Dear Colleagues, I am happy to announce that the annual KCL digital culture conference will take place on 10th May 2019. The Call for papers closes on 28th March 2019. 200 words abstracts can be submitted via Easychair https://easychair.org/cfp/ResistDigital2019 Best Regards, Paolo Gerbaudo // Resisting Digital Culture: dystopias, distortions, disconnections - 10th May 2019, King's College London Current debates about digital technology are caught in a death spiral of gloom, doom and anxiety. After a long period of optimism that accompanied the explosion of social media and assumptions of their democratic potential, today’s discourse is dominated by fear. Fear about the unchecked power of digital monopolies like Facebook, Google and Amazon; about the (ab)use of social media by far right political movements; about the psychopathologies, risks and trade-offs associated with constant and unyielding connectivity; fears about the radical surveillance enabled by the digital. What are the actual dangers we face in a world where almost every aspect of our life is digitally mediated? What are the ways people are trying to respond to these dangers, individually and collectively? What solutions do society and technology offer for challenging total digital interpellation? This international conference will explore the digital pessimism that is currently engulfing our understanding of the internet and social media, and assess possibilities for resistance. We shall explore a number of connected topics: risks connected to datafication and surveillance; dangers connected to authoritarian uses of the internet; the psychological perils of pervasive connection; and citizen/activist efforts to respond to these threats. The conference will include various panels, on a number of issues including Digital Overload/Digital Detox, Precarity and Automation, Activism and Oppression, Surveillance, Algorithmic Discrimination, Digital Politics. The conference is organised by the Centre for Digital Culture and will take place on Friday May 10th 2019 At King's College London To present at the conference please submit a 200 words abstract here: https://easychair.org/cfp/ResistDigital2019 The Call for Papers closes on 28th March 2019. Acceptance notices will be given by April 10th. <https://easychair.org/cfp/ResistDigital2019> Dr Paolo Gerbaudo, Senior Lecturer in Digital Culture and Society, Department of Digital Humanities Director of the Centre for Digital Culture King's College London, Room S3.10, Strand Building, 3rd Floor, Strand London WC2, England Phone: +44 (0)20 78481576