Socializing Algorithms Conference

Three-day conference, Oktober 7-9, 2026, Kiel University, Germany

Confirmed invited keynotes include:
- N.Katherine Hayles, UCLA
- Louise Amoore, Durham University

Confirmed invited speakers include:
- Regine Paul, University of Bergen
- Fabian Ferrari, Utrecht University
- Malte Ziewitz, Cornell University
- Marc Lenglet, NEOMA Business School
- Orit Halpern, TU Dresden
- Minna Ruckenstein, University of Helsinki
- Nikola Glaubitz, Kiel University
- Jens Schröter, Bonn University
- Robert Gorwa, WZB Berlin Social Science Center

About the conference
Algorithms have become central objects of contemporary societies. They shape how we communicate, work, consume, govern, and imagine possible futures. Yet, despite their pervasiveness, algorithms are not merely technical systems: they are social, political, and cultural objects, embedded in relations of power, shaped by economic incentives, and infused with visions of what society should be. This conference, Socializing Algorithms, brings together scholars from across disciplines to examine algorithms not as isolated technologies, but as co-produced within social practices, institutions, and imaginaries. To structure this exploration, the conference is organized into three strands that address algorithms as socially embedded systems (Socializing Algorithms), as objects of regulation and instruments of governance (Governance and Accountability), and as sites for imagining alternative futures (Socio-technical Imaginaries).

Aim of the conference and Call for Paper
The Socializing Algorithms conference brings these strands together to examine algorithms as simultaneously technical systems, regulatory objects, and sites of future-making. By focusing on processes of socialization, governance, and imaginaries, the conference seeks to move beyond essentialist debates about whether algorithms are powerful or powerless, transparent or opaque, and instead highlights how they are co-produced in practice.
We are inviting scholarly contributions tackling questions along one of these streams and we hope the conference will serve as the foundation for a network of researchers and practitioners for further collaboration. The conference is hosted by the “Governing Algorithms” project (DFG) at the Institute of Social Sciences at Kiel University (Prof. Robert Seyfert). The conference will be organised around keynotes, paper presentations, and discussions. It is in-person and requires the submission of an abstract and presentation of a paper. Remote participation or presentation is not possible. For accepted presenters we are able to cover travel and accommodation costs.

Link to Call for Paper: https://www.st.uni-kiel.de/de/aktuelles/call-for-paper-socializing-algorithms-conference

Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words (excluding bibliography) by February 28, 2026. Abstracts and further questions should be sent to the following email address:
Conference_2026@algorithmen-regieren.de