<unlike-us> Transforming Communities: The 9th International Conference on Communities & Technologies

[Doug Schuler]

*The 9th International Conference on Communities & Technologies*


*Transforming Communities*



*3 - 7 June 2019, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria*

The biennial Communities and Technologies (C&T) conference is the premier
international forum for stimulating scholarly debate and disseminating
research on the complex connections between communities – in their multiple
forms – and information and communication technologies.


C&T 2019 welcomes participation from researchers, designers, educators,
industry, and students from the many disciplines and perspectives bearing
on the interaction between community and technology, including
architecture, arts, business, design, economics, education, engineering,
ergonomics, informatics, information technology, geography, health,
humanities, law, media and communication studies, and social sciences.



*Transforming Communities*Communities are defined in many ways, often in
relation to ancestry, culture, ethnicity, geography, interests, practices,
religion, threats, or other categories of social connection. The concept
represents both inclusion and exclusion along with other paradoxes of human
relationships. Conservative alliances may use the trope of national or
local communities to respond to external threats. Progressive groups may
focus on communities to contain and contrast the alienation of extreme
individualization. Regardless of catalyst, the ingroup|outgroup narratives
of any community can hide internal inequalities. In addition, some
communities find their commonality in a desire to harm others. Communities
can be damaging.


The capacity of the term, its breadth of use, highlights the draw of social
life: the myriad forms of human solidarity, the capacity to recognize other
human beings as like us, the possibility for mobilization in defense of or
to strengthen the communities with which a sense of belonging exists.
Indeed, vibrant communities are not fixed entities, rather they are
constantly made and remade everyday through people interacting across
cultural, economic, environmental, political, and technological dimensions.


C&T's 2019 theme, "Transforming Communities", embraces such a dynamic view
of communities. We recognize how communities are rooted in the construction
of solidarities and mutual recognition at the same time there is tension
and desire for change. We welcome scholarly contributions that pay
particular attention to the roles of technology, and technology design, in
the making, un-making, and re-making of communities.


C&T focuses on the notion of communities as social entities comprised of
people who share something in common; this common element may be geography,
needs, goals, interests, practices, organizations, enemies, or other bases
for social connection. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs),
and the design of new ICTs, can support community formation and development
by facilitating communication and coordination among members, as well as
enable and empower communities to work towards their goals. We must also
acknowledge that ICTs are used in processes that degrade communities and
community life; some ICTs could actually be antithetical to healthy
communities; and some communities actively work towards oppressing others
through their use of ICTs. For these reasons we encourage critiques of
existing systems, approaches, communities, policies, and trajectories.


Communities may transform through efforts to secure a more equitable
society, a healthy and diverse environment for future generations. However,
transformation may lead to other types of outcomes, unforeseen or
unacknowledged. The theme of transforming communities raises a number of
questions, issues, possibilities and tensions and we encourage submissions
to engage with both the intended and unintended effects of Communities &
Technology.


*Important dates*

   - February 15, 2019 (23:59 CET) - Papers (full and short) and workshop
   proposals due
   - March 1, 2019 (23:59 CET)- Case studies (research track) due
   - April 12, 2019 (23:59 CET) - Doctoral consortium applications due
   - April 26, 2019 (23:59 CET) - Case studies (community track) due
   - June 3-4, 2019 - Workshops in Vienna
   - June 5-7, 2019 - Conference in Vienna

For more information - https://2019.comtech.community/submissions.html


Douglas Schuler
douglas at publicsphereproject.org
Twitter: @doug_schuler

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