Message posted on 14/01/2020
Call for abstracts - 8th STS Italia Conference
Dear list members, <br> <br>apologies for cross-posting. <br> <br>We wish to invite you to submit an abstract proposal to the panel <br>“*Surveillance infrastructures or open platforms? Aid and control of <br>vulnerable populations through digital data*” (track 12) at the 8th STS <br>Italia Conference “Dis/Entangling Technoscience: Vulnerability, <br>Responsibility and Justice”, University of Trieste, Italy, 18-20 June 2020. <br> <br>Information about the conference can be found at this link <br>https://www.stsitaliaconf2020.com/call-for-abstracts. Abstract must be <br>submitted by February 9^th . For any questions please email <br>lorenzo.olivieri3@unibo.it <br> <br>Best regards, <br> <br>Lorenzo Olivieri and Annalisa Pelizza <br> <br> <br> <br>_Track 12: Surveillance infrastructures or open platforms? Aid and <br>control of vulnerable populations through digital data_ <br> <br>*Convenors:* <br> <br>Annalisa, Pelizza, University of Bologna, annalisa.pelizza2@unibo.it <br> <br>Lorenzo, Olivieri, University of Bologna, lorenzo.olivieri3@unibo.it <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>*Panel description* <br> <br>The multiple ways in which data infrastructures and digital platforms <br>can shape the organisation of society are clearly revealed when it comes <br>to vulnerable populations like refugees, minors, the elderly, to name a <br>few. There seems to exist a “division of labour” in this field, between <br>data infrastructures conceived of as control tools and platforms as <br>selfempowering resources. On the one hand, data infrastructures are <br>obligatory passage points at any step of the processing of vulnerable <br>populations, both by governmental and humanitarian actors. On the other <br>hand, the semantic richness and ambiguity of the term “platform” allows <br>attracting users, clients and advertisers by promising an open, neutral <br>and egalitarian space. Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter, for example, play <br>an increasingly important role in the movement of migrants and asylum <br>seekers, enhancing their possibilities of sharing information. Yet <br>closer attention shows a more articulated landscape. While institutional <br>data infrastructures allow controlling people and mobility, they also <br>give access to welfare services like healthcare and shelter. While <br>commercial platforms allow bottom-up coordination and selfmanagement, <br>they exert a role on delicate issues such as privacy, mobility tracking, <br>identitybuilding. They represent a further source of control available <br>to governments and European agencies. In addition, private companies <br>analyse the data and meta-data of their users for commercial purposes, <br>eliciting a further tension between <br>vulnerable-people-as-everydayconsumers and vulnerable-people-as-such. <br>Within this context, the technical affordances of each platform are <br>decisive in determining uses. For example, migrants choose to use <br>Whatsapp chats because they are encrypted. Minors communicate in <br>Facebook closed groups to avoid parental control. Tailored platforms - <br>like InfoMigrants.net or WatchTheMed, anonymizations techniques and <br>“zero knowledge” architectures might become a crucial factor in the <br>management and protection of vulnerable people. This panel invites <br>presentations discussing the two-fold dimension inherent to data <br>infrastructures and platforms: how do they allow empowering innovations <br>in the communications strategies of vulnerable people? How do they on <br>the contrary produce novel or exacerbate already existing <br>vulnerabilities? How is the modern distinction between government, <br>business and civil society de facto reshuffled as a consequence? <br> <br>Contributions are expected to address, but are not limited to: <br> <br>• Development and use of tailored platforms in the humanitarian sector <br>or by local, bottom-up communities <br> <br>• Co-optation of private companies in surveillance and risk analysis <br> <br>• Accessibility, privacy and vulnerability issues at stake in the use of <br>platforms by migrants and infrastructures about migrants <br> <br>• “Inscription” of migrants’ identities in interfaces, <br>classifications <br>and ontologies. <br>_______________________________________________ <br>EASST's Eurograd mailing list <br>Eurograd (at) lists.easst.net <br>Unsubscribe or edit subscription options: http://lists.easst.net/listinfo.cgi/eurograd-easst.net <br> <br>Meet us via https://twitter.com/STSeasst <br> <br>Report abuses of this list to Eurograd-owner@lists.easst.netview formatted text
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