[ecrea] CfP: Workshop on the politics of sensing and data infrastructures, April 5-7

      *Sensor Publics: A Workshop on the Politics of Sensing and Data
      Infrastructures*

    *Organizers:* Laurie Waller and Nina Witjes, Munich Center for
    Technology in Society (MCTS), Technical University Munich.
    *Location: *TUM / Vorhoelzer Forum, Munich
    *Dates:* 5-7 April, 2017
    *Deadline for abstracts (250 words):* 15 January 2017, to
    (sensorpublics /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(sensorpublics /at/ gmail.com)>
    *Keynote speakers:* Geoffrey Bowker (UC, Irvine) and Jennifer Gabrys
    (Goldsmiths)
    What happens when sensing and data infrastructures, from satellites
    to self-tracking devices, become objects of public concern? This
    2-day workshop seeks to bring together scholars from across science
    and technology studies (STS), sociology, international relations and
    critical security studies to investigate what we are calling "sensor
    publics". We invite contributions that attend to sensing and data
    infrastructures as they are publicly (con)tested and demonstrated,
    used and lived with, hidden, governed, maintained, repurposed and
    hacked.
    *Overview*
     From the geopolitics of remote sensing satellites, to the
    political-economy of urban sensor networks, the domestic economy of
    home sensing devices or the democratic promise of participatory
    citizen-sensing, we are interested in how sensing and data
    infrastructures become publicly controversial and invested with
    political and moral capacities. How do sensor publics unsettle
    relations between political actors and their environments? In what
    ways do they problematise the governance of big data or the
    regulation of real-time surveillance? And, can sensor publics
    provide occasions for democratizing relations between politicians,
    experts, activists and citizens?
    We invite contributions of original research that address the
    following (non-exhaustive) topics:
    *Sensors and global politics:*
    How are sensors - such as those from satellites and drones - shaped
    by and shaping global politics whether conceived as geo-politics,
    international relations or political ecology? How can we understand
    the entanglement of technological innovation, processes of
    securitization, visions of transparency and privacy, global economic
    interests, trans-national activism and governmental and civilian
    surveillance?
    *Data practices and governance:*
    Sensors often produce lively data that unsettle formats and methods
    of governance. How do publics engage with the challenges of the
    regulation and administration of big data, also in terms of
    responsible research and innovation?
    *Infrastructures and activism:*
    Sensing infrastructures are the target of political activists
    concerned with issues as diverse as surveillance, ecology and social
    justice. How does infrastructure (h)activism unsettle relations
    between the methods and material settings of political action?
    *Visibility/invisibility of sensors:*
    The relations between sensors and publics has often been studied in
    terms of the making visible or invisible of devices. What roles do
    problems of (in)visibility play in ordering the political life of
    sensors?
    *Engagements with the politics of sensing:*
    Do we want to contribute as engaged scholars to the formation of
    sensor publics? In what ways do practical, theoretical,
    cross-disciplinary and experimental engagements with the politics of
    sensing amplify some issues while marginalising others?
    *Who should apply?*
    We invite contributions from a wide range of approaches to
    researching sensing and data infrastructures. The workshop
    particular encourages interdisciplinary research approaches and
    scholars pursuing engaged collaborations and experiments, and we
    invite creative demonstrations as well as paper presentations. In
    addition, we hope to stimulate the creation of new formal and
    informal networks and to explore coalitions for further
    collaboration, the writing of grant proposals and the search for
    funding. A possible outcome of the workshop is a proposal for a
    special issue or an edited volume.
    Abstracts of 250 words and brief academic biography to
    (sensorpublics /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(sensorpublics /at/ gmail.com)>
    The event is organised and funded by the post/doc lab “Engineering
    Responsibility” at the Munich Centre for Technology in Society.
    Catering will be provided throughout the duration of the workshop
    but travel and accommodation costs are expected to be borne by
    participants.
    Inquiries about the workshop can be address to (l.waller /at/ tum.de)
    <mailto:(l.waller /at/ tum.de)> or (nina.witjes /at/ tum.de)
    <mailto:(nina.witjes /at/ tum.de)>



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