Hello, Aoirers, We have been looking to pull together some papers around "data cooperatives" and other uses of data aggregation "from below" into a panel before the rapidly-approaching deadline for the next conference. If you are working on a topic that might fit with this form of data activism, we'd love to hear from you! There is a drafty version of our panel intro below... Best, Alex Data cooperatives: Toward a datafication from below Alexander Halavais (ASU) & Alejandro Alvarado Rojas (USC) For most, the word “datafication” connotes structures of hierarchical power: the process of making the textured everyday into something measurable, consumable, and controllable by overarching structures of political and economic power—with good reason (Kitchin, 2014). It is easy to find examples of the ways in which corporations and governments have made use of data as a means of control. Even outside of this, the kinds of accumulation that standardization of data permit makes it a resource that is easily bent toward reification of existing systems of exploitation and control. There are critics who see all forms of ICTs as inherently serving these same ends, but we have now accumulated enough models of resistance and change to see that neither the “information imperialism” (e.g., Schiller, 1991) nor the “computer lib” (e.g., Nelson, 1974) extremes envisioned in the early days of networking entirely came to pass. The reality was much more complicated. The question becomes whether there are parallel examples of peer-based and collaborative data sharing that might be applied to the process of datafication, in areas as diverse as education, smart cities, the structure of labor, and the place of citizenship. While there are relatively clear examples of ways in which new networked technologies have been used to resist certain kinds of powerful political and economic structures, there are relatively fewer examples of datafication—the encoding of everyday activities into measurable quanta—being used pro-socially. Milan, & Velden (2016) provide several examples of these, drawing on genres of “proactive data activism,” to show how individuals and groups, rather than refusal, deploy data collection and dissemination practices as an alternative form of resistance. This panel seeks to explore examples and prototypes of peer-based accumulation, networking, and sharing of data. What does it mean to share data within a community? What different kinds of problems exist around negotiating access, controlling misuse, and creative re-use of collective data? Are there models here worthy of replication, patterns of datafication that provide the sources of that data with more control and autonomy? How do cooperation, collaboration, and similar collective dynamics redefine the value and nature of data? How can marginalized experiences with data inform more just and equitable data sharing models? How are such models feasible and sustainable? Cited Kitchin, R. (2014). The data revolution: Big data, open data, data infrastructures and their consequences. SAGE. Milan, S., & Velden, L. V. D. (2016). The alternative epistemologies of data activism. Digital culture & society, 2(2), 57-74. Nelson, T. H. (1974). Computer lib: You can and must understand computers now. Schiller, H. I. (1991). Not yet the post‐imperialist era. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 8(1), 13-28. -- // Alexander Halavais (he/him) @halavais alex.halavais.net // Associate Professor of Social Data Science socialdatasci.org // New College, Arizona State University theprof@asu.edu <http://asu.edu/>