[Commlist] Big Data Discourses: Communicating, Deliberating, and Imagining Datafication (Conference)

International Conference

Big Data Discourses: Communicating, Deliberating, and Imagining Datafication
Leipzig University, 1–2 February, 2024



Supported by the German Research Foundation

Confirmed keynote speaker: Minna Ruckenstein, University of Helsinki



Approaching datafication through discourse means to understand and to engage
with the eminent reality-making power of communication, deliberation, and
imagination. It foregrounds the work that goes into rendering datafication a
socially relevant phenomenon and problem.

The conference sets out from the idea that the public understanding of
datafication is driven by discourses in the media and among policymakers and
the imaginaries they evoke. The event invites us to look at what 
datafication
is or should be for a variety of publics and speakers and how they discuss,
criticize, or envision the collection and use of data at different places,
speaking from different situations, and at different times. That way, the
conference does not merely interrogate the status quo of big data analytics.
Rather, discourses also involve prospective ambitions and normative stances
about potential, desirable, or unwanted innovations. The conference 
turns its
attention to discourses whose programs of thought actively shape the social
constitution of Big Data and translate into practices, organizational forms,
policies, and institutions. Discourses are in fact integral to how we 
come to
engage with datafication.

Inquiring into the semantics, interpretations, and cultural values that
prelude, accompany, and surround investments and innovations into Big Data
requires by definition interdisciplinary work. This includes, among others,
critical data studies, STS, sociology, communication, linguistics, political
science, cultural studies, geography and education, as well as security
studies and gender studies.

By taking the understanding of datafication as a matter of contingent
articulation, the conference helps to dismantle claims about the given and
irrevocable facticity of data formats and data analytics so as to explore
ways of reimagining their status and implications. In doing so, it seeks to
gain leverage in critically examining how datafication’s social
imaginations are shaped and to enable alternative readings.

The conferenceis open to theoretical and empirical approaches. Due to the
variety of paradigms, we believe that it is necessary to work across
disciplines and embrace an international perspective. It invites senior as
well as emerging scholars to contemplate the entanglement of discourse and
technology.

Contributions can address, but are not limited to, the following aspects:

Deliberation, policymaking processes, and dataficationRhetoric and metaphors
of dataism Datafication imagery and visuals Critiques of dataveillance and
data colonialism Non-Western voices on global and local form of data
exploitation   Media reports and (data) journalism on data analytics
Discourses around data analytics in fields such as education, health,
policing, welfare, etc.Visions and anticipations of future data usage
Fictions and works of art engaging with data and data analytics
Domestication of data-driven services and technologiesFolk theories around
datafication and people’s algorithmic imaginaries Critical studiesof data
analytics’ marketing material and business talkSelf-presentation ofactors
from data-rich sectors Data feminism Data scandals and the performance of
whistleblowers as public figuresNarratives and counternarratives around
datafication
The conference will take place at the Department for Communication and Media
Studies at Leipzig University, Germany. It is supported by the German
Research Foundation.



Submission Guidelines

Abstracts must be submitted via email ((bigdatadiscourses /at/ gmail.com) [3]) 
by 15
October 2023. Submissions must contain a front page with all information
about the author(s) as well as an anonymized extended abstract (max. 500
words excl. front page and bibliographical references).

General Information

The conference will begin on Thursday, 1 February 2024 and end on Friday, 2
February 2024 at noon. For updated information concerning the program,
registration, accommodation, and travel, please visit our website
https://www.sozphil.uni-leipzig.de/international-conference-big-data-discourses
[4] The registration fee is 100 Euro.

Key Dates

15 October 2023:          deadline for abstract submissions

1 November 2023:        notification of acceptance

1 December 2023:        publication of conference program

1 to 2 February 2024:   conference

Organizers and Contact

Prof Christian Pentzold and Dr Charlotte Knorr

Email: (bigdatadiscourses /at/ gmail.com) [5]

Web: https://www.sozphil.uni-leipzig.de/international-conference-big-data-discourses
[6]



Conference Venue

Department of Communication and Media Studies, Leipzig University,
Nikolaistrasse 27-29, 04109 Leipzig, Germany


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