Funding won for Political Agency within and of Platform Societies - symposium to come

NewPolCom has won funding from the Reid Research Fund at Royal Holloway for the next stage in our investigation of Political Agency within and of Platform Societies: Ideas and Social Relations in the Digital Age. The project is led by Marco Guglielmo, supported by Pauline Sophie Heinrichs and Ben O’Loughlin. The project aims to develop a theoretical framework and to launch an empirical research agenda on political agency within and of platform societies. This includes an international symposium on ‘Political Agency in the Digital Age’ to be held in May 2023.

Marco theorises that political contestation in platform societies is shaped by contestation over two tensions. The first is contestation over data commodification versus the promotion of digital commons. The second ranges from digitalisation as authoritarian surveillance to democratic empowerment. The project asks how political agency fits into the contestation process. It aims to stimulate comparative studies on how different actors — parties, policy-makers, NGOs — are shaping digital politics in different world regions.

If you have any questions about this initiative, contact marco.guglielmo@rhul.ac.uk.