[Air-L] Call for contributions: Democracy + Silence Symposium, Oslo Sept.2026 - Submission deadline: June 19.

[Taina Bucher]

Reimagining the democratic potentials of silence - An international symposium; University of Oslo; 23–24 September 2026

Call for Contributions
About the symposium

This two-day symposium reexamines democracy and citizenship by treating silence as an integral, rather than oppositional, feature of democratic culture. Silence can disrupt, slow down, knit communities together, reveal limits, and induce reflection. The symposium, part of the Democracy of Silence research project, reexamines logocentric concepts – voice, participation, freedom of speech – by attending to the political potential of silence (e.g. withdrawal, breaks, gaps, hesitations, disconnections, void, quietude, disaffection) to interrupt the status quo, create openings and make new things sayable, or unsayable, together.

The symposium gathers researchers, artists, designers, and practitioners across disciplines to think with, and against, the regimes of voice, visibility, and engagement that have come to dominate contemporary democratic theory and digital culture alike. We are particularly interested in what silence does, refuses, holds, or opens in datafied societies: how silence fosters reflection, resists conformity, and influences decision-making at the edges and inside of platforms, states, institutions, communities. The purpose is to get one step closer to understanding what a democracy of silence could look and feel like. That is, how can we reimagine the democratic potentials of silence in a society that hinges on vocal ideals of citizenship? What politics emerges by embracing silence as a democratic value, rather than a threat?

The symposium will place emphasis on discussions, interaction and experiences rather than conventional paper presentations. Accepted contributors will share a short pre-circulated contribution in advance, and the symposium itself will be devoted to working through these together, across panels, listening sessions, walks, and informal exchanges. Our hope is to leave with something held in common: a shared set of questions, a collective formulation, and the seeds of a longer trajectory (an edited volume or special issue is under consideration).

What we are inviting
We invite participation from anyone interested in the democratic potentials of silence. We also welcome alternative formats, such as artistic works, design concepts, or policy statements. Accepted submissions will be shared with all participants prior to the event.

While silence is the central theme, we invite contributions that consider silence in relation to one or more of the following sub-themes, and we welcome work that exceeds or rethinks these:

• The unsayable, the not-said, refusal of articulation, the limits of voice as a political idiom.
• The politics of withdrawal, opacity, disaffection, silence as protest and care work.
• Quiet, noise, listening, attention; sonic infrastructures of attention and inattention.
• Embodied silences, gestures and breath.
• Withholding, opting out, refusal of legibility; what computational systems cannot register.

Formats
To ground the event across a range of disciplines and practices, we ask participants to submit a 1–2 page statement (500–800 words) on the democracy of silence in one of the following formats:

• Provocations and position papers: Provocations aim to unsettle comfortable paradigms and inspire reflection. Contributions may take the form of conceptual essays, speculative pieces, or critical commentaries that complicate or expand how we understand silence in democratic culture.
• Works-in-progress (papers, projects, ideas): Unfinished ideas are welcome, including early-stage projects, half-formed arguments, or paper drafts that might benefit from collective discussion and attention.
• Design work, artistic research, sound pieces (incl. 2–3 images or links to documentation): Speculative, critical, or research-through-design contributions are encouraged.

Selection criteria
• Generative of collective thinking. Proposals that open questions, frictions, or methods for the room.
• We will compose the programme to accommodate a range of disciplines, registers, geographies, and career stages. Submissions from outside the academy are warmly welcomed.
• Contributions that add an ‘x-factor’. Surprising and out of the box concepts that spark inspiration.

How to submit
Submissions are made via our online form: https://nettskjema.no/a/629553
Submission deadline: 19 June 2026 (23:59 CEST).

Key dates
• Submission deadline: 19 June 2026 (23:59 CEST)
• Notification of acceptance: by 1 July 2026
• Submission of revised contributions for circulation: 12 August 2026
• Circulation of accepted contributions: 26 August 2026
• Symposium: 23–24 September 2026, Oslo

Practical information
Where and when: 23–24 September 2026 in central Oslo, Norway. In-person only. Capacity is intentionally small (~35 contributors) to allow for sustained collective conversation across the two days. Language: English. No registration fee. Lunches, coffee, and one shared dinner are included.

Organisers and contact
Convened by the Democracy of Silence project, University of Oslo. Keynote speakers: [TBC]
Contact: Prof. Taina Bucher, taina.bucher at media.uio.no; for practical questions Tine Skjelstad, tine.skjelstad at media.uio.no


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