This two-day workshop aims to highlight approaches from the Global South in the field of Internet, Data and AI Studies. It will gather Global South authors to present their countries and regions’ theoretical and methodological contributions. It will also be an opportunity to enrich the dialogue among Global South scholars and between those and Global North researchers.
On the first day, at Wadham College, sessions will discuss the Global South scholarship in the fields, with panels specifically focused on Asian, African, and Latin American contributions to these topics. Speakers and programme are below.
The second day, at 1 St Giles, will be dedicated to presentations and discussions. Attendance for day 2 is online only.
Jonas C. L. Valente (Oxford Internet Institute, UK, Universities of Brasilia and of Ceara, Brazil, chair)
Ekaterina Hertog (Oxford Internet Institute, UK)
Janaki Srinivasan (Oxford Internet Institute and Oxford School of Global and Area Studies UK)
Cheryll Soriano (De La Salle University, the Philippines)
Rafael Grohmann (University of Toronto, Canada, Brazilian Institute on Science and Technology/ Informational Sovereignty, Brazil)
Helena Martins (Federal University of Ceara, Brazil)
Rutendo Chabikwa (Oxford Internet Institute, UK, African Digital Rights Network)
Ana Valdivia (Oxford Internet Institute, UK and UCL Institute of Advanced Studies, UK, Tierracomún Network)
Anjali Krishan (Oxford Internet Institute, UK)
Day 1- workshop – Wadham College
Time |
Session |
| 10:00-10:20 | Arrival |
| 10:20-10:30 | Opening Remarks |
| 10:30-11:30 | Roundtable 1 – “Global Southing” critical Internet and data studies: empowering approaches from the margins Chair: Jonas Valente – Oxford Internet Institute (UK) Andrea Medrado – University of Exeter and IAMCR (UK) Cheryll Soriano – La Sale University (the Philippines) |
| 11:30-11:45 | Break |
| 11:45-12:45 | Roundtable 2 – Critical Internet and data studies from Asian perspectives Janaki Srinivasan – Oxford Internet Institute and Oxford School of Global and Area Studies (UK) Jian Xiao – Zhejiang University (China) Fadi Salem – Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government (United Arab Emirates) |
| 12:45-14:00 | Lunch |
| 14:00-15:00 | Roundtable 3 – Critical Internet and data studies from African perspectives Chair: Rebekah Lee – Oxford School of Global and Area Studies (UK) Rutendo Chabikwa – Oxford Internet Institute (UK) Mohammad Amir Anwar – University of Edinburgh (UK) Tanja Bosch – University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| 15:00-15:20 | Break |
| 15:30-16:30 | Roundtable 4 – Critical Internet and data studies from Latin American perspectives Patricia Peña – Universidad de Chile (Chile) César Bolaño – University of Sergipe (Brazil) and Social Sciences Latin American Council (Clacso) political economy working group. Andrés Domínguez Hernández – The Alan Turning Institute (UK) |
| 16:30-17:00 | Closing Remarks |
Day 2 – Research approaches conversations – OII, 1 St Giles
On the second day, researchers will have informal sessions to discuss their research, and the approaches adopted from Global South regions. The aim is to promote an exchange among OII, Oxford and Global South students and researchers.
| Online | ||
| Time | Name | Topic |
| 11:00-12:30 | Alp Cenk Arslan | The Techno-Politics of AI Governance in the Global South: A Critical Perspective from Syria, Egypt, and Jordan |
| Ashish Makanadar and Mainak Mazumdar | Digital Coup d’État: How AI Threatens Political Sovereignty in the Global South | |
| June Wang | Accumulated Affect and the Deep Interface: Rethinking Intellectual Property in China’s Digital Creator Economy | |
| Belén Albornoz, Alessio Bertolini and Rafael Grohmann |
Platform Cooperativism in Latin America |
|
| Pradipa P. RASIDI | Becoming a “Real Gen Z”: AI Imaginaries and Youth Politics in Indonesia | |
| 12:30-13:00 | Break | |
| 13:00-14:15 | Wouter Grove | Emerging Digital Platform Design in the Global South: Insights from a Failure Case. |
| Kefala Christina | Ana Silicon Dreams, National Schemes: AI and the Rise of Digital Nationalism in China’s Cultural Industries | |
| Shiva Kanwar and Isha Suri | Auditing AI: Reconciling Global North AI Practices with Global South Digital Realities | |
| Pablo Nabarrete Bastos | Marxist critique of platformization and AI processes based on José Carlos Mariátegui and the Brazilian tradition of Political Economy of Communication (PEC) | |
| 14:15-15:45 | Break | |
| 15:45-17:00 | Benjamin Akinmoyeje | Exploring AI Algorithms Behind Social Media Platforms and Their Effects on African Cultural Identities |
| Hiu-Fung Chung | De-Westernizing Critical AI Studies: Tinkering, Translation and Transmutation of AI from an East Asian Perspective | |
| Luisa Ochoa | Artificial Intelligence from the Global South: Mediations, Artifacts, and Content | |
| Edemilson Paraná, Oscar Arruda d’Alva and Rodrigo Santaella-Gonçalves | Datafication and Statistical Sovereignty: A Global South Perspective | |
| Pía Garavaglia | Global South Perspectives on Internet, Data, and AI Governance | |
| In Person | ||
| Time | Name | Topic |
| 10:00-11:10 | Nandana Sengupta | Public vs Private provisioning of AI tools in high-stakes contexts: experimental evidence from technology and law students in India |
| Rafael Grohmann | Platform Dependency: Towards a Marxist Theory of Dependency Approach | |
| Ralph Schroeder | UK AI, China, and the Global South | |
| Emma Davies | Digital Public History and Generative AI in Nigeria | |
| 11:10-11:20 | Break – tea, coffee and biscuits provided | |
| 11:20-12:30 | Ashwin Varghese | Algorithmic Governance and Postcoloniality: Perspectives on E-Governance from India |
| Govand Khalid Azeez | The Political Economy of AI Development: Global South Perspectives on Digital Infrastructure and Knowledge Inequalities | |
| Helena Martins | Analyzing competition in digital markets: a contribution from the Political Economy of Communication developed in Brazil | |
| Joanna Wiaterek, Jonas Kgomo, Jared Perlo | African AI Safety: A Strategic Approach | |
| 12:30-13:00 | Break – lunch provided | |
| 13:00-14:15 | Reham Hosny | Grassroots Algorithmic Resistance: Challenging Inequalities in Digital Governance from the Global South |
| Ellen Agnew | When you Tweet your heart, bandage Twitter: Aestheticising algorithmic violence as a strategy for decoloniality in contemporary South Africa | |
| Shuxian Liu and Edgar Gómez-Cruz | Vernacular theories: Building technocultures from the South | |
| Pranav Dwivedi | AI and Dalit Social Mobility in India: Towards Asian-Informed Theories and Methods for Equitable Digital Development | |
| 14:15-14:20 | Break | |
| 14:20-15:35 | Stephanie Dimatulac Santos | ICTs and Infostructures of Feeling: Notes from the Philippines |
| Laure Gnassou | Problems in Adopting Global North Concepts to Global South Digital Practices Geopolitics of Tin: The DR Congo in the Age of AI” | |
| Jean Garcia Periche | Addressing the ‘AI divide’ between the Global North and the Global South | |
| 15:35-15:45 | Break – tea, coffee and biscuits provided | |
| 15:45-17:00 | Ding, N | The Social-cultural Roots of Platformisation: Urban Middle-Class Struggles in China |
| Alli Spring | Problems in adopting Global North concepts to Global South digital practices | |
| Tugce Vidav and Smith Mehta | Global South Global South Creator Cultures | |
| Ramsha Ashraf | Politics and International Relations with a focus on Cyber Security, Governance and Post-conflict, State-building | |
Registration is open in person or online for day 1 and online only for day 2.
Only those who have papers accepted for day 2 will be invited to join in person.
Please be sure to register using the correct button/buttons below.
Senior Lecturer in Global Communications and the Research Director for Communications , University of Exeter
Andrea is Co-VP of the International Association for Media & Communication Research. Andrea is a Co-Investigator for “The Social Foundations of Cryptography" and PI for “AIM: AI from/in the Margins”
Professor at the Department of Communication, De La Salle University
Cheryll is PI for Fairwork Philippines & co-Investigator of Digital Transaction Platforms in Asia & explores local embedding of digital platforms & how platformization shapes conditions.
Associate Professor Digital South Asian Studies
Janaki's research examines the politics of digital exclusion in India. She uses ethnographic and archival research to examine how gender, caste and class have shaped the use of information and information technologies in varied contexts.
Associate Professor , Zhejiang University
Jian holds a Ph.D. in Media & Culture Studies from Loughborough University & is a rep for Asia in the Association for Cultural Studies. Her focus is media & culture, urban aesthetics & communication
Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in International Development and African Studies, University of Edinburgh
Amir is an expert on work, labour markets, livelihoods & economic change in the context of digital revolutions in Africa. He is Co-Chair of the Critical African Studies journal.
Professor of Media Studies and Production, University of Cape Town
Tanja is former Programme Manager and Station Manager of local community radio station Bush Radio, and has also worked as a consultant for UNESCO community radio stations in Jamaica and Trinidad.
Director of Policy Research Dept., Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government
He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Dubai Policy Review journal and leads the Future Government and Innovation research Group in the School as a Senior Research Fellow.
Ethics Fellow in the Public Policy Programme, The Alan Turing Institute
Visiting Senior Lecturer at the Queen Mary University of London. He is an interdisciplinary scholar studying the ethical, social, & material implications of data-driven innovations
Research professor at the Faculty of Communication and Image, University of Chile
She is director of the Chilean Chapter of the Internet Society & the Datos Protegidos Foundation. She is part of the Tierra Común for Data Justice network & Feminist Network for Research in AI