Dear all,
we are glad to announce that we are editing a special issue of the open
access, online peer reviewed journal Partecipazione e Confiltto -
Participation and Conflict.
*Deadline for full papers submission is the 10th of March 2018*.
If interested, please read below for further information or check PACO's
website at
http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/paco/announcement/view/69
Elena and Alice
**
*The Big Data Challenge. From Big Data in Politics to the Politics of Big
Data*
A special issue for PArtecipazione e COnflitto (PACO)
Guest Editors: Alice Mattoni and Elena Pavan
*Call for Full Articles*
This special issue aims to open a much-needed space for developing a
critical and informed
reflection on the multi-faceted nexus between Big Data and the study of
political participation
dynamics. It understands Big Data not solely in terms of large-scale
datasets of textual or
digital data that require us to tune our research practices. More
radically, it starts from a
conceptualization of Big Data as a complex set of cultural, political and
scientific knowledge
practices that challenge the traditional modes in which research questions
are posed and
framed, analyses are performed, as well as the ways in which results are
communicated to the
public and thus affect public discourse and debates. It also invites us to
orient our attention
towards emergent forms of activism reclaiming citizens’ agency towards the
production,
management and exploitation of (big) data, including - such as data
activism, statactivism,
data justice struggles, open data movements.
Consistently, the special issue aims to provide a solid contribution
towards the investigation
of two interrelated aspects. On the one hand, it will engage with how Big
Data are leveraging
our understanding of participation and contentious dynamics within complex
societies
providing new methodological and informational resources to investigate
structures, contents
and mechanisms of citizens’ public engagement. On the other, it will
contribute to develop a
specific take on how Big Data become a contested research and political
terrain characterized
by strong power dynamics between private and public actors, and entwining
with governance
processes at all levels - from the national to the transnational one.
Against this background, this special issue welcomes *full articles
submissions* employing
different theoretical, empirical and methodological approaches on Big Data,
adopting a
single-case or a comparative multinational and/or multiplatform perspective
and exploring
one or more of the following thematic areas:
Big Data, public opinion and institutional politics (party dynamics,
political
communications, etc.)
Big Data and the study of contemporary forms of collective action and
unconventional political participation (social movements, digital activism,
etc.)
Reflections on the epistemological and methodological implications and
possibilities
brought by Big Data in the study of political participation and contentious
dynamics
Deconstructing and approaching critically datafication
Intersections between Big Data and governance processes.
*Timeline*:
*Submission of Full Articles: 10th March 2018*
Provision of peer reviewed feedback: 15st May 2018
Submission of revised accepted articles: 19th June 2018
Publication of the Special issue: 15th July 2018
Articles should be no longer than 10,000 words, including notes and
references. A maximum
of 10 articles will be published.
Please refer to the editorial guidelines available at
http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/paco/about/submissio
ns#onlineSubmissions
--
Alice Mattoni
Assistant Professor
Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences
Scuola Normale Superiore
www.picme.sns.it
www.alicemattoni.com
