Research on data and data-intensive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become increasingly critical in the last decade. Decolonial, intersectional feminist and other theoretical frameworks have been employed to make sense of new and existing asymmetries.
This workshop, which took place on 12 June 2023, reflected about the implications of this turn for research praxis. Some of the questions explored were: How can research make global-scale claims in a way that is attentive to local agencies? What collaborations are possible between academia and marginalised communities? How can researchers themselves reproduce extractive dynamics?
The four distinguished speakers have conducted work at the intersection of critical data studies and media and communications. The workshop began with a welcome lunch, followed by two thematic blocks. The participants ranged from PhD students to early career researchers.
Speakers:
Professor Mirca Madianou is a Professor at the Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies at Goldmisths University. Her research examines the social uses and consequences of communication technologies in a transnational and comparative context. Madianou’s work makes t contributions to the areas of migration, disaster recovery, humanitarianism and their intersection with digital technology.
Professor Nick Couldry is Professor of Media, Communications and Social Theory in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE . As a sociologist of media and culture, he approaches media and communications from the perspective of the symbolic power that has been historically concentrated in media institutions. Couldry is a co-founder of Tierra Común.
Professor Ulises Ali Mejias is Professor of Communication Studies at SUNY Oswego in the United States. His research interests include critical internet studies, network theory and science, philosophy of technology, sociology of communication, and political economy of digital media. Ulises Ali Mejias is also a co-founder of Tierra Común and the Non-Aligned Technologies Movement.
Dr Andrea Medrado is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Media and Communication. Her current research analyses the ways in which digital activists and art-ivists from marginalised communities in Global South countries (particularly Brazil and Kenya) can exchange experiences and lessons, promoting an exploration of mutuality between them. Medrado is currently exploring participatory methods in the study of platforms and data-intensive technologies.
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