Technology and Politics

Cambridge Analytica and fake news show that one can distinguish several interconnections between politics and technology. Firstly, as the Arab Spring made clear, technologies can be used by social movements to put pressure on political leaders. Secondly, political parties use technology to influence the political voting behavior of their citizens. Social media are a means to coordinate their campaigns through data-driven targeted advertising techniques. One can also think of voting technologies, such as electronic voting or blockchain-enabled e-voting. Thirdly, technologies are the object of policies. Today, we have the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the European Union seeks to construct a legal framework around the use of AI through the proposed AI Act. And finally, it is clear that regimes rely on technology for both domestic and foreign affairs. One example is the use of facial recognition or social credit systems, but the (ab)use of military technologies such as killer robots also fits under this category.   

The goal of the conference is to explore these interactions between technology and politics. We welcome submissions from all philosophical traditions – including but not limited to: STS, political philosophy, philosophy of technology –, as well as contributions exploring this theme through specific technologies such as GMO’s, AI, vaccines, digital media, nuclear energy, etc. Interdisciplinary approaches are encouraged.