[Air-L] CfP 4S/ESOCITE Open Panel #36 Doing Your Own Research: Legitimacy, Authority and Credibility within Resistant Research Communities

[Yvonne Eadon]

Dear all,

I am writing to invite submissions to 4S/ECOSITE Open Panel #36, "Doing
Your Own Research: Legitimacy, Authority and Credibility within Resistant
Research Communities,"
<https://www.4sonline.org/36-doing-your-own-research-legitimacy-authority-and-credibility-within-resistant-research-communities/>
co-chaired by myself and Dr. Stacy Wood. The submission deadline is *April
14, 2022*.

The conference will take place in Cholula, Mexico from December 7 - 10,
2022 and submission instructions can be found here
<https://www.4sonline.org/meeting/call-for-submissions/>.

Please see the open panel description below, and feel free to reach out
with any questions!

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*Organizers: *Stacy Wood, University of California Los Angeles; Yvonne
Melisande Eadon, Department of Information Studies, UCLA
*Accepted Languages:* English/Inglés/Inglês

In recent years, a growing body of research has focused on mis- and
disinformation spreading at scale via social media platforms (Starbird
2019). Small groups can have impact at scale via recommender systems and
algorithmic amplification (Krafft and Donovan 2020). The phrase “do your
own research” has become a persistent and recognizable call that flattens
the distinctions between research methodologies and approaches to searching
for information, at once resting on independent critical thinking and
fostering community formation.

This panel seeks to explore the social construction of legitimacy,
authority and credibility within resistant research communities. We define
resistant research communities as communities of researchers whose
methodologies, qualifications or object of study are explicitly
antagonistic to established research infrastructures, institutions and
credentials. This might include areas of study that are counter to
scientific method and consensus (e.g. anti-vaccination, flat-earth, areas
of ufology) or areas of study that are counter to contemporary and/or
historic documentation (e.g. QAnon bakers).

While there are a suite of methodologies used to track the scale and spread
of mis- and disinformation, significant work needs to be done regarding the
social and cultural production of knowledge within resistant research
communities and the socio-technical configurations within which this
production occurs. We welcome all methodologies and frameworks.

Possible questions and topics include: How do resistant research
communities influence or affect the wider scientific research community?
What are gatekeeping functions in resistant research communities? How do
community dynamics affect outcomes? What platforms are used in the
formation of such communities, and how do the affordances of such platforms
influence research outcomes?

Krafft, P. M., and Joan Donovan. “Disinformation by Design: The Use of
Evidence Collages and Platform Filtering in a Media Manipulation Campaign.”
Political Communication 37, no. 2 (March 3, 2020): 194–214.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2019.1686094.

Starbird, Kate. “Disinformation’s Spread: Bots, Trolls and All of Us.”
Nature 571, no. 7766 (July 1, 2019): 449–50.

*Contact:* stacyewood at gmail.com, ymeadon at gmail.com
*Keywords:* research communities, method, methodology, knowledge
production, pseudosciences

-- 
Yvonne M. Eadon, MLIS
Information Studies Doctoral Candidate
UCLA
She/ her