Final conference
The final conference of the project “V-Data - The value of digital data: enhancing citizens’ awareness and voice about surveillance capitalism” (https://vdataresearch.com/outputs/cal-for-contributions/), funded by Fondazione Cariplo, will take place 7-8 September 2023 at the University of Pavia (https://web-en.unipv.it/about-us/), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Italy. The event will comprise panel presentations and one keynote session hosting the internationally renowned scholar Stefania Milan (https://www.stefaniamilan.net/about-me/). A maximum of 25 papers will be selected for presentation. Preference will be given to speakers who plan to attend the conference in person, but a small number of remote presentations (no more than one per panel) may be included in the programme. The organising committee is exploring options to publish a special issue in a peer review journal associated with this call for contributions.
Call for contributions
We invite researchers who are active in the field of surveillance capitalism, data justice, algorithmic studies, data ethics, Science and Technology Studies (STS), digital and computational methods, digital labour, media consumption and attitudes, critical consumer studies, platform studies (and many more) to submit proposals for paper presentations. Please submit an abstract (max. 300 words) to the event organisers by sending it via email to vdataresearch@gmail.com by 30 April 2023.
The conference theme is The value of digital data: advancing empirical research on surveillance capitalism. We encourage proposals from researchers with a variety of backgrounds, including academic research, activism, marketing research, journalists, and government social research. The following are examples of topics that are of particular interest:
Public opinion and awareness about processes of data extraction, appropriation, and valorisation.
Emic conceptions of data value: surveillance capitalism imaginaries across socio-economic groups, cultures, ethnicities, age cohorts, and geographies.
Consumer practices of resistance, compliance and negotiation towards vocal assistants, targeted advertising, algorithmic systems of recommendation, AI devices (etc.).
The nexus between Covid-19 pandemic and surveillance capitalism.
Digital labour exploitation in surveillance capitalism (or surreptitious strategies of data appropriation).
Working in the data factory (e.g., data cleaning, moderation, data entry, etc.).
Innovative methods for studying surveillance capitalism.
Digital and computational methods for studying surveillance capitalism (or how to surveille the surveillants).
Survey methods for studying surveillance capitalism.
Making surveillance capitalism visible through data visualisation (and other visual aids).
Arts and surveillance capitalism imaginaries.
Utopian and dystopian imaginaries of surveillance capitalism.
Data activism and surveillance capitalism.
Surveillance capitalism in the Global South.
Big data and finance.
Discrimination, inequalities and injustice related to processes of surveillance capitalism.
How does the concept of data value change according to different stakeholders (consumers, marketers, brands, analysts, etc.) as well as market segments (e.g. automotive, food, fashion, etc.)?
Big data consumer profiling and implication on identity and subjectivity.
How digital affordances shape imaginaries of and practices related to surveillance capitalism.
The platformization of consumer imagination and practices (or how platforms standardise consumer behaviours to make them more predictable and data-ready).
Living with the hyper-nudging.
Conference venue
The conference will take place at the University of Pavia (https://web-en.unipv.it/about-us/), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Italy. Pavia is located 30 km south of Milan, to which is connected by trains every 30 minutes.
Important dates
Abstracts are due by 30 April 2023. These should include the author(s) name and position, a short title, and a clear indication of whether they plan to attend the conference in person or remotely. Acceptance notices will be given by 21 May 2023.
Fees and Accommodation
The event fee is 80 Euros. Fee includes: a) welcome package; b) daily lunches and coffee break; c) social dinner. The fee does not include accommodation. Anyway, for those interested the Department provides up to 15 single rooms at a convenient rate of euros 49 by the University dorms. Participants who are interested in staying at the University dorms must mention it in their submission. Priority in the allocation of rooms will be given to early-career scholars and according to submission date.
Organising committee
Alessandro Caliandro, Flavio Ceravolo, Guido Legnante, Samantha Conte, Antonella Orologiaio, Susanna Sassi (Università di Pavia), Emma Garavaglia (Politecnico di Milano), Alessandra Gaia (Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca), Dario Pizzul (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore).
