In June 2023, Professor Christoph Lutz participated in three conferences, presenting ongoing research at each. The Disrupting Technology Conference was held in Prato, Italy, from June 11-13. The Data Justice Conference was held in Cardiff, the United Kingdom, from June 19-20. Finally, the Global Perspectives on Platforms and Social Reproduction Conference was held from June 27-28 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
The Disrupting Technology Conference in Prato, Italy
The Disrupting Technology Conference was held in Prato, Italy, from June 11-13. Amongst other things, the conference focused on themes such as inequalities and technology, digital transformations and the future of work, ethical concerns in the use of artificial intelligence, with a particular focus on the gig economy and platform work.
On June 11, Christoph presented the paper “Examining the Societal Perceptions of Digital Economy Occupations in the United Kingdom: Occupational Prestige and Social Value,” within the session “PROFESSIONAL WORK”. The paper is co-authored with Gemma Newlands from the Oxford Internet Institute.
Photo courtesy: @Elinor_Carmi via Twitter (bottom right) and @lutzid via Twitter.
The Data Justice Conference in Cardiff, United Kingdom
On June 19-20, Christoph was present at the third international Data Justice Conference in Cardiff, United Kingdom. The conference aimed at critically exploring datafication and its impacts, for example in the public sector, within organizations and among specific groups such as children or refugees. Given the conference theme of “Exploring collective experiences in the datafied society”, a particular focus was on lived experiences and forms of resistance. The event brought together scholars, activists, practitioners, community groups and policymakers from many different parts of the world.
At the conference, Christoph presented the paper “Privacy cynicism and agency constraints in the datafied society” as part of the session “Surveillance and Privacy” on June 20. The paper was co-authored with Giulia Ranzini from the Free University of Amsterdam and Christian Pieter Hoffmann from Leipzig University.
The Global Perspectives on Platforms and Social Reproduction Conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Lastly, from June 27-28, the Conference Global Perspectives on Platforms and Social Reproduction Conference was held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. A main focus of the event was to spotlight novel research on platforms and their impacts on labor and social reproduction from a global perspective, considering that much of the scholarship on these areas is often confined to North American and European contexts. The conference provided “a space for questioning the theories, methodologies and cartographies that currently dominate the field, while supporting the exchange of intersectional and geographically variegated perspectives on platforms, labor and social reproduction.”
At the conference, Christoph presented two papers: “Online Freelancing Platforms in the Gig Economy: The Case of Fiverr” (co-authored with Volker Stocker from the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society and Jason Whalley from Northumbria University) and “Perceptions from the Outside: Occupational Social Value and Occupational Prestige in the Digital Economy” (co-authored with Gemma Newlands from the Oxford Internet Institute).
The presentations were all well received, and the conferences presented many opportunities for networking among a broad and interdisciplinary audience.