Digital Political Epistemology Conference

POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Radboud University
Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Keynote Speakers

Regina Rini, York University

Annette Zimmerman, Princeton University

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Conference Theme

More than half of humanity is now online. This is one of the biggest societal shifts in history. But what effects do new digital technologies have on democracy? The Internet was initially hailed as democratizing information and promising to make citizens more informed about politics. Cyberspace provided a robust forum for political debate and would allow citizens to discuss and disseminate political information. However, our digital environment has led to the spread of misinformation, the creation of new echo chambers, and the proliferation propaganda.

The promise and problems of digital technology raise important questions in the political sphere. For example, what is the role and responsibility of platforms such as YouTube with respect to individuals’ belief in conspiracy theories and other ‘epistemic vices’? Is microtargeting genuinely effective and if so, problematic? Do algorithms know us better than we know ourselves? Is the growing knowledge asymmetry between corporations and citizens unjust, and if so, why? To what extent do legal regulations such as having a “right to explanation” form an effective remedy to counterbalance such asymmetries? What does it mean to treat algorithms as “experts”, e.g. in medical contexts, and is this the same or a different notion of expertise that we use to describe human professionals?

This conference aims to bring together researchers working in ‘digital political epistemology’. We are especially interested in the study of how digital technologies (broadly construed to include platforms, recommender systems, algorithms, profiling technologies, etc.) play a role – positively or negatively – in the creation and dissemination of political knowledge.