[Air-L] Call for Abstracts on Digital Authoritarianism in the Global South

[Saif Shahin]

Greetings!

We are planning to propose a special issue to a peer-reviewed journal on
the theme of Digital Authoritarianism in the Global South, and soliciting
brief abstracts from scholars working in this field to be a part of our
proposal.

We consider Digital Authoritarianism to include all the ways in which
digital practices, platforms, and policies contribute to maintaining or
exacerbating authoritarianism. These can range from the active use of
digital infrastructures by states or related entities against organized
opposition or common citizens (e.g., for surveillance, disinformation, or
propaganda) to prohibitions on internet access, blocking of content,
restrictions on private communication driven by political motivations, and
so on.

While recognizing that the Global South is an ambiguous construct, for our
SI proposal we consider it to cover all parts of Asia (including the Middle
East), Africa, and Latin America that have historically experienced
colonialism. Studies that look at interrelations between the Global North
and South in the context of digital authoritarianism will also be
considered.

Abstracts may focus on states under authoritarian rule or putatively
democratic nations that indulge in digital authoritarianism. While
country-specific case studies are welcome, we are also interested in
comparative or cross-border studies that illustrate digital
authoritarianism as a transnational phenomenon. Although we expect most
abstracts to be empirically driven (using qualitative, quantitative, or
computational methods), conceptual articles and policy-oriented papers may
also be submitted.

If you are interested in contributing to our SI proposal, please submit:
1. A 150-word abstract, including your problem statement/research question,
methods and materials, and scientific/societal contribution, and
2. A 50-word bio of each author.

All submissions should be sent to Dr. Saif Shahin (
s.s.shahin at tilburguniversity.edu) and Dr. Junki Nakahara (junki at stanford.edu)
 by Wednesday 26 February.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Best wishes,
Saif Shahin, Tilburg University
Junki Nakahara, Stanford University


____
Saif Shahin, Ph.D.
Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences
Tilburg University, Netherlands
Associate Editor
Journal of Information Technology & Politics
Google Scholar
<https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pzy87iEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao> |
ResearchGate <https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Saif-Shahin>

Recent publications
Black Lives Matter Goes Global
<https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14614448211057106> (*New
Media & Society*, 2024)
Platform Affordances and Spiral of Silence
<https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160791X23002361>
(*Technology
in Society*, 2024)
Reciprocity and Asymmetry in Digital Diplomacy
<https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/poi3.355> (*Policy &
Internet*, 2023)