<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=Windows-1252">
<style type="text/css" style="display:none;"> P {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;} </style>
</head>
<body dir="ltr">
<div class="elementToProof" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Dear colleagues,</div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Please find below and <a href="http://chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglhttps://static1.squarespace.com/static/62bddb3721d19e335125d6bd/t/69de69e8e5d4ac4c0cdbd48f/1776183801882/Call+for+Abstracts_Panel+%23216_4S+Meeting.pdf" id="OWA7c0b906a-a4b9-aa56-f65d-2fe4e99b45b9" class="OWAAutoLink" title="chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglhttps://static1.squarespace.com/static/62bddb3721d19e335125d6bd/t/69de69e8e5d4ac4c0cdbd48f/1776183801882/Call+for+Abstracts_Panel+%23216_4S+Meeting.pdf">
via this link</a> the call for contributions for our open panel on<b> Future directions for critical data center studies.</b></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
This panel will take place as part of the <a href="https://www.4sonline.org/about_the_conference_toronto.php" title="https://www.4sonline.org/about_the_conference_toronto.php">
4S conference</a>, which will be held in Toronto from October 7 to 10, 2026.</div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
A <b>250-word abstract</b> (in English) is expected <b>by April 30</b> and should be submitted directly via the<a href="https://www.4sonline.org/call_for_submissions_toronto.php" title="https://www.4sonline.org/call_for_submissions_toronto.php"> 4S meeting
platform</a> (open panel).</div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
We look forward to reading your submissions,<br>
</div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
---</div>
<div id="m_-5158092744435872467m_8508402599504848498m_-5850074009268620075m_-4242456926564879864gmail-x_Signature" class="elementToProof" style="margin: 0px;">
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<b>Sandrine Lambert</b></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Postdoctoral Fellow / Chercheuse postdoctorale</div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Sociology & Anthropology Department | </div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<span style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);"><a href="https://milieux.concordia.ca/about/" target="_blank" id="OWA07427d57-33b5-d8b2-8d15-9701aab78841" class="OWAAutoLink" title="https://milieux.concordia.ca/about/" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://milieux.concordia.ca/about/&source=gmail&ust=1776958261536000&usg=AOvVaw3ODEiXH6JX_hrz5vjl2d41" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); margin: 0px;">Milieux</a></span> Institute
for Arts, Culture and Technology | <span style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);"><a href="https://www.ethnographylabconcordia.ca/" target="_blank" id="OWA3e7efc1c-1914-4cd8-d371-486530686610" class="OWAAutoLink" title="https://www.ethnographylabconcordia.ca/" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ethnographylabconcordia.ca/&source=gmail&ust=1776958261536000&usg=AOvVaw1oeCAMHkHQSP9dc-gNQmN5" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); margin: 0px;">Ethnography
Lab</a></span></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Concordia University, Montreal</div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">
<a href="https://www.sandrinelambert.com/" target="_blank" id="OWA310b8326-4575-ba3c-09b4-7ca31d9add76" class="OWAAutoLink" title="https://www.sandrinelambert.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sandrinelambert.com/&source=gmail&ust=1776958261536000&usg=AOvVaw2DWmksd0QMiNnKDFn7pRzN" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); margin: 0px;">sandrinelambert.com</a></div>
</div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<br>
</div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<br>
</div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Please share the call or submit an abstract (250 words) for our accepted Open Panel (216) on Future directions for critical data center studies! <br>
Due date: April 30, 2026.<br>
<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Topics that can inform this discussion include, but are not limited to:<br>
<b>1/ Resisting DCs:</b> 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?<br>
<br>
<b>2/ The governance of DCs:</b> The political economy of data center production has yet to be thoroughly documented, when even its main actors remain in the shadows (Greene, 2022).<br>
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?<br>
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?<br>
<br>
<b>3/ New methodological approaches to DCs</b>: 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?<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Panel convenors: <br>
· Sandrine Lambert, Concordia University, <span style="color: rgb(10, 102, 194); font-weight: 600;">
<a href="mailto:sandrine.lambert@mail.concordia.ca" target="_blank" id="OWA7eb75d15-8855-b428-26c7-1cf2e3341ca8" class="_0a40d4ba _4c9f2ea2 OWAAutoLink" style="color: rgb(10, 102, 194); margin: 0px; text-align: left;">sandrine.lambert@mail.concordia.ca</a></span><br>
· Julia Frotey, INRS, <span style="color: rgb(10, 102, 194); font-weight: 600;">
<a href="mailto:julia.frotey@inrs.ca" target="_blank" id="OWA9ad39b89-3774-aadf-844f-024a4b3c36c9" class="_0a40d4ba _4c9f2ea2 OWAAutoLink" style="color: rgb(10, 102, 194); margin: 0px; text-align: left;">julia.frotey@inrs.ca</a></span><br>
· Morgan Mouton, INRS, <span style="color: rgb(10, 102, 194); font-weight: 600;">
<a href="mailto:morgan.mouton@inrs.ca" target="_blank" id="OWA70ca40c9-f95e-167f-3967-6b4817a096aa" class="_0a40d4ba _4c9f2ea2 OWAAutoLink" style="color: rgb(10, 102, 194); margin: 0px; text-align: left;">morgan.mouton@inrs.ca</a></span><br>
· Émilie Sinclair, INRS, <span style="color: rgb(10, 102, 194); font-weight: 600;">
<a href="mailto:emilie.sinclair@inrs.ca" target="_blank" id="OWA8b85644f-1b19-b153-f72f-f487631bb61b" class="_0a40d4ba _4c9f2ea2 OWAAutoLink" style="color: rgb(10, 102, 194); margin: 0px; text-align: left;">emilie.sinclair@inrs.ca</a></span><br>
<br>
---</div>
<div id="m_-5158092744435872467m_8508402599504848498m_-5850074009268620075m_-4242456926564879864gmail-x_Signature" class="elementToProof" style="margin: 0px;">
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<b>Sandrine Lambert</b></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Postdoctoral Fellow / Chercheuse postdoctorale</div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Sociology & Anthropology Department | </div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<a href="https://milieux.concordia.ca/about/" target="_blank" id="OWA345243de-e694-37b2-74a5-c322710b6510" class="OWAAutoLink" title="https://milieux.concordia.ca/about/" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://milieux.concordia.ca/about/&source=gmail&ust=1776958261536000&usg=AOvVaw3ODEiXH6JX_hrz5vjl2d41" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); margin: 0px;">Milieux</a> Institute
for Arts, Culture and Technology | <a href="https://www.ethnographylabconcordia.ca/" target="_blank" id="OWA80c0f4d2-1f2f-61e8-a68b-935b49083ba7" class="OWAAutoLink" title="https://www.ethnographylabconcordia.ca/" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ethnographylabconcordia.ca/&source=gmail&ust=1776958261536000&usg=AOvVaw1oeCAMHkHQSP9dc-gNQmN5" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); margin: 0px;">
Ethnography Lab</a></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Concordia University, Montreal</div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<a href="https://www.sandrinelambert.com/" target="_blank" id="OWA9876f3cd-47a2-175a-0877-a488f398a305" class="OWAAutoLink" title="https://www.sandrinelambert.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sandrinelambert.com/&source=gmail&ust=1776958261536000&usg=AOvVaw2DWmksd0QMiNnKDFn7pRzN" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); margin: 0px;">sandrinelambert.com</a></div>
</div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<br>
</div>
<div id="m_-5158092744435872467m_8508402599504848498m_-5850074009268620075m_-4242456926564879864gmail-x_Signature" class="elementToProof" style="margin: 0px;">
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(10, 102, 194);">
<span style="font-weight: 600;"><br>
</span></div>
</div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<br>
</div>
<div id="Signature" class="elementToProof">
<div class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<br>
</div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px;">
<div class="elementToProof" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px;">
<p class="elementToProof" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 24px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0cm 0px; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px;"> </span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>