Research Seminar: Algorithms of resistance: The everyday fight against platform power
- Date: Thursday 31 October 2024, 15:45 – 17:00
- Location: Online
- Cost: Free
This talk dives into how global workers and activists navigate and subvert platform power, revealing our resistance to algorithmic dominance while cautioning against romanticizing these efforts
In an era where algorithms shape nearly every aspect of our lives, understanding how to navigate—and resist—their influence is more critical than ever. This talk draws on a 5-year research project, culminating in the book Algorithms of Resistance: The Everyday Fight against Platform Power (MIT Press, 2024). We explore how global workers, influencers, and activists craft tactics of resistance by appropriating the very algorithms that govern us. Through rich ethnographic insights from both the Global North and South, this talk reveals that we are not powerless against algorithmic dominance. However, we also caution against romanticizing these acts of resistance, given the deep power imbalances within platform societies.
Tiziano Bonini is Associate Professor in Sociology of Culture and Communication in the Department of Social, Political, and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Siena in Italy. He is an ethnographer of media practices, and his research interests include cultural studies, platform studies, media production studies, and digital cultures.
Emiliano Treré is a Reader in Data Agency and Media Ecologies at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media, and Culture, where he also serves as Director of International Development. He is the co-director of the Data Justice Lab and a multi-award-winning author, renowned for his work on data justice, digital activism, and media ecologies.
Bonini and Treré are the authors of Algorithms of Resistance: The Everyday Fight against Platform Power (MIT Press, 2024) which was awarded the 2024 Honorable Mention of the International Communication Association's Activism, Communication and Social Justice Interest Group.
Please contact mediaresearchsupport@leeds.ac.uk before 12pm on 20 November to request an invitation.