Call\nfor papers attending to the actors, logics and\/or cultures behind digital technologies<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23-24 April, 2020, Malm\u00f6, Sweden<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A conference co-organized by Malm\u00f6 University<\/strong> Data Society research program<\/strong> (www.mau.se\/en\/research\/research-programmes\/data-society<\/a>) Objective<\/strong> We seek papers discussing any of the following\nexemplary questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Actors:<\/strong>\nWho are the people and organizations that create and maintain algorithms and\nother digital technologies behind the communication interfaces of platforms,\napps, search engines or games? What about diversity and diversity challenges in\nthe software industry? Under which working conditions is software produced?\nWhat are the professional norms and values of software designers, programmers\nand engineers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Logics:<\/strong>\nWhat are the processes and rules of the game in the production of algorithms\nand digital technologies? What are criteria for \u201cgood\u201d code? What are the\nbusiness models behind algorithms, \u201cbig data\u201d and artificial intelligence? How\ndo monopolies or hegemonic actors influence the production and the design of\ndigital technologies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cultures:<\/strong>\nWhich norms and values inform the production of algorithms and digital\ntechnologies? Are there any specific views, ideas, narratives or imaginations\nof the world that inform the creation of technologies? Is there a specific\nculture of software creation? Are there critical, Marxist, feminist or queer approaches,\nand what are their contributions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Date and Location<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This conference is organized around invited\npresentations and an open call for papers. We invite up to 16 presentations of\noriginal and unpublished research. Selected participants are expected to attend\nthe full conference (starting 10 am April 23 and ending 5 pm April 24).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Abstracts: maximum 500 words<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deadline: Jan 15,2020 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Notification of acceptance: (around) Feb 20, 2020 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Please send abstracts to team@behindthealgorithm2020.de<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The conference is free of charge (thanks to our\nfunders) and lunch will be provided presenting authors during the two days. The\naccepted paper presenters will have to arrange travel and accommodation\nthemselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Attending as audience<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a possibility to attend as audience. In case\nof high demand, priority will be given to students and faculty affiliated to\nMalm\u00f6 University and Weizenbaum Institute as well as to audience committing to\nattend the full conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conference chairs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Call for papers attending to the actors, logics and\/or cultures behind digital technologies 23-24 April, 2020, Malm\u00f6, Sweden A conference co-organized by Malm\u00f6 University Data Society research program (www.mau.se\/en\/research\/research-programmes\/data-society) & the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society in Berlin (www.weizenbaum-institut.de). … Continue reading
& the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society <\/strong>in Berlin (www.weizenbaum-institut.de<\/a>).
Funded by the Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences (www.rj.se\/en<\/a>) and the above organizing institutions<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nData and algorithms are on the agenda today. Examples are abundant: How\nFacebook manually controls the algorithms by tweaking them, the debate whether\nAmazon is homophobic, whether Google is racist, or the scandal over Microsoft\u2019s\nchat program Tay that quickly turned to obscene and inflammatory language after\nhaving interacted with Twitter users. Studies have also found gender biases as\na consequence of image search algorithms and that black people are not\nrecognized as humans in face-recognition algorithms. And then we have the whole\nCambridge Analytica scandal and the debate on how data and algorithms can be\nused to manipulate elections.
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\nThere is much need for a socio-cultural approach to research on data and\nalgorithms, by focusing on the actors and their culture(s) behind these\ntechnologies. Engineered by humans, data and algorithms embody rules, ideals\nand imaginations. They are encoded with human intentions that may or may not be\nfulfilled. Studying humans, logics and culture behind data and algorithms is\ntherefore pivotal if we intend to have an informed discussion of power, and\nshifting relations of power, in contemporary data society. Here we\ndraw upon the argument that algorithms should be understood as massive and\nnetworked, sometimes with hundreds of hands reaching into them, tuning,\ntweaking and experimenting with them. Still,\ncomputer programmers, software engineers and their circumstances have largely\nbeen ignored in empirical studies. In this conference we therefore aim to gather\nresearchers exploring questions such as what logic, or combination of logics,\ninforms the practices of designing and programming algorithms. And how the data\nthat these algorithms base their calculation, is constructed? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nConference venue is Malm\u00f6 University, Niagara building (2 min by foot from\nMalm\u00f6 Central Station which is located 10 minutes by train from Lund Central\nStation, 25 min by train from Copenhagen Airport and 40 min by train from\nCopenhagen Central Station), see https:\/\/mau.se\/en\/contact\/niagara\/<\/a>
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\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n <\/strong><\/strong>\n <\/td> \n Jakob Svensson<\/strong> is\n Full Professor of Media and Communication Studies\n at Malm\u00f6 University, School of Arts & Communication\n (K3). He obtained his PhD in 2008 from Lund University (under the\n supervision of prof. Peter Dahlgren), and was promoted to associate\n professor at Karlstad University in 2014. Jakob Svensson has worked\n extensively on topics of political participation and digital media\n communication. Today his research is focused on two areas: 1) digital media\n and empowerment with a special focus on LGBTQI in contexts of\n state-sanctioned homophobia, and 2) socio-cultural approaches to data\n and algorithms. He is currently leading the research project Behind the\n Algorithm, funded by the Swedish Research council.\n \n \n \n <\/td><\/tr> \n <\/strong><\/strong>\n <\/td> \n Ulrike Klinger <\/strong>is Assistant Professor for\n Digital Communication at Freie Universit\u00e4t Berlin and head of the research\n group \u201cNews, Campaigns and the Rationality of Public Discourse\u201d at the\n Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society in Berlin. After her\n dissertation, which won the best dissertation award by the German Political\n Science Association 2012, she joined the IKMZ Department of Communication and\n Media Research at the University of Zurich. Research visits at the University\n of California at Santa Barbara, the HIIG Humboldt Internet Institute in\n Berlin and Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen followed. Her research\n focuses on political communication, social media, and transformations of the\n public sphere.\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"