[Commlist] Call for abstracts for ECREA pre-conference on Datafied Welfare States

*  Call for abstracts for ECREA pre-conference*

	

*Datafied Welfare States*

Time and place: October 18th, 2022, 9-17 (CEST), at University of 
Copenhagen and online (hybrid format). Abstract deadline: April 1st, 2022.

Keynote speaker: Professor Anne Kaun, Södertörn University

Data logging and processing have been fundamental for the development 
and maintenance of welfare states since the 20th century. Exemplified by 
key functions such as the assignment of social security numbers, the 
reporting of tax statements, or the registration of criminal records, 
state authorities have always been dependent on collecting and 
organising significant amounts of citizen data. With the digitization of 
welfare sectors and institutions and the rise of computerised big data, 
these processes have accelerated, leading to new and comprehensive modes 
of datafication (Cukier & Mayer-Schoenberger 2013; Kitchin 2014; Mejias 
& Couldry 2019).

Following this “paradigm shift” in the provision of public services and 
social welfare (Dencik & Kaun 2020), the pre-conference discusses the 
growing reliance on data-driven and algorithmic systems across sectors 
and institutions (Yeung 2018; Eubanks 2018). We are particularly 
interested in the extensive use of commercially supplied services and in 
the growing reliance on big tech companies who provide the underlying 
infrastructure for a wide range of societal functions. Amazon and 
Microsoft are, for instance, dominant actors in the provision of cloud 
solutions to public databases and services, while entire app ecologies 
rely on Google’s third-party services and developer tools. Focusing on 
the consequences of this inherent and hidden commercialization, the 
pre-conference welcomes contributions that enquire into the potential 
conflicts of interests and clashes between market logics and welfare 
ideologies.

The pre-conference, in other words, seeks to understand the nature of 
emergent data welfare states (Andreasen et al. 2021) and to critically 
assess how and why mechanisms of datafication and commodification are 
being built into the architecture of contemporary welfare states and 
democracies. It enquires into technical, ethical, and political choices 
that are made when digital technologies are implemented; the degrees and 
possibilities of citizen surveillance and data governance; the market 
structures and political economies around datafied welfare services and 
sectors; and the material infrastructures that undergird the 
datafication of the welfare state.

The pre-conference welcomes contributions on, but not limited to:

- Datafication processes and challenges in key welfare sectors (e.g., 
healthcare, education, social services, policing, media, etc.)

- Conflicts and clashes between welfare ideologies and commercial logics 
of big tech

- Historical analyses of public datafication processes

- Theoretical discussions on datafication and democracy

- Case studies of e.g., Covid-19 strategies

- Digital public infrastructure projects and public-private partnerships

The ECREA pre-conference is arranged by the Communication & Democracy 
section, the ERC-funded Datafied Living project and the Data Publics 
project, funded by the Velux Foundation. The pre-conference is in hybrid 
format and both speakers and listeners can choose to participate in 
person or online. Participation is free of charge, but seats are 
limited, and registration is mandatory. Authors must indicate if they 
plan to present online or in person. Abstracts of 300-500 words 
excluding references must be sent to (datafiedwelfarestates /at/ hum.ku.dk) 
<mailto:(datafiedwelfarestates /at/ hum.ku.dk)> no later than April 1st, 2022.

*Timeline:*

  * Deadline for submission of abstracts: April 1st, 2022
  * Notification of acceptance: June 1st, 2022
  * Deadline for registrations: September 1st, 2022
  * Pre-conference: October 18th, 2022, 9-17 (CEST)

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