julie Yujie Chen; Rafael Grohmann; Kylie Jarrett Section Four Introduction Sai Amulya Komarraju Chapter 20: Digital Labour Platforms and the Future of Care Work(ers) Roseli Figaro; Claudia Nonato Chapter 21: Platformization and digitalization of journalists' work in Brazil Mary L. Gray; Saiph Savage Chapter 22: Designing for Global Data Work Jin Lee; Crystal Abidin Chapter 23: Silver Halmeoni Influencers in the Social Media Spotlight: Navigating Geriatric Cuteness, Labor, and Ageism Lorena Caminhas Chapter 24: Digital sex work and the contested boundaries of material and immaterial digital labour Antonio Casilli Chapter 25: Digital labor and the inconspicuous production of artificial intelligence Eric Florence; Juan Sebastian Carbonell Chapter 26: Digitalisation and resistance in logistics work Kenzo Soares Seto Chapter 27: Navigating the Sociotechnical Imaginaries of Brazilian Tech Workers Section Five: Organisational Cultures Ergin Bulut; Julie Yujie Chen; Rafael Grohmann; Kylie Jarrett Section Five Introduction Godwin Simon; Kevin Sanson Chapter 28: Seed Sowing in Nollywood: Labour, Precariousness, and the Promises of the Streaming Video Market in Nigeria Renyi Hong Chapter 29: The Pain of Love: Passionate Work and Spousal Support as Digital Labor Christine H. Tran Chapter 30: Play-at-Home Jobs: A Critical Feminist Viewership of Labour, Leisure & Livestreaming on Twitch Cheryll Soriano Chapter 31: Qualculative practices of ‘hustle’ in platform labor Ana Alacovska Chapter 32: The life/work mishmash in platform labour: Towards a livelihood approach Tugce Bidav Chapter 33: Professional Identity Formation of Social Media Creators Amir Anwar Chapter 34: Digital Labour and Uneven Developments Section Six: Workers' Organising Ergin Bulut; Julie Yujie Chen; Rafael Grohmann; Kylie Jarrett Section Six Introduction Kurt Vandaele Chapter 35: Unionisation of digital labour Lilly Irani Chapter 36: Turkopticon: From Software to Organizing (2009-2024) Noopur Raval Chapter 37: New Realms, New Responses: Alternative Worker Collectivization after Platforms Denise Kasparian; Sain Lopez-Perez Chapter 38: Cooperatives for Worker Empowerment in the Digital Economy Section Seven: Researching Digital Labour Ergin Bulut; Julie Yujie Chen; Rafael Grohmann; Kylie Jarrett Section Seven Introduction Oguz Alyanak, Alessio Bertolini, Funda Ustek-Spilda, Jonas Valente, Robbie Warin, Mark Graham Chapter 39: Action-Research: The Fairwork Project Callum Cant; Zeynap Karlidag; Clark McAllister; George Briley; Dante Philp Chapter 40: Workers’ Inquiry: A User’s Guide Kruskaya Hidalgo Cordero Chapter 41: Código Doméstico in the flesh: Feminist oral history methodologies for digital care work research Tiziano Bonini; Emiliano Trere Chapter 42: Confronting methodological and ethical challenges in the study of algorithms and digital labour Arturo Arriagada; Vanessa Richter Chapter 43: Exploring Imaginaries on Digital Labour Vera Khovanskaya Chapter 44: Worker Advocacy and Data Collection: Methodological Sensibilities for Studying Digitally Mediated Work Ergin Bulut; Julie Yujie Chen; Rafael Grohmann; Kylie Jarrett Conclusion: Digital Futures -- 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…> Faculty Affiliate, Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society<https://srinstitute.utoronto.ca/> <https://srinstitute.utoronto.ca/>

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International Conference on Software and Systems Reuse, Product Lines, and Configuration (VARIABILITY 2026): First Call for Research Papers (2nd Round)
by Announce 06 Jan '26

06 Jan '26

*** First Call for Research Papers (2nd Round) *** International Conference on Software and Systems Reuse, Product Lines, and Configuration (VARIABILITY 2026) 29 September - 2 October 2026, 5* St. Raphael Resort and Marina Limassol, Cyprus https://conf.researchr.org/home/variability-2026 The International Conference on Software and Systems Reuse, Product Lines, and Configuration (VARIABILITY 2026) invites high-quality contributions from researchers and practitioners in software engineering, systems engineering, and related disciplines focussing on a broad spectrum of methods, concepts, and tools for variability. VARIABILITY aims to be the premier forum for the exchange of ideas, experiences, and results in all aspects of software and systems variability management, reuse, software configuration, and customization. As software and systems become increasingly configurable, reusable, and adaptable, managing their variability across all lifecycle phases is more critical—and more challenging —than ever. VARIABILITY 2026 seeks to bring together the diverse communities that address these challenges from theoretical, technical, and practical perspectives. VARIABILITY results from a merge of three prominent conferences focussing on software and systems variability, configuration and reuse: SPLC (the International Systems and Software Product Line Conference, 29 successful editions), VaMoS (the International Working Conference on Variability Modelling of Software-Intensive Systems, 19 successful editions), and ICSR (the International Conference on Systems and Software Reuse, 22 successful editions). VARIABILITY is by design open as a conference. It welcomes new fields of variability- intensive research, such as artificial intelligence, hybrid software-hardware systems, etc. For this first edition of VARIABILITY, we strive to continue the success of the predecessor conferences ICSR, SPLC, and VaMoS by welcoming high-quality submissions for the research track in numerous closely related areas, such as systems and software product lines, systems and software reuse, configurable systems and software, product configuration, and systems and software variability. We will award the best research paper and the best artifact paper. Topics of Interest We invite contributions on variability management, reuse, and configuration across all phases of the software and systems lifecycle. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to: Requirements & Domain Engineering • Domain analysis and variability modeling • Decision modeling and support • Customization and personalization specification • Requirements variability and traceability Architecture & Design • Variability-aware software architectures • Architecture-centric product line engineering • Model-driven engineering (MDE) • Multi-product lines, program families, product lines of product lines, software ecosystems Implementation & Code Generation • Generative programming and code synthesis • Modularization techniques for reusable code • Programming languages and frameworks for variability • Open-source strategies for software reuse Testing, Verification & Quality Assurance • Testing and analysis of configurable systems • Safety and security in variable systems • Formal Methods for Software Product Lines • Non-functional properties: quality-aware analysis, quality-driven configuration • Reuse in testing, verification, and quality assurance Evolution, Maintenance & Operation • Refactoring and restructuring of configurable systems • Reverse engineering, variability mining, and refactoring • Runtime variability and dynamic (software) product lines • Maintenance strategies for large-scale reused systems • Variability in DevOps and CI/CD pipelines AI and Data-Driven Methods • Machine learning for variability management • AI-assisted product configuration • Data and repository mining from product lines and configuration histories • Recommendation systems for reuse and customization Publication of Proceedings Accepted papers will be published in the VARIABILITY 2026 proceedings by Springer in the LNCS series. Submission Guidelines Paper Types We invite the following types of submissions: • Full Papers (up to 18 pages excluding references): Research papers must present original, unpublished work with validated results through empirical evaluation, formal analysis, or implementation-based experiments. Submissions must clearly articulate the problem, its relevance, the proposed contribution, and validation results. • Short Papers (6 - 8 pages excluding references): Short papers present early-stage research, novel ideas, or conceptual proposals that are not yet fully developed or validated but offer promising directions. These papers should articulate the vision, motivation, and potential impact. Formatting Papers must use the Springer LNCS template according to: https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-gu… Springer provides author guidelines that should be consulted for further details: https://resource-preview-cms.springernature.com/springer-cms/rest/v1/conten… Submission Link Submissions should be made via Easy Chair, selecting the research track: https://easychair.org/conferences?conf=variability2026 Paper Originality, Double-Anonymous Policy, Reviewing All papers must be original and not under review elsewhere. Submissions will be double- anonymous and reviewed by at least three experts. Submissions will be evaluated based on their novelty, relevance, rigor, transparency, and presentation. Authors of submissions to the first deadline might be invited to submit a revision of their papers to the second deadline, which will be reviewed as a revision. Revisions Research-track papers can be submitted to the first or second cycle. In the first cycle, papers can receive the following decisions: accept, revision, or reject. Revision means that the reviewers believe that the paper has potential, but that its quality or contribution is not yet ready for publication. Such papers are offered lightweight shepherding by a community member, who is not necessarily a PC member or reviewer. Revised papers should be submitted to the second cycle together with a response letter, explaining how the reviewer comments were addressed. They are then reviewed by the same PC members. Papers rejected in the first cycle can be resubmitted in the second cycle, but need to contain an appendix “Changes to First-Cycle Submission” at the end of the PDF (after references, regardless of the page limit) that lists the major changes in bullet-point format. Best Paper Awards Springer will sponsor the awards for bet papers with an overall amount of €1000. Journal Special Issue Selected accepted papers will be invited to submit extended versions with at least 30% additional and original material, to be published in a special issue in a reputable Software Engineering journal (currently under negotiation). Important Dates (AoE) • Paper Submission Deadline (2nd Round): 2 April 2026 • Notification of Acceptance (2nd Round): 1 June 2026 • Camera-Ready Deadline: 15 July 2025 • Author Registration: 15 July 2025 Organisation General Chairs • George A. Papadopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus • Gilles Perrouin, FNRS & University of Namur, Belgium Research Track Chairs • Thorsten Berger, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany • Ina Schaefer, KIT, Germany Industry Track Chairs • Shaukat Ali, Simula Research Lab and Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway • Martin Becker, Fraunhofer IESE, Germany Journal First Track Chairs • Mathieu Acher, University Rennes, Inria, CNRS, IRISA, France • Xhevahire Tërnava, LTCI, Télécom Paris, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, France Doctoral Symposium Track Chairs • Rick Rabiser, LIT CPS, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria • Iris Reinhartz-Berger, University of Haifa, Israel Demos and Tools Track Chairs • Sandra Greiner, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark • Leopoldo Teixeira, Federal University of Pernambuco Projects Showcase Chairs • Daniel Struber, Chalmers, University of Gothenburg, Radbound University, Sweden • Dalila Tamzalit, Nantes Université, France Hall of Fame Chairs • Martin Becker, Fraunhofer IESE, Germany • Goetz Botterweck, Lero - The Irish Software Research Centre and University of Limerick, Ireland • Natsuko Noda, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan Workshops Chairs • Lidia Fuentes, Universidad de Malaga, Spain • Malte Lochau, University of Siegen, Germany Tutorials Chairs • Loek Cleophas, Eindhoven University of Technology and Stellenbosch University, The Netherlands • Mahsa Varshosaz, IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark Proceedings Chair • Sophie Fortz, King's College London, UK Publicity Chairs • Wesley Assunção, North Carolina State University, USA • Kentaro Yoshimura, Hitachi Ltd, Japan Local Organiser and Finance Chair • George A. Papadopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus

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CFM--Symbolic Interaction and Authoritarianism
by Sarina Chen 05 Jan '26

05 Jan '26

The Trump Administration's actions during its first year in power has elicited coverage that cites "the authoritarian playbook." This coverage has created interest in how observers of the political scene not only define such a playbook in particular, but also discuss authoritarianism as a social form. In this vein, sociologists and students of symbolic interaction can offer a variety of insightful approaches to how this social form is possible. . As a social form, authoritarianism involves patterned social practices and relationships that maintain unequal alignments beneficial to a small, concentrated superordinate entity, or a power elite. This elite systematically increases their life chances at the expense of a populous array of subordinates. The elite superordinate class also operates by imposing strict regulations on media, suppresses and punishes political opponents, systematically degrades the rule of law, and creates obstacles that vastly limit the freedom of a subordinate class. This limitation includes suppressing opportunities that would allow members of a subordinate class to attain the privileges and well-being often congruent with a more democratic social form. Authoritarianism, like other social forms, is socially constructed over time. Once constructed and enacted, a complex process of institutionalizing authoritarianism separates the authoritarian nation from a more democratic one. Within the past few decades, for instance, Vladimir Putin's Russian system is now a highly centralized, personalistic autocracy, especially since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. While it would be a mistake to claim that the U. S. has become an authoritarian nation, the aforementioned authoritarian playbook attributed to the Trump Administration has involved actions that eviscerated the federal government, subjugated Congress, and ignored the rule of law. Consider the following activities attributed to the Trump Administration: Domestically --mass dismissal of career civil servants; --initiations of investigations and persecutions of political opponents; --attacked on the free press, universities, law firms, and civil society organizations; --dismantled the Department of Education; --unilaterally deployed National Guard troops to cities (Washington DC, Portland, Los Angeles, Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis) --activated State National Guard troops in 15 states; --implementing tariffs, prerogative that the Constitution gives to Congress, --skirted due process and the rule of law on deportations; --delegitimized judges; --scaled back or eliminated Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs in schools, government bodies and corporations; –ended federal funding for NPR (a radio network) and PBS (a television network) by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB); --demolished the historic White House East Wing to replace it with a larger State Ballroom; --renamed Trump-Kennedy Center. Internationally --issued a CIA strike on a port facility in Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife during a subsequent raid; –issued a massive strike in Syria; –issued airstrikes in Somalia; –issued strikes in Nigeria; –issued a bombing in Iraq; –issued the attack of three nuclear facilities <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_facilities_in_Iran> in Iran <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran>; –issued a large campaign of air and naval strikes in Yemen; --issued U.S. military to carry out 30 strikes on alleged drug boat; --dismantled the Voice of America (VOA), one of the U.S.’s most effective tools for promoting press freedom and countering disinformation in authoritarian societies; --eliminated agencies or cut funding of organizations that promote democracy and safeguard human rights, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), the International Republican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute (NDI), and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The Trump administration’s authoritarian practices are not without resistance in the U.S. and abroad. More than 250 active legal cases in the U.S. are challenging the actions of the Trump administration. Most recently, the US Supreme Court ruled against the Trump Administration's deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago. Demonstrations against the Trump administration's crack down on free speech have emerged on university campuses in the U.S. Further, No Kings, a grassroot national and international anti-Trump organization, held two protests in 2025. Each protest involved millions of people in all 50 US states as well as in countries around the world, protesting the actions of the Trump administration as an abuse of power and threat to democracy. The communication processes and social interaction dynamics involved in constructing and resisting authoritarianism have an impact on various domains of social life. This impact affects individuals, families, schools, corporations, markets, and government bodies, etc. The processes also highlight issues such as free speech, social welfare, education, immigration, economy, and democracy, etc . Given the important and pervasive impact of authoritarianism and its detractors, Vol. 65 of Studies in Symbolic Interaction: An International Bi-annual Book Series (published by Emerald Publishing) is dedicated to publishing articles that emphasize constructing and resisting authoritarian policies. Original works that address the communication processes and social interaction of constructing and/or resisting authoritarianism, that are based on symbolic interactionism, and that emphasize agency, reflexivity, social interaction, temporality and processes are welcome. For all interested, please submit an abstract of no more than 750 words to Shing-Ling Sarina Chen (sarina.chen(a)uni.edu) by March 15, 2026. If the abstract is selected for inclusion, the final manuscript is due September 30, 2026. Sincerely, Shing-Ling Sarina Chen Studies in Symbolic Interaction

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DIGITOX seminar Jan 22: Disconnection through media, apps and tech (and Feb 25: Disconnection and the brain)
by Trine Syvertsen 05 Jan '26

05 Jan '26

Welcome to the international seminar series on connection and disconnection. We continue our seminars in 2025. Details here https://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/research/projects/digital-disconnection/e… NB: Seminars run on Norway time (CET) and are scheduled in different time slots. Contact me for a Zoom link or join the DIGITOX mailing list (below) where the links are published. Upcoming seminars: Jan 22, 2025, 1400-1500 on disconnection through media, apps and tech with Veysel Bozan and Yukun You Feb. 25, 2025 1000 -1100 on disconnection and the brain with Alex Beattie and autors of Detoxing the brain<https://norden.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1896952&dswid=-…> (Ingrid Forsler, Carina Guyard, and Linus Andersson) MORE SEMINARS WILL BE SCHEDULED FOR THE SPRING Best regards, Trine ------ We run two mailing lists, join DIGITOX list for these seminars. DIGITOX MAILING LIST: digitox-info: info from Digitox about our seminar series. To join, write an email to sympa(a)media.uio.no and write subscribe digitox-info in the subject field. To unsubscribe: Write an email to sympa(a)media.uio.no and write unsubscribe digitox-info in the subject field (or let me know that you want to be taken off the list). DISCONNECTION-LIST (general list) disconnection-research: to post information about research, publications, events etc. All members can post. To join: write to sympa(a)media.uio.no and write subscribe disconnection-research in the subject field. DO YOU HAVE A NEW PUBLICATION? OR A CFP? NOTIFY PEOPLE USING THE DISCONNECTION LIST; ALL MEMBERS CAN POST ON THIS LIST ------------------------------------------------------- Trine Syvertsen, professor, IMK, UiO Project: Intrusive media, ambivalent users and digital detox (NFR) Author of Digital detox: The politics of disconnecting (Emerald 2020) New book: The Digital Backlash and the Paradoxes of Disconnection (open access, Nordicom, 2024)

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