The Big Data from the South Initiative is a space for theoretical and empirical exchange on the challenges of datafication and massive data collection as they unfold in the plurality of South(s) inhabiting our increasingly complex world. It brings together researchers, practitioners and activists and engages in various activities, including events, a dedicated blog, and presentations at conferences. For us, the South is a plural, multilayered place of (and a proxy for) resistance, subversion and creativity. We can find countless Souths also in the Global North, as long as people resist injustice and fight for better life conditions against the impending data capitalism.
The Big Data from the South Initiative was launched in July 2017 by Stefania Milan (University of Amsterdam) and Emiliano Treré (Cardiff University), who co-organized a one-day event in Cartagena, Colombia, as a pre-conference to the annual meeting of the International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR). Entitled ‘Big Data from the South: From media to mediations, from datafication to data activism’, it interrogated the mythology and universalism of datafication and big data from an epistemology of the South perspective, and was attended by about 50 people between academics and activists.
Events
- ‘Big Data from the South: From media to mediations, from datafication to data activism’ (Cartagena, Colombia, July 15, 2017). The event was made possible by the funding of DATACTIVE/European Research Council and by the generous engagement of Guillén Torres (DATACTIVE) and Fundación Karisma (Bogotá), and assistance of the IAMCR local organizing committee.
- ‘Big Data from the Global South’ panel series: three panels at the annual conference of the Latin American Studies Association (Barcelona, Spain, May 25, 2018), with the leadership of Anita Say Chan (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign).
- ‘Big Data from the South: Towards a Research Agenda’, a 2-day workshop in Amsterdam (sponsored by the Amsterdam Center for Globalization Studies and the Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis)
Publications & debate
- A Special Issue of the peer-reviewer journal Television and New Media, edited by Stefania and Emiliano. The leading article is open access!
- Big Data from the South: the blog, launched on October 16, 2017 with a blog post co-authored by Stefania and Emiliano, and entitled ‘Big Data from the South: The beginning of a conversation we must have’, translated into Spanish and Portuguese. The multilingual blog hosts contributions from academics, practitioners and activists across the globe, and is edited by Stefania, Emiliano and Anita. To date, authors have included Anna Berti Suman, Miren Gutierrez, Guillen Torres, Claudio Altenhain, Virginia Brussa, Martín Tironi and Matías Valderrama Barragán, and Anna Carlson.
- “Big Data from the South: Towards a Research Agenda” (workshop report), DATACTIVE Working Paper Series 04/2019, edited by Milan and Treré (December 2019)
Continue the discussion
- via the dedicated mailing-list. Subscribe here!
- A dedicated logo, designed by Carlo de Gaetano and Federica Bardelli.
Big Data from the South is financially supported by DATACTIVE/the European Research Council.