[Air-L] Log Out! The Technopolitics of Refusal [international symposium @Toronto]

[Yujie Julie Chen]

Dear AoiR community and colleagues,


On March 6 2024, The Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and
Technology at the University of Toronto Mississauga is organizing a
symposium on the technopolitics of refusal, featuring critical thinkers'
talks and lightening talks from graduate students. There will be a film
screening of *Machines in Flames* and discussion with the directors in the
evening of March 5. Both events are in-person. If you are around and
interested in attending please register at
*https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/log-out-the-technopolitics-of-refusal-symposium-tickets-820099789547?aff=oddtdtcreator
<https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eventbrite.ca%2Fe%2Flog-out-the-technopolitics-of-refusal-symposium-tickets-820099789547%3Faff%3Doddtdtcreator&data=05%7C02%7Cjulieyj.chen%40UTORONTO.CA%7C4ce45e02f29c48d1d2ee08dc240e3a9d%7C78aac2262f034b4d9037b46d56c55210%7C0%7C0%7C638424890725373204%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=wz2%2BzEj5Bg5GloBe9slxPAOmhY8Up5vP%2FznIR34w8zQ%3D&reserved=0>*



Details of the symposium are below:


*-----*

*Log Out! The Technopolitics of Refusal*

International symposium at the University of Toronto Mississauga, March
5-6, 2024



The Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology is
organizing a symposium on the technopolitics of refusal, with Nicole
Charles (U of Toronto), Leopoldina Fortunati (U of Udine), Jilly Boyce Kay
(Loughborough U), Gavin Mueller (U of Amsterdam), Sarah Sharma (U of
Toronto), Rinaldo Walcott (U at Buffalo), plus a set of theory pills by U
of Toronto PhD students, and a pre-conference film screening of *Machines
in Flames *with director Andrew Culp (California Institute of the Arts).
The symposium is organized by Julie Chen, Alessandro Delfanti, and Sarah
Sharma.



Quit. Strike. Break. Nap. Disconnect. Withdraw. Drink. Detox. Trip.
Abolish. Play. Luxuriate. Escape. We gather together for one day to
acknowledge a desire to remove oneself from the grip of 24/7
techno-capitalism as it intersects with patriarchy and white supremacy. But
we are stymied by the recognition that tactics of refusal are both scarce
and plenty, sometimes competing and often contradictory. And we insist that
without understanding techno-politics there is no refusal. Logging out en
masse during a strike against a gig economy app is the contemporary
equivalent of dropping the tools on a shop floor.  The Luddites organized
to smash the looms that were threatening their livelihood. Black fugitivity
seeks liberation and autonomy both in and against the digital world.
Abolitionists seek not a new technology or a strategy but a new structure.
Incels operate underground but log on to organize against feminism and the
gains of others fighting for civil liberties. Technology is not a tool for
either disappearance or empowerment; it is not given, but rather a
strategic environment in which to maneuver. Acknowledging that refusal has
a technopolitics, we ask: what can be logged out from, when, and how?



In order to expand our understanding of refusal, PhD students will deliver
5-minute “theory pill” talks that target a number of concepts that revolve
around the symposium theme: Idleness (Seungwoo Baek), Touch Grass (Sarah
Gram), Obfuscation (Mathew Iantorno), Tang Ping (Yuxing Yolanda Zhang),
Disconnection (Nelanthi Hewa), Buddha-style (Hiu-Fung Chung), Shelter
(Kaushar Mahetaji), Sleep (André Campos Rocha), Desire (Madison Mackley),
Going Stealth (Upasana Bhattacharjee), Gambiarra (Guilherme Guilherme),
Anti-tech (Réka Patrícia Gál), Meong Ttaerigi (Grayson Lee), Infertility
(Julia Park).



PROGRAM AND REGISTRATION:



Tuesday March 5, 5 pm - 6:30 pm

Centre for Culture and Technology, 39A Queen's Park Cres E, Toronto

Screening of *Machines in Flames* (a film by Andrew Culp and Thomas
Dekeyser).

With director Andrew Culp, moderated by Upasana Bhattacharjee and Seungwoo
Baek (U of Toronto)

PLEASE REGISTER AT:
*https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/screening-of-machines-in-flames-tickets-820094212867?aff=oddtdtcreator
<https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eventbrite.ca%2Fe%2Fscreening-of-machines-in-flames-tickets-820094212867%3Faff%3Doddtdtcreator&data=05%7C02%7Cjulieyj.chen%40UTORONTO.CA%7C4ce45e02f29c48d1d2ee08dc240e3a9d%7C78aac2262f034b4d9037b46d56c55210%7C0%7C0%7C638424890725358126%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Y5rQiylyuPxg31uNU3sj%2FIc7iJWvOcZFPoD5f65EEoo%3D&reserved=0>*




Wednesday March 6, 10 am - 5 pm

University of Toronto Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Road

Log Out! symposium.

Lunch will be served. A shuttle bus from downtown Toronto will be available.

PLEASE REGISTER AT:
*https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/log-out-the-technopolitics-of-refusal-symposium-tickets-820099789547?aff=oddtdtcreator
<https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eventbrite.ca%2Fe%2Flog-out-the-technopolitics-of-refusal-symposium-tickets-820099789547%3Faff%3Doddtdtcreator&data=05%7C02%7Cjulieyj.chen%40UTORONTO.CA%7C4ce45e02f29c48d1d2ee08dc240e3a9d%7C78aac2262f034b4d9037b46d56c55210%7C0%7C0%7C638424890725373204%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=wz2%2BzEj5Bg5GloBe9slxPAOmhY8Up5vP%2FznIR34w8zQ%3D&reserved=0>*




Graduate students will have priority registration for the event.



About the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology

*www.utm.utoronto.ca/iccit <http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/iccit>*



-- 
-julie
_____________________________
Yujie "Julie" Chen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
University of Toronto, Canada
Institute of Communication, Culture, Information & Technology (ICCIT)
(Mississauga)
Faculty of Information (St. George)

*Latest Publications:*
- Chen, J. Y., & Sun, P. (2023). *Digital labour platforms and national
employment policies in China : studying the case of food delivery platforms*.
ILO. https://doi.org/10.54394/KHET8772
- Chen, J.Y., Delfanti, A., Phan, M. (2023). “Worker Resistance in Digital
Capitalism—Introduction
<https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fijoc.org%2Findex.php%2Fijoc%2Farticle%2Fview%2F17756%2F4209&data=05%7C01%7Cjulieyj.chen%40utoronto.ca%7C4b181b8b4c15468396ae08db6e8bde43%7C78aac2262f034b4d9037b46d56c55210%7C0%7C0%7C638225319220413325%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=rw4rZVR9W5iN6z7IeogmWmormbAHi8jI0i54qq%2FA8QM%3D&reserved=0>.”
Special Section in *International Journal of Communication *17: *3891–3898*
- *Zhang, L. & Chen, J.Y. (2022). “A Regional and Historical Approach to
Platform Capitalism: The Cases of Alibaba and Tencent.” *Media Culture **&*
* Society* 44 (8):1-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437221127796 For a
copy here
<https://www.academia.edu/88753998/A_regional_and_historical_approach_to_platform_capitalism_The_cases_of_Alibaba_and_Tencent>
,