Second International Symposium on Politics of Technologies in the Digital Age PHILOSOPHICAL AND INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES ON THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE PUBLIC SPHERE

Over the last few decades we have witnessed an unprecedented transmutation of the public sphere, primarily induced by the so-called digital revolution. In the contemporary theoretical discourse regarding the relationship between the digital technologies and the public sphere, one can pin down roughly four basic domains where the gradual transition from the analogue to the digital takes place: public communication, opinion-shaping, political praxis and the intertwining of “platform capitalism” with behavioral manipulation.

Digital technologies usher in a progressive reconfiguration of the public sphere that is characterized by the dissemination of fabricated information, social media-driven movements, hashtag activism, nudging, digital deliberative democracy and, in general, by the so-called platformization of economic, societal and communicational practices. These dynamic and multifaceted processes exert significant influence on civic identity, political agency and discernment, public decision-making, as well as on the formation of opinions and discourses that constitute the public sphere in its complexity.

It is against the backdrop of this radical transformation that we organize the “Second International Conference on The Politics of Technologies in the Digital Age” in order to investigate the diverse aspects of the digitalization of the public sphere. In this respect, we take Jürgen Habermas's analysis of the ways digital transition affects the public sphere, outlined in his new book Ein neuer Strukturwandel der Öffentlichkeit und die deliberative Politik (2022), as a significant point of departure. The conference's primary line of inquiry consists in the following question: How can we theorize about the multifaceted intertwining of digital technologies with the public sphere and the political implications of this intertwining?

To encourage a critical exploration of this domain, we invite scholarly contributions that investigate the interrelation between digital transformation and the political public sphere. Potential lines of investigation include but are not limited to the political implications of social media, the role of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data in public decision-making, the rise of an inherently digital public sphere, the role of “fake news” in shaping the public opinion, and the meaning of concepts such as "Post-Democracy" and “Post-Politics” with regards to the digitization of the public sphere.

The objective of the conference is to adopt an interdisciplinary approach encouraging critical analyses that explore the epistemological, ethical, sociopolitical, and/or sociological, socio-economic, and psychological dimensions of the digital transformation of the political public sphere. We invite high-quality contributions addressing, but not limited to, the following topics of inquiry:

·       Digital media and the fragmentation of the political public sphere

·       Differences between traditional and digital media and the respective constitutions of the political public sphere

·       The digital transformation of the public sphere and its impact on deliberative politics

·       Fake news and the rise of “post-truth democracy” in the context of the digital condition

·       The challenge posed by the “infotainment culture” to the political public sphere

·       The restructuring of political discourses and the rise of new forms of pluralism in the digital sphere

·       The co-emergence of “platformization” and “authorization” of the political public sphere through its digitization

·       New ways of subjectification and action made possible by the digitization of public life

Conference Language

 English

Abstract submission

 You are kindly requested to send both your abstract (max. 300 words) and a short CV (max. 150 words) in one .doc file at: [email protected]

Important Dates

Abstract submission deadline: May 15, 2024

Abstract acceptance notification: June 30, 2024

Conference Program: September 15, 2024