[Air-L] Call for Papers: Political economy of digital platforms: transformations in capitalism and responses from different countries

[Helena Martins]

*Call for Papers: Political economy of digital platforms: transformations
in capitalism and responses from different countries *

EPTIC Journal invites interested parties to submit papers for the Thematic
Dossier “Political economy of digital platforms: transformations in
capitalism and responses from different countries,” which will be
coordinated by Helena Martins (UFC) and Rodrigo Moreno Marques (UFMG). The
publication will inaugurate a series of three special dossiers related to
the project "The economic governance of digital networks: for an analysis
of markets, internet competition, and their impact on user rights,"
developed by the Observatory of Economics and Communication (Obscom) at the
Federal University of Sergipe (UFS), with funding from Fapesp (21/06992-1).
Texts must be submitted by November 15, 2025. The issue is expected to be
published in March 2026.

The Political Economy of Information, Communication, and Culture has linked
the process of platformization and the emergence of digital platforms to
the structural crisis in capitalism, which involves monopolization,
concentration, and centralization of capital, stagnant growth in core
countries, growing inequalities, financial instability, ecological crisis,
and disputes over national sovereignty. As part of this context,
technological transformations, from the microelectronic revolution to
artificial intelligence, are not just autonomous phenomena, but constitute
an attempt by capital to respond to this set of crises and maintain its
accumulation process.


As instruments of monopolistic economic agents, platforms do not act only
as central intermediaries between producers, citizens treated as consumers,
advertisers, and other groups. In fact, they act as vectors for the
reorganization of capital, enabling data capture and control, monetization
of attention, intermediation of exchanges, intensification of work, and
value capture in sectors in which they operate, reproducing old relations
of national dependence and creating new relations of dependence at the
macroeconomic level. Specifically with regard to the cultural industry,
they also reorganize the structure of social mediation, with significant
power to control the production and circulation of content associated with
new forms of manipulation.


This general situation affects different countries in different ways, given
the unequal international division of labor. We are interested in
discussing how the capitalist structural crisis and the actions of
platforms manifest themselves in Latin American countries, given the
historical technological dependence, the appropriation of wealth, and the
exploitation of labor and natural resources by large global corporations,
which increases the risks to already fragile national sovereignties and
regulatory regimes. This is evident in Donald Trump's threats against
countries, including Brazil, that have debated or proposed new regulations
on platforms, artificial intelligence, and other technologies. The
reactions and national policies of countries such as China and Russia in
the face of this complex reality are also emblematic. The impacts of this
reconfiguration are diverse, ranging from forms of accumulation to the very
organization of the political regime of democracy.

Therefore, the dossier hopes to receive texts on:
- The relevance and mobilization of classical concepts (value, commodity,
labor, and others) for the observation of digital transformations;
- Characterization of the current stage of capitalism and its relationship
with information and communication technologies;
- Geopolitics, wars, genocide, and the role of digital platforms;
- Transformations in the world of work associated with platform mediation;
- Data sovereignty, digital sovereignty, technological sovereignty, and
popular sovereignty;
- Regulation of platforms and digital services;
- Digital monopolies and monopolization of digital markets.
Information: https://periodicos.ufs.br/eptic/announcement/view/535

-- 
*Helena Martins*
Professora da Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC)
Editora da Revista Eptic <http://revistaeptic.net.br>
Líder do Telas - Laboratório de Pesquisa em Economia, Tecnologia e
Políticas da Comunicaçã <http://dgp.cnpq.br/dgp/espelhogrupo/570544>o
<http://dgp.cnpq.br/dgp/espelhogrupo/570544>
<http://dgp.cnpq.br/dgp/espelhogrupo/570544>


-- 
*Helena Martins*
Professora da Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC)
Editora da Revista Eptic <http://revistaeptic.net.br>
Líder do Telas - Laboratório de Pesquisa em Economia, Tecnologia e
Políticas da Comunicaçã <http://dgp.cnpq.br/dgp/espelhogrupo/570544>o
<http://dgp.cnpq.br/dgp/espelhogrupo/570544>
<http://dgp.cnpq.br/dgp/espelhogrupo/570544>