[SIGCIS-Members] Call for Participants: The Universal Ambitions of Computing (Pre 4S Workshop, Hawaii, Nov6/7, 2023)

[David Ribes]

Workshop, The Universal Ambitions of Computing, Hawaii, Nov 6-7 2023 (Pre
4S)

We are seeking applicants for our upcoming workshop in Hawaii (November
6-7, 2023) right before the Social Studies of Science (4S) annual
conference, where we will be exploring “The Universal Ambitions of
Computing” from an STS perspective—broadly construed, both historical and
contemporary. If you are interested in participating in the workshop,
please send a CV and a one-page statement of interest on the topics of the
workshop to dribes at uw.edu and francis at francislee.org before 17th of July.

This workshop seeks to cultivate a conversation around the present
capacities and future ambitions of computational universalism—ie. the
practices of producing algorithms, infrastructures, data, and systems that
work here, there, and everywhere—and to foster the exploration of new
theories, concepts, and categories as well as cases that can shed light on
this issue.

Just as with the advent of formal statistics in the 17th and 18th century,
computation in the 21st century is making wide claims to knowledge making
and ontology. The tools, practices, and infrastructures of computation are
becoming a new universal machinery of both truth-making and world-making.
Computer science and cognate fields seem to be becoming the lingua franca
of the 21st century, with enormous efforts invested in giving “the
computational” the power to flatten complex relationships and turn complex
worlds into flat and universal systems of knowing and doing.

We want to explore questions such as:

   -

   What are the effects and consequences of this movement towards
   computational universalism?
   -

   What are the techniques and methods of computational universalism? Who
   are its actors and drivers?
   -

   How is power entangled with universalization? How are computational
   collectives intertwined and shape the spaces for agency in our world? What
   actors gain, and which ones lose?
   -

   What is excluded from becoming in the world through universalizing
   practices?

The workshop aims to cover lodging and meals during the event (Nov 6-7).
Unfortunately we cannot fund all participants’ travel, but we hope that if
you are already attending the 4S conference that you will consider joining
(we do have a small set of additional travel funds available, so please
write to us to discuss if you are pressed for funds).

Please note that a 5-page position paper on a topic of your choice will be
due in October before the workshop.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at
dribes at uw.edu and francis at francislee.org.

We look forward to seeing you in Hawaii,

Francis Lee, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden,
https://francislee.org/
David Ribes, University of Washington, USA,  https://davidribes.com
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