Theorising digital societies
How can we shed light on the transformation processes in digital societies? Against the backdrop of geopolitical shifts, the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) and the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb) want to illuminate the transformation processes in digital societies.
The research project "Theorising Digital Societies" builds on the lecture series Making sense of the digital society. The debates initiated therein are continued in various formats to comprehensively and interdisciplinarily explore the current challenges arising from processes of digitisation. The project is internationally oriented but particularly outlines European perspectives and voices. Its aim is not only to foster a better understanding of the far-reaching consequences of digitisation but also to convey this knowledge to other societal sectors such as civil society, politics, and education.
To achieve these goals, the project develops various formats. The book publication "Theorising Digital Societies" brings together different perspectives of renowned researchers in the field of digitisation. The Digital society compendium provides readily accessible materials on the topic.
Activities
22. - 24. April 2024
In this networking meeting, leading researchers in the field of digitisation convene to share their perspectives on various aspects of digital transformation, as well as the issues and challenges in modern democratic societies.
2025
The theses compiled during the networking meeting will be consolidated and elaborated into a collective volume on the various challenges and interpretations of the digital society. The discussed topics include:
- Our lives with algorithms
- digitisation and the next society
- Warfare in the digital age
- Freedom of expression
- Future and uncertainty in the digital society
- The politics of urban digital infrastructures
- Everyday life in times of datafication
- Resistance in the datafied society
- The critical infrastructure of democracy
- Democracy and public sphere in the digital society
- The power of platforms
- Cultural history of digitisation
- The ethics of AI and big data
The book will be published in 2025, edited by Thomas Christian Bächle (Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society) and Jeanette Hofmann (Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society/WZB Berlin Social Science Center). If you have any questions, you can contact the editors via digital.society.book@hiig.de.
Jeanette Hofmann, Prof. Dr.Research Director
Lena HenkesResearcher: Knowledge & Society
Thomas Christian Bächle, Dr.Head of research programme: The evolving digital society
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Dana Madeleine AbuosbaFormer Student Assistant: The evolving digital society
Carmina Wälti
Humboldt University of Berlin
Cooperation
The book project "Theorising Digital Societies" is a cooperation between the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) and the German Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb).
