Organised by the journal Big Data & Society together with the Department of Sociology and the Planetary Praxis research group at the University of Cambridge, this colloquium brings together scholars from across disciplines to reflect on and speculate about digitally mediated data collection practices. The four-part colloquium will host dialogues about which data practices contribute to understanding digital social worlds. Participants will discuss their choice of methods, what they elicited and/or obfuscated, the unexpected challenges and unpredictable opportunities that surfaced in the process and what they would have done differently.
All sessions are scheduled for 16:00 to 18:00 (BST/GMT) / 11:00 to 13:00 (NY, EST). The sessions will not be recorded.
Session 1. Data Infrastructures & Labour
October 19th, 2023
- Link: https://zoom.us/j/97520575661?pwd=N29DY1pxa2pSeEtoV3paNnpyZS8rZz09
- Meeting ID: 975 2057 5661
- Passcode: 253370
Chairs: El No, Natalia Orrego
In this session, we focus on important yet often less visible types of data work involved in the production of technology. We explore various data-making practices, especially performed through/for platforms and infrastructures, and the politics in organising data work across multiple roles, from microworkers to machine-learning researchers.
Speakers:
- Arturo Arriagada Ilabaca (Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Chile)
- Dawn Nafus (Intel, US)
- Paola Tubaro (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France)
- Jing Zeng (Utrecht University, Netherlands, BD&S CE)
Session 2. Data & Social Justice
October 26th, 2023
- Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/95749960546?pwd=VW1DTHE3L3dVbjQ1ZjBQM1p6dEJDUT09
- Meeting ID: 957 4996 0546
- Passcode: 183301
Chairs: Saide Mobayed & Anastassija Kostan
This panel will explore how data practices can either perpetuate or challenge systemic inequalities and how responsible data stewardship can be a powerful tool for promoting social justice. Topics include data feminism, data for algorithm accountability, indigenous data practices, and climate data justice.
Speakers:
- Alejandro Mayoral-Baños (Indigenous Friends, Canada)
- Catherine D’Ignazio (Data + Feminism Lab, MIT, US)
- Jocelyn Longdon, (University of Cambridge, UK)
- Dan Calacci, The Workers' Algorithm Observatory (Princeton, US)
Session 3. Data Infrastructures & Cities
November 9th, 2023
- Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/93581412831?pwd=YnpCZ2wyN0lKclJPdmxvaTlmdm44Zz09
- Meeting ID: 935 8141 2831
- Passcode: 990541
Chairs: Michael McCanless, Jun Zhang
This panel will focus on how data makes cities legible. With particular attention to the various technologies and data flows that attempt to render urban life calculable, panellists work on mobility and property processes.
Speakers:
- Rachel Weber (University of Illinois, Chicago, US)
- Julien Migozzi (University of Oxford, UK)
- Erin McElroy (University of Washington, US)
- Martin Tironi (Pontifical Catholic University of Chile)
Session 4. Data Citizenships & Governmentality
- Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/94297485373?pwd=eUh3MUp1M1VRb2JWcmZYcTdWVkxiZz09
- Meeting ID: 942 9748 5373
- Passcode: 008525
In this panel, we will discuss and critically reflect on the epistemologies of citizenship, digital relations, power dynamics, and governmentality in today's data-driven society. We will explore topics concerned with the politics of (big) data and the co-creation of social value enhanced (or not) by digital technologies.
- Evelyn Ruppert (Goldsmiths University, UK, BD&S Co-founder)
- Ana Valdivia (University of Oxford, UK, BD&S CE)
- Yu-Shan Tseng (Helsinki Institute of Urban and Regional Studies, Finland)
- Dan Bouk (Colgate University, US)
