[Air-L] Call for Papers – ECPR Joint Sessions 2026 Workshop on Physical & Digital Authoritarianism (Innsbruck, 7–10 April 2026)

[hossein kermani]

Dear colleagues,

I am pleased to invite paper proposals for my workshop at the ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops 2026:

The Interplay of Physical and Digital Authoritarianism: Methodological and Theoretical Challenges and Approaches
University of Innsbruck, Austria | 7–10 April 2026 | 

Endorsed by the ECPR Research Network on Digital Authoritarianism, the workshop explores how offline (physical) and online (digital) forms of authoritarianism intersect and mutually reinforce each other across regime types. While there is a rich literature on traditional repression and a rapidly growing body of work on digital authoritarianism, we still know relatively little about how these domains are connected in practice and how to study such hybrid campaigns systematically.

We welcome theoretical, methodological, and empirical papers that address (among others) the following themes:
   
   -    
Conceptualising the nexus of physical and digital authoritarianism, including links between long-standing offline practices and their digitally mediated adaptations

   -    
Methodological challenges of researching repression and control across online/offline spaces (e.g. access, risk, ethics, data limitations) and innovative solutions using digital, traditional, or mixed methods

   -    
Empirical studies of hybrid repressive campaigns (e.g. surveillance, censorship, disinformation, intimidation, carceral practices) spanning streets, institutions, and platforms

   -    
Cross-platform and cross-country analyses of digital authoritarianism and its entanglement with offline coercion in both authoritarian and democratic settings

   -    
The role of platform algorithms, AI, and data infrastructures in shaping authoritarian practices and their connections to physical repression


The Joint Sessions format is designed for intensive, small-group discussion: each workshop typically hosts 15–20 papers, giving participants the opportunity to receive detailed feedback and develop collaborative projects over several days.

Submission details
   
   -    
Where to submit: via the ECPR website (MyECPR account required) – click on “Propose a Paper” on the workshop page:   
The Interplay of Physical and Digital Authoritarianism: Methodological and Theoretical Challenges and Approaches
   
 

   -    
What to submit: paper title, abstract (up to 500 words), and 3–8 keywords

   -    
Call for Papers window: 5 November – 10 December 2025 (midnight UK time)


We particularly encourage submissions from early-career scholars and those working in or on constrained research environments. Interdisciplinary contributions (political communication, IR, sociology, area studies, media studies, etc.) are very welcome.

Please feel free to circulate this call within your departments, institutes, and networks, and to share it with PhD students and early-career colleagues who may be interested.

I look forward to receiving your proposals and to an engaging workshop in Innsbruck.

With best wishes,

Hossein Kermani
University of Vienna

Chair, ECPR Research Network on Digital Authoritarianism