From: Nikita Aggarwal <nikita.aggarwal@law.ox.ac.uk> Subject: CfP on Intercultural Digital Ethics
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Call for Papers for a Special Issue of Philosophy and Technology on Intercultural Digital Ethics
INTRODUCTION
Recent advances in the capability of digital information technologies, particularly due to advances in machine learning, have invigorated the debate on the ethical issues surrounding their use. However, up till now, this debate has been dominated by ‘Western’ ethical perspectives, to the exclusion of broader ethical and socio-cultural perspectives. This imbalance carries risks, particularly where the ethical norms and values designed into these technologies collide with those of the communities in which they are delivered and deployed. This edited collection seeks to fill this crucial gap in the literature on digital ethics by bringing together a range of cultural, social and structural perspectives on the ethical issues relating to digital information technologies. It forms part of an ongoing research project at the Digital Ethics Lab, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford on intercultural digital ethics (see further https://digitalethicslab.oii.ox.ac.uk/intercultural-digital-ethics-symposium... <https://digitalethicslab.oii.ox.ac.uk/intercultural-digital-ethics-symposium/>).
TOPICS
The journal seeks submissions of research articles (approximately 8,000 words, but this is flexible) and commentaries (approximately 4,000 words) that engage with the theme of intercultural digital ethics, including but not limited to: • Why is a pluralistic ethical approach important in understanding the impact of digital technologies? What are the different levels and domains of digital ethics? We are interested in both secular philosophical perspectives (e.g. utilitarianism, deontological ethics, virtue ethics), religious and cultural ethical perspectives (e.g. Buddhism, Christianity, Ubuntu, and Shinto, amongst others) as well as social and intersectional perspectives (e.g. race, gender, sexual orientation, and the intersections between these categories). • How do digital technologies impact different cultural and social groups differently? How do these communities view issues such as privacy, consent, security and identity differently? • How do the practices and responsibilities of those developing digital technologies differ between different social groups and cultures? Do the upstream (design and development) and downstream (delivery and deployment) phases of digital technology require different ethical considerations, and how can these accommodate cultural and social differences? • What are the different ethical impacts of endogenous factors (e.g. lack of diversity, conscious and unconscious bias of technologists) versus exogenous factors (e.g. embedded bias in datasets), and how can these harms be addressed? • Can we design governance frameworks for digital technologies that are tailored to the ethical values of different cultures, whilst also harmonizing these frameworks at the international level? What lessons can be drawn from international governance frameworks developed in other contexts? Does ethical pluralism advocate in favour of more soft law approaches to digital governance (e.g. self-regulatory ethical guidelines rather than legislation)? • How does the discourse of human rights support or hinder the observance of intercultural ethical values? • Do digital information technologies represent a new form of colonialism and exploitation, for example through ‘ethics dumping’ in low-rights environments? We welcome perspectives on the outsourcing of ‘digital labour’ and the protection of vulnerable communities such as migrants and refugees, inter alia.
TIMETABLE
December 31, 2019: deadline for paper submissions January 31, 2020: decisions and revisions returned February 29, 2020: deadline for revised papers March-April, 2020: final corrections, proofs revision
Nikita Aggarwal | Research and Course Design Fellow in Law and Technology and DPhil Candidate, Faculty of Law | Research Associate, Digital Ethics Lab, Oxford Internet Institute | University of Oxford