Digitox seminar February 2023

Digital disengagement and resignation in times of media overload

This seminar deals with urgent questions pertaining to media overload, resistance and inequality in times when big tech companies exercise increasing influence on everyday life. Focusing on citizenship, labour and organizational contexts where digital engagement is compulsory, the presenters offer critical insights on who has the possibility and power to “opt out” of digitality.

A stack of mobile phones on a table

At the seminar, Adi Kuntsman and Esperanza Miyake will present their new book, Paradoxes of Digital Disengagement: In Search of the Opt-Out button (2022). In addition to a general introduction, they will focus on two particular areas: digital disengagement and citizenship; and digital disengagement and digital labour.

Speaking under the headline “Digital Disconnection and Digital Resignation at Work”, Christoffer Bagger will present findings from his recently defended PhD thesis. What exactly happens to digital disconnection when media usage is compulsory, as in the context of work? And what power does this give organizations in terms of facilitating digital disconnection?

 

Adi Kuntsman is Reader in Digital Politics at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. Previous publications include Selfie Citizenship; Digital Militarism: Israeli Occupation in the Social Media Age (with Rebecca L. Stein); and Digital Cultures and the Politics of Emotion (with Athina Karatzogianni).

Esperanza Miyake is a Chancellor’s Fellow in Journalism, Media & Communication at the University of Strathclyde, UK. Alongside news media outputs (New York Times, Newsweek Japan) and consultancy on data ethics and privacy, she has authored the book The Gendered Motorcycle: Representations in Society, Media and Popular Culture.

Christoffer Bagger is Research assistant at the Department of Communication, University of Copenhagen. His research centers on the intersection of digital media, work and organization. His PhD thesis, The Medium in The Middle: Workplace from Meta, enterprise social media and the boundary between the personal and the professional, was successfully defended in 2022.

The seminar is chaired by Karin Fast from Digitox/Oslo University and Karlstad University.

Time and date: February 14th, 1300-1400 (Norwegian time)
    Published Jan. 13, 2023 1:10 PM - Last modified Jan. 19, 2023 10:08 AM