[Commlist] CfP - STS Italia 2020 - Weak Systems: Exploring bias, bugs and the vulnerability of digitization (Thematic track)

Call for papers:

"Weak Systems: Exploring bias, bugs and the vulnerability of 
digitization - STS Italia Conference / thematic track"


8th STS Italia Conference - Dis/entangling Technoscience: vulnerability, 
responsibility and justice

Università di Trieste, Italy, June 18th-20th 2020


Convenors:

Paolo Bory, Università della Svizzera italiana, (paolo.bory /at/ usi.ch)
Philip Di Salvo, Università della Svizzera italiana, (philip.di.salvo /at/ usi.ch)


After two decades in which enthusiastic (if not ecstatic) visions of 
digitization have prevailed in the public sphere, the so-called critical 
turn has challenged the propensity of digital technologies to strengthen 
the mechanisms of protection of the individual and the democratic 
organization of contemporary societies. The Snowden case and the turmoil 
following the Cambridge Analytica controversy, for example, have 
inspired debates and discussions about Internet surveillance, the perils 
of the data economy and potential “weaponization” of social media platforms.


The supposed “horizontal” architecture of the Web has been subverted by 
centralizing actors such as digital media corporations and national 
governments. Moreover, news about hacks, data breaches and systemic 
failures of digital platforms and devices have become topics of frequent 
media coverage. Nevertheless, a systemic and articulated reflection on 
how different kinds of “vulnerabilities" in digital technologies impact 
directly or indirectly on individuals and social groups has not emerged 
yet. For instance, the literature about platforms manipulation, data 
hacks, bugs and bias in technological systems has just started providing 
insights about how technologies may actually raise serious democratic 
concerns and actually work against citizens’ rights, needsand desires. 
The "Weak Systems: Exploring bias, bugs and the vulnerability of 
digitization" track aims at filling this gap in the literature by 
gathering and putting in dialogue theoretical and empirical 
contributions from different fields of study (e.g., STS, media studies, 
journalism studies, Internet studies, history of technology). 
Contributions will focus on concepts such as “bug”, “hacks” "error", 
"limit" and "bias” that characterize the vulnerability of those 
technologies which have penetrated or are penetrating contemporary 
societies, with direct or indirect effects on individuals and social 
behaviours.


Authors are asked to interrogate and analyze the following topics (the 
list is not exhaustive):


- Theoretical and empirical contributions on the concept of 
vulnerability in digital media and technology

- Errors and defects of digital platforms and their effects on privacy 
and data protection

- Defects and prejudices of e-voting systems and their 
effects-Journalistic coverage of hacks, hackers, crackers, data 
breaches, cybercrime and other forms of cyber and digital threats

- Theoretical and technological weakness and defects of the Web and the 
Internet (e.g. architecture, infrastructures)

- The vulnerability and defects of artificial intelligence

- Bugs and bias in machine learning and data-driven decision making

- Stories of bugs and engineering mistakes (e.g., millenium bug, the 
Galaxy-Note-7 case, accidental data breaches)

- Critical reflections on the vulnerability of overestimated theoretical 
concepts on digitization (e.g., “network society”, “superintelligence”, 
“collective intelligence”)

- Weaponization of digital platforms (such as Cambridge Analytica)

- Pop culture representations of technology bias, errors and 
vulnerabilities in TV series, novels and movies


The "Weak Systems: Exploring bias, bugs and the vulnerability of 
digitization" thematic track is part of the 8th STS Italia Conference 
that will be hosted by the University of Trieste, Italy, June 18 through 
20, 2020, by the Italian Society of Science and Technology Studies. The 
conference will be an opportunity to present empirical and theoretical 
work from a variety of disciplines: sociology, anthropology, design, 
economics, history, law, philosophy, psychology and semiotics. The focal 
theme of the 8th STS Italia Conference will be "Dis/Entangling 
Technoscience: Vulnerability, Responsibility and Justice”. This broad 
theme refers to the complex and ambivalent role of technoscience and 
innovation in constituting societies – making possibilities flourish, 
but also creating new vulnerabilities. The conference will include 33 
tracks , which are clustered into five thematic streams. The tracks 
focus on several topics, including: biomedicine, digital platforms and 
media, work and organizations, expertise and public policy, ethics of 
technology and innovation, and governance of  science and technology at 
large.


Abstracts for this track (written in English) should be submitted by 
February 9th 2020 to the conference email address 
((stsitaliaconf /at/ gmail.com)) and to the emails of the track convenors'. 
Track Convenor(s) will be responsible for reviewing, accepting/rejecting 
and organising submissions into this track. Submissions should include:


1. Author’s name and surname, affiliation and email address
2. Presentation title
3. Abstract (less than 300 words)


For further information concerning the conference and all the available 
tracks, please visit the conference's website:

https://www.stsitaliaconf2020.com


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