Deadline: 12-May-22
The European Digital Rights, in partnership with Bits of Freedom and Controle Alt Delete has organised a European Colour of Surveillance Conference. The conference will explore the intersections between racism and surveillance and is aimed at making new connections between racial justice and digital rights groups to join efforts in resisting racism and surveillance.
Objectives of the Conference
- Raising awareness of the issue of racialized surveillance and criminalization in Europe.
- Building connections and facilitating collaborative efforts between those organizing on these issues.
Themes
The aim of the conference is to go beyond critique alone, and center ongoing resistance to surveillance and racism as well as concrete proposals and alternatives.
The first Color of Surveillance Europe conference will focus on the topic of criminalisation, and will bring together three key themes under this umbrella:
- Migration and border technologies
- Data-driven policing (offline and online)
- AI as a tool of austerity (labour, social services)
Dates and location
Structure
- Day 1: Panels – The day will bring together a broader audience, including activists, researchers, funders, journalists and others engaged in the fields of racial justice, digital rights and anti-surveillance. This day will set the context with various panels, screenings and discussions. These will explore key themes, issues, tensions and current organizing linking these topics.
- Day 2: Workshops (Open call) – A closed space for organizers impacted by surveillance and racism. Participants will meet in self-led workshops, discussions, and planning sessions to build relationships with each other, share analysis and lived experience, explore intersections between their work, and also encourage concrete reflection on ‘what’s next’. All participants in day 2 of the convening will also be supported to attend the first day of the convening.
Benefits
They will support travel, accommodation and meals for participants who would not otherwise be compensated for their attendance. Where applicable, this includes visa fees.
Topics
Indicative ideas of topics to explore:
- Racialized mass surveillance
- Border technologies
- Online surveillance and censorship of activists
- Anti-terrorism agendas
- Prisons and abolition
- Class, austerity, benefit systems
- Surveillance in the workplace, including informalized and app-based workers
- Criminalization, drug policy and racism
- Abolitionist perspectives to surveillance and technology
- How to sustain our work; resourcing financially or beyond. How do we create sustainable and supportive/ caring structures that center those most impacted?
What are they looking for?
- Interactive and participatory workshops.
- Sessions that address one or more of the themes
- Those facilitating and developing the workshop should be, or demonstrate how they involve, people directly impacted by racism & surveillance
- Proposals should link racism with technology and or /data-driven trends
- Proposals with creative or participatory methodologies
- Sessions are encouraged to be propositional – exploring ways to build resistance or address the issue at hand.
- Proposals may be submitted jointly with two or more organizations or groups.
For more information, visit https://edri.org/take-action/events/call-for-proposals-colour-of-surveillance-europe-conference-15-16-september-2022/