Coordinator:
Christopher Chagnon (University of Helsinki)

Description:
Critical Data Studies, first coined by Dalton and Thatcher in 2014, has grown rapidly with the increasing dominance of Big Tech and the emergence of AI. The field encourages the interdisciplinary interrogation of the foundations, approaches, and impacts of technology from a wide variety of critical lenses with a greater emphasis on experiences in the global South. This working group is comprised of authors from the recently published De Gruyter Handbook of Critical Data Studies, the first handbook published on the subject.

The working group presents a variety of theoretical interventions (including, but not limited to approaches based anticolonial Black critical theory, philosophies of free speech, and personal data extractivism) and practical case studies (including the problematic uses of technology for climate preservation in Brazil, and the impacts of AI for screening asylum applications in the US). Taken as a whole, this working group provides a small sample of the wide variety of work within this emerging field with the ultimate aim of inspiring critical conversations and encouraging future interdisciplinary collaboration.

Type of call:
Call for Participation

Participation mode:
Hybrid

Submission details:
Email address for submissions and inquiries: christopher.chagnon@helsinki.fi

Abstracts should be the author’s chapter abstract from their chapter in the De Gruyter
Handbook of Critical Data Studies.

Funding note:
Unfortunately, funding support for conference fees and travel are not possible to participate in this working group. The coordinator can write a letter if it is required or helpful for participants who are applying for funding through their own institutions or other places. However, participants are expected to secure their own funding to participate.

Contact:
Christopher Chagnon, christopher.chagnon@helsinki.fi