[Commlist] Call for Papers for a Special Issue of The International Journal of Press/Politics “Global Myth and Magic around AI: Enchanted Determinism and Folk Theories in Public Discourses on AI”

Call for Papers for a Special Issue of The International Journal of 
Press/Politics “Global Myth and Magic around AI: Enchanted Determinism 
and Folk Theories in Public Discourses on AI”
Guest editors:
Michael V. Reiss (Leibniz-Institute for Media Research 
|Hans-Bredow-Institute, Hamburg, Germany)
Tomás Dodds (University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States)
Aleksandra Urman (University of Zurich, Switzerland)
Judith Möller (Leibniz-Institute for Media Research 
|Hans-Bredow-Institute and University of Hamburg, Germany)

Deadline for Abstracts: 15 June 2025

In many countries, public debates suggest that the rapid spread of 
generative AI is inevitable, portraying its application and 
implementation as essential for individuals, businesses, and even 
economies and societies as a whole. Such narratives, promoted by 
politicians, observers, and tech companies use a strategy described as 
enchanted determinism (Campolo & Crawford 2020) to present AI as an 
unstoppable force beyond human comprehension and control, without 
genuinely addressing its complexities. These actors deflect scrutiny 
from the technology’s biases, limitations, and ethical concerns by 
exaggerating AI’s capabilities. Consequently, this techno-optimism might 
shift the focus from critical evaluation to accepting AI’s supposed 
benefits, potentially sidestepping accountability and framing AI as a 
magical panacea for all kinds of social and political challenges—such as 
Milei’s proposal to use AI for crime prediction in Argentina, plans by 
the new U.S. government to let AI find budget savings or attempts in 
several countries to rely on AI to combat misinformation.
At the same time, enchanted determinism finds fertile ground in existing 
folk theories that view AI as objective, autonomous, and mythically 
powerful, reinforcing the misconception that these systems operate 
without human bias or error and are universally applicable. Together, 
enchanted determinism and folk theories limit transparent discussions by 
reducing the public’s ability to question or challenge these 
technologies. Fueling these folk theories by portraying AI as an 
autonomous force rather than a product of human choices narrows the 
scope of debate, limiting civic engagement, tech companies’ 
accountability, and regulatory oversight.
Furthermore, the dominance of U.S. and Chinese tech companies in the 
realm of AI, including hardware, software, and infrastructure, has been 
described as algorithmic colonialism (Birhane, 2023) and 
technocoloniality (Mboa Nkoudou, 2023). This domination is also 
reflected in a cycle of epistemological and consequential inequalities 
that disadvantage local and non-Western countries and societies. First, 
these tech giants control the development and operation of key AI 
systems, limiting others' access to agency and knowledge. Second, they 
often ignore local needs and contexts. These factors create an opaque 
environment where narratives of enchanted determinism and 
techno-utopianism easily take hold, imposing a U.S./China-centric 
worldview and further reducing local agency and the opportunity for 
constructive and open societal debate.
As AI continues to integrate more deeply into various societal contexts 
globally, it becomes increasingly important to foster a transparent and 
inclusive societal conversation about its development and use. The 
imperative for such discourse is growing as AI technologies must adhere 
to societal values, ethical principles and the public 
interest–particularly in non-Western contexts such as in Africa (Adams 
et al., 2023). This special issue seeks to advance our understanding of 
contemporary AI-related debates by critically examining the discursive 
strategies and power dynamics that shape public discourse around AI. We 
invite contributions that engage with these themes through empirical or 
theoretical approaches, including but not limited to:

  * Comparative qualitative or quantitative empirical analyses of how
    enchanted determinism and/or techno-optimism is employed by
    different actors and how these narratives shape public discourse on AI.
  * Comparative qualitative or quantitative empirical studies of folk
    theories or imaginaries of AI and their influence on societal
    perceptions, expectations, and governance debates.
  * Empirical or theoretical work on power relations in global AI
    development, particularly the role of U.S. and Chinese tech
    companies in shaping AI discourse in non-Western contexts.

Submission information
Proposals should include the following: a 750-1,000-word abstract (not 
including references) along with brief background information on the 
author(s), including details on previous and current research related to 
the special issue theme. The abstract should include a (preliminary) 
research question and, if applicable, a clear description of the 
methodological approach.
Please submit your proposal as a single PDF file, ensuring that your 
names are clearly stated both in the file name and on the first page. 
Proposals should be sent to (_ai.ijpp /at/ protonmail.com) 
<mailto:(ai.ijpp /at/ protonmail.com)>_ by June 1, 2025, as indicated in the 
timeline below.
Authors of accepted proposals are expected to develop and submit their 
original article for full blind peer ­review through the journal’s 
online submission portal, ScholarOne, where authors will need to select 
the designated special issue “Global Myth and Magic around AI: Enchanted 
Determinism and Folk Theories in Public Discourses on AI” during 
submission. Articles must adhere to IJPP’s guidelines, which can be 
found _here <https://journals.sagepub.com/author-instructions/hij>_, and 
must not have been published, accepted for publication, or be under 
consideration for publication elsewhere.
Authors are encouraged to pre-register empirical research designs and 
publicly share data, materials, and code after their manuscript is 
accepted. This is voluntary, but authors who adhere to the journal's 
transparency standards will be awarded OSF Badges, acknowledging their 
contribution to open and replicable research. For more details on the 
journal’s open science guidelines and the criteria for earning OSF 
Badges, visit _our announcement here 
<https://journals.sagepub.com/page/hij/osfbadges>_.
There are no Article Processing Charges for this journal.
Authors with any questions prior to submission are welcome to contact 
Michael Reiss at (_m.reiss /at/ leibniz-hbi.de) <mailto:(m.reiss /at/ leibniz-hbi.de)>_.
Timeline
15 June 2025                  Submission deadline for abstracts (to 
(_ai.ijpp /at/ protonmail.com) <mailto:(ai.ijpp /at/ protonmail.com)>_)
15 July 2025                   Notification of acceptance/decisions
15 November 2025        Submission deadline for full papers

The online publication of accepted articles is planned for June 2026

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