[Commlist] cfp: Behind Data and Algorithms

*Behind Data and Algorithms.
*Call for papers attending to the actors, logics and/or cultures behind 
digital technologies

23-24 April, 2020, Malmö, Sweden

A conference co-organized by *Malmö University* *Data Society research 
program* (www.mau.se/en/research/research-programmes/data-society 
<http://www.mau.se/en/research/research-programmes/data-society>)
& the *Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society *in Berlin 
(www.weizenbaum-institut.de <http://www.weizenbaum-institut.de>).
Funded by the Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences 
(www.rj.se/en <http://www.rj.se/en>) and the above organizing institutions


Behind Data and Algorithms.
Call for papers attending to the actors, logics and/or cultures behind 
digital technologies 23-24 April, 2020, Malmö, Sweden
A conference co-organized by Malmö University Data Society research program
(www.mau.se/en/research/research-programmes/data-society)
& the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society in Berlin 
(www.weizenbaum-institut.de).
Funded by the Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences 
(www.rj.se/en) and the above organizing institutions


Objective
Data and algorithms are on the agenda today. Examples are abundant: How 
Facebook manually controls the algorithms by tweaking them, the debate 
whether Amazon is homophobic, whether Google is racist, or the scandal 
over Microsoft’s chat program Tay that quickly turned to obscene and 
inflammatory language after having interacted with Twitter users. 
Studies have also found gender biases as a consequence of image search 
algorithms and that black people are not recognized as humans in 
face-recognition algorithms. And then we have the whole Cambridge 
Analytica scandal and the debate on how data and algorithms can be used 
to manipulate elections.

There is much need for a socio-cultural approach to research on data and 
algorithms, by focusing on the actors and their culture(s) behind these 
technologies. Engineered by humans, data and algorithms embody rules, 
ideals and imaginations. They are encoded with human intentions that may 
or may not be fulfilled. Studying humans, logics and culture behind data 
and algorithms is therefore pivotal if we intend to have an informed 
discussion of power, and shifting relations of power, in contemporary 
data society. Here we draw upon the argument that algorithms should be 
understood as massive and networked, sometimes with hundreds of hands 
reaching into them, tuning, tweaking and experimenting with them. Still, 
computer programmers, software engineers and their circumstances have 
largely been ignored in empirical studies. In this conference we 
therefore aim to gather researchers exploring questions such as what 
logic, or combination of logics, informs the practices of designing and 
programming algorithms. And how the data that these algorithms base 
their calculation, is constructed?

We seek papers discussing any of the following exemplary questions:

Actors: Who are the people and organizations that create and maintain 
algorithms and other digital technologies behind the communication 
interfaces of platforms, apps, search engines or games? What about 
diversity and diversity challenges in the software industry? Under which 
working conditions is software produced? What are the professional norms 
and values of software designers, programmers and engineers?

Logics: What are the processes and rules of the game in the production 
of algorithms and digital technologies? What are criteria for “good” 
code? What are the business models behind algorithms, “big data” and 
artificial intelligence? How do monopolies or hegemonic actors influence 
the production and the design of digital technologies?

Cultures: Which norms and values inform the production of algorithms and 
digital technologies? Are there any specific views, ideas, narratives or 
imaginations of the world that inform the creation of technologies? Is 
there a specific culture of software creation? Are there critical, 
Marxist, feminist or queer approaches, and what are their contributions?


Date and Location
This conference is organized around invited presentations and an open 
call for papers. We invite up to 16 presentations of original and 
unpublished research. Selected participants are expected to attend the 
full conference (starting 10 am April 23 and ending 5 pm April 24).

Abstracts: maximum 500 words Deadline: Jan 15, 2020
Notification of acceptance: (around) Feb 20, 2020

Please send abstracts to (team /at/ behindthealgorithm2020.de)

The conference is free of charge (thanks to our funders) and lunch will 
be provided presenting authors during the two days. The accepted paper 
presenters will have to arrange travel and accommodation themselves.

Conference venue is Malmö University, Niagara building (2 min by foot 
from Malmö Central Station which is located 10 minutes by train from 
Lund Central Station, 25 min by train from Copenhagen Airport and 40 min 
by train from Copenhagen Central Station), see 
https://mau.se/en/contact/niagara/


Attending as audience
There is a possibility to attend as audience. In case of high demand, 
priority will be given to students and faculty affiliated to Malmö 
University and Weizenbaum Institute as well as to audience committing to 
attend the full conference.


Conference chairs

Jakob Svensson is Full Professor of Media and Communication Studies
at Malmö University, School of Arts & Communication (K3). He obtained 
his PhD in 2008 from Lund University (under the supervision of prof. 
Peter Dahlgren), and was promoted to associate professor at Karlstad 
University in 2014. Jakob Svensson has worked extensively on topics of 
political participation and digital media communication. Today his 
research is focused on two areas: 1) digital media and empowerment with 
a special focus on LGBTQI in contexts of state-sanctioned homophobia, 
and 2) socio-cultural approaches to data and algorithms. He is currently 
leading the research project Behind the Algorithm, funded by the Swedish 
Research council.


Ulrike Klinger is Assistant Professor for Digital Communication at Freie 
Universität Berlin and head of the research group “News, Campaigns and 
the Rationality of Public Discourse” at the Weizenbaum Institute for the 
Networked Society in Berlin. After her dissertation, which won the best 
dissertation award by the German Political Science Association 2012, she 
joined the IKMZ Department of Communication and Media Research at the 
University of Zurich. Research visits at the University of California at 
Santa Barbara, the HIIG Humboldt Internet Institute in Berlin and 
Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen followed. Her research focuses on 
political communication, social media, and transformations of the public 
sphere.

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