
I International Congress “Women, technology and power”
June 18-19, 2024, Campus Donostia.-San Sebastian, Mundaitz Kalea, 50, 20012 Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain. Papers may be delivered in either in written Spanish or English; the conference will be in English
The ARES Research Program, University of Deusto’s faculties of Social and Human Sciences and Engineering, together with the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the University of Amsterdam, in collaboration with the Ada Byron Award for technological women and the Inspira program STEAM, convene the I International Congress “Women, technology and power.”
In this congress, we explore the following questions: What power asymmetries are hidden in digital technology? What is the relationship between datafication and gender? How do platforms shape discourses or determine decisions that affect women? What possibilities can digital technology offer for equality? What digital practices challenge gender discrimination and antifeminist narratives? What new critical interpretations of the datafication process are emerging? What can be learned from women’s stories in technology? What new narratives can inspire the rise of fairer technological systems and algorithms? What hinders or enables empowering women through technology? The ARES congress is the culmination of a four-year project designed to detect discursive antifeminism, envision fairer futures in digital media content and behavior, and ultimately imagine a better world.
Technology is a form of power. Corporations and institutions with the tools, knowledge, and opportunity to exploit big data have a great capacity to influence and reign. The data infrastructure has been used to monitor individuals, rig elections, discriminate against communities, and support ethnic cleansing. As essential parts of the data infrastructure, the platforms and their algorithms are crucial elements. Due to the digitalization, datafication, and platformization of content, processes, and communication, the platform has become a dominant economic and infrastructure model. Platform-biased algorithmic decision-making can have serious consequences. For example, women are often offered worse jobs, their images are relentlessly sexualized, and they are less eligible for loans, which can exacerbate inequality. In addition, platforms play a key role in spreading misogyny, gender misinformation, and, in some cases, promoting and organizing gender-based violence. Since datafication turns most social aspects into data, it seems imperative to take a feminist look at the dominant data narratives.
On the other hand, intersectional feminist studies are exploring new ways of thinking about digital technology and datafication. For example, feminism in data science – a growing space for exploration – focuses on the fact that data infrastructures are neither neutral nor objective, as they are products of unequal social relationships. Emerging initially from cypherpunk and technopositivist approaches, data activism is increasingly creating space for feminist and postcolonial inquiry into the consequences of datafication and a ground for action on behalf of equality. Feminist data studies consider women as users and designers of algorithmic systems, explore how data affects women’s lives and how equality can be fostered through regulation, and practice data activism to promote fairness. Data feminism also requires critical and transversal readings from race, law, engineering, economy, and labor studies. We aim to summon specialists from these fields to explore the intersections between women, power, and technology.
Thematic PANELS
This conference invites papers from research fields that include, but are not limited to
- Digital surveillance technology, cyberbullying, and gender misinformation
- Data platforms and infrastructures
- Femtech and femapps
- Algorithmic gender bias
- Sexualization, discrimination and representation of women in audiovisual content
- Hate speech, misogyny, cyberbullying, and terrorism online
- Radicalization and polarization through platforms
- Women in technology
- Postcolonialism and feminism in technology
- New feminist narratives
- Data literacy for equality, participation, and empowerment
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
PUBLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
Maximum abstracts: 350 words
Five keywords
Inclusion of references
Chicago 16th edition
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the key dates
- Launch of the CfP: July 1, 2023
- Submission of abstracts: December 1, 2023
- Announcement of the complete program with the presentations: January 31, 2024
- Early registration at a reduced price (€85): Until January 31, 2024
- Registration at regular price (€150 with 2 coffee breaks and 2 lunches; €200 with gala dinner): From January 31, 2024
- Submission of the communication or presentation: April 1, 2024
- Congress: June 18-19, 2024
What are the curricular outcomes for participants?
- Certificate of presentation of the paper at the congress.
- Certificate of participation in the book of abstracts.
- Guaranteed publication of the abstract of the presentation (proceedings) in a collective digital book with Dykinson publishing house with ISBN. Participation in the publication is voluntary.
Este congreso forma parte de un proyecto financiado por la Agencia Estatal de Investigación del Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación del Gobierno de España PID2020-114445RB-I00: ARES Analizando la resistencia antifeminista.