The concept of digital authoritarianism signifies a shift from the specific use of digital platforms and practices by autocrats to a reliance on digital innovation as a fundamental element of authoritarian regimes, making digital technology a core component of their logic. The purpose of the workshop is to contribute to an in-depth understanding of the rise of new forms of digital authoritarianism by focusing on interdisciplinary comparative research across cases in both the Global South and Global North. It aims to develop further theoretical frameworks that support critical engagement with the role of information and communication technologies in authoritarian regimes.
The rising interest in digital authoritarianism has intensified academic debates around understanding this concept and recognising its multifaceted nature. Several factors contribute to this complexity:
1. Variety of political environments and cases: Research on digital authoritarianism addresses a diverse range of political environments and case studies. This highlights the need for comparative studies of digital authoritarianism, allowing for the recognition of diversity and the development of new conceptual bridges between various case studies.
2. Interdisciplinary nature: Research on digital authoritarianism is highly interdisciplinary. Scholars from political science, international relations, sociology, media and communication, digital humanities, computer science, and other disciplines address this topic.
3. Critical engagement with key concepts: This concept requires critical engagement with two key notions. First, the contested concept of authoritarianism. There is an increasing debate about whether the concept of digital authoritarianism can also be applied to democratic environments. Second, the concept of 'digital'. The proliferation of information technologies, deep mediatisation, and the rise of new innovations such as Generative AI make it challenging to distinguish digital aspects from other parts of our lives.
4. Methodological challenges: Studying digital authoritarianism is challenging due to the restrictive rules and surveillance imposed by dictatorial regimes. In light of this, we need to give more attention to the development of new mixed-method approaches for studying digital authoritarianism.
The workshop's purpose is to discuss future pathways for research on digital authoritarianism. Based on the workshop, we aim to develop a proposal for a special issue on digital authoritarianism.
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1: Can we distinguish between forms of digital authoritarianism depending on political environments?
2: What is the role of digital innovation in enhancing the power of authoritarian states?
3: What factors contribute to the proliferation of digital authoritarian practices from one state to another?
4: What role does AI play in the development of new forms of digital authoritarianism?
5: What are the major risks of digital authoritarianism for liberal and democratic political regimes?
1: Comparative approaches to digital authoritarianism (including a focus on the Global South)
2: The role of digital innovation (e.g., generative AI) in digital authoritarianism
3: Digital authoritarianism in democratic and liberal environments
4: New approaches to the concept of digital authoritarianism
5: Gender and digital authoritarianism
6: Digital authoritarianism and leadership
7: Methodological approaches for the analysis of digital authoritarianism
8: The future socio-technical imaginaries of digital authoritarianism
