[Air-L] Call for Abstracts - Future Directions for Critical Data Center Studies - 4S Meeting Toronto

[Sandrine Lambert]

Dear colleagues,
Please find below and via this link<http://chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglhttps://static1.squarespace.com/static/62bddb3721d19e335125d6bd/t/69de69e8e5d4ac4c0cdbd48f/1776183801882/Call+for+Abstracts_Panel+%23216_4S+Meeting.pdf> the call for contributions for our open panel on Future directions for critical data center studies.
This panel will take place as part of the 4S conference<https://www.4sonline.org/about_the_conference_toronto.php>, which will be held in Toronto from October 7 to 10, 2026.
A 250-word abstract (in English) is expected by April 30 and should be submitted directly via the 4S meeting platform<https://www.4sonline.org/call_for_submissions_toronto.php> (open panel).
We look forward to reading your submissions,
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Sandrine Lambert
Postdoctoral Fellow / Chercheuse postdoctorale
Sociology & Anthropology Department |
Milieux<https://milieux.concordia.ca/about/> Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology | Ethnography Lab<https://www.ethnographylabconcordia.ca/>
Concordia University, Montreal
sandrinelambert.com<https://www.sandrinelambert.com/>


Please share the call or submit an abstract (250 words) for our accepted Open Panel (216) on Future directions for critical data center studies!
Due date: April 30, 2026.


Within a mere decade, data centers (DCs) went from being a marginal research topic to becoming a significant object of inquiry for social scientists – to the point that some have announced “critical data center studies” as a proper field (Edwards et al., 2024). As scholarship on DCs has reached a critical mass, and as its relevance is renewed with each new facility that materialises in the trail of global fervor for generative AI, we invite STS-minded scholars to discuss future orientations on DCs scholarship.

Topics that can inform this discussion include, but are not limited to:
1/ Resisting DCs: With an increased visibility, DCs are facing stronger resistance from communities that have to live with them. If DCs are described as “extractive” (Brodie, 2025), do we fight them the same way we would fight a mine or a pipeline? In practice, do DC-related protests resemble NIMBYism, or broader, more collective action?

2/ The governance of DCs: The political economy of data center production has yet to be thoroughly documented, when even its main actors remain in the shadows (Greene, 2022).
How do public actors at different scales of government manage to regulate the construction and extension of DCs? What could alternative models of digital infrastructures production backed by local public actors look like?
Much like other infrastructures, digital or analog, DCs have increasingly been enmeshed in a process of financialisation: what are the actors and tools of this process? What are the consequences for DCs (size, location, overall characteristics) and for the surrounding areas?

3/ New methodological approaches to DCs: Early scholars of data centers have called for a wider use of ethnography and multimodality to apprehend this research object (Ortar et al., 2022). How has this call been answered so far, and what future perspectives can we draw from here?

Scholarship on data centers is highly interdisciplinary, with academics coming from media studies, geography, urban studies, or anthropology. A shared inclination for STS, and a strong attention to the materiality of these infrastructures are probably the most common denominator among these authors. The annual 4S conference is therefore a highly relevant venue to discuss these issues.

Panel convenors:
·      Sandrine Lambert, Concordia University, sandrine.lambert at mail.concordia.ca<mailto:sandrine.lambert at mail.concordia.ca>
·      Julia Frotey, INRS, julia.frotey at inrs.ca<mailto:julia.frotey at inrs.ca>
·      Morgan Mouton, INRS, morgan.mouton at inrs.ca<mailto:morgan.mouton at inrs.ca>
·      Émilie Sinclair, INRS, emilie.sinclair at inrs.ca<mailto:emilie.sinclair at inrs.ca>

---
Sandrine Lambert
Postdoctoral Fellow / Chercheuse postdoctorale
Sociology & Anthropology Department |
Milieux<https://milieux.concordia.ca/about/> Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology | Ethnography Lab<https://www.ethnographylabconcordia.ca/>
Concordia University, Montreal
sandrinelambert.com<https://www.sandrinelambert.com/>






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