Algorithms and Affective Publics

The new volume Affective Formation of Publics is out! I have contributed a text that discusses the affective impact of algorithms on publics. This question has been dominated by grandiose claims both in policy debates (e.g. filter bubble) and dubious industries (think Cambridge Analytica). I argue that too often critics have bought into these narratives — even if to show how dangerous algorithms are for publics. Instead, as I show in my text, a more sober analysis is necessary, which yields that algorithms indeed pose problems for publics. Yet, these problems are different than those often claimed and need a more thorough understanding of the structural role affects play for publics in general.

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Hannah Arendt: Challenges of Plurality now out!

Publishing sometimes takes time, but finally the new book edited by Maria Robaszkiewicz and myself is out: Hannah Arendt: Challenges of Plurality collects revised contributions to the conference we organized with Jochen Schmidt in 2018. I covers Arendtian perspectives on pressing issues such as migration, the change of public spaces, affects in politics or racism. It also puts Arendt into dialogue with thinkers as diverse as Adorno or Pierce.

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Discussing Algorithms and Affects with Koketso Moeti

On Monday, 15 November Koketso Moeti and I will be guests and Medico International’s lecture series Troubling Psyches. We will discuss which affective dynamics emerge in public spheres controlled by algorithms and which approaches of a new digital activism enable local and transnational alliances between the excluded. You can join online!

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Die Fußgänger:innen der autonomen Kraftfahrzeuge

Der neue Sammelband von Florian Sprenger über “Autonome Autos” ist erschienen. Neben vielen anderen Lesenswerten Beiträgen findet sich dort mein Text: Die Fußgänger:innen der autonomen Kraftfahrzeuge. Dort geht es darum, wie Fußgänger:innen für autonome Kraftfahrzeuge vermittelt werden — nicht nur technisch sondern auch in Bezug auf grundlegende Dispositive des Verkehrs aber z.B. auch die Arbeitsteilung in der Informatik und den Ingenieurswissenschaften. Der Text illustriert die von mir entwickelte Methode der algorithmischen Dispositivanalyse. Sie baut auf Foucault auf und bietet eine kulturwissenschaftliche Methodik für den Umgang mit Texten aus der Informatik.

Das alles gibt es Open Access!

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Start of TRR 318: Constructing Explainability

Starting this month at the universities Paderborn and Bieleld: The Collaborative Research Center “Constructing Explainability” (TRR 318). Our aim is to develop a new approach to explainable AI that is driven by insights from social sciences and cultural studies. This goes beyond often criticized hopes for transparency and considers explanation as a socially situated, constantly negotiated praxis. I am happy to be one of the members of the core team of the TRR and looking forward to the coming reasearch.

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