Topics can be submitted to the board meetings via the status representatives two weeks before the meeting at the latest. Invitations go out two weeks before the meeting. Funding applications must be submitted at least two weeks in advance via the coordination (Dominik Schrey), including an explanation, cost estimate, detailed cost overview, and programme.

Applications  must be submitted at least two weeks in advance via the coordination (Dominik Schrey), including an explanation and additional documents. For further information, please refer to the following templates. Please note that the tempolates are only available in German. For english versions please contact Dominik Schrey:

• Application for association
• Application for funding of a publication
• Application for funding of an event

The board meetings include reports, public topics, and various which are open to all SFB members. Personal and financial matters won’t be public and will be discussed after the public part. Webex links for online participation will be sent out on the previous Friday. Attendance on-site is possible. 

Digital protocols will be provided via sciebo. 

Topics can be submitted to the board meetings via the status representatives two weeks before the meeting at the latest. Invitations go out two weeks before the meeting. Funding applications must be submitted at least two weeks in advance via the coordination (Dominik Schrey), including an explanation, cost estimate, detailed cost overview, and programme.

Applications  must be submitted at least two weeks in advance via the coordination (Dominik Schrey), including an explanation and additional documents. For further information, please refer to the following templates. Please note that the tempolates are only available in German. For english versions please contact Dominik Schrey:

• Application for association
• Application for funding of a publication
• Application for funding of an event

The board meetings include reports, public topics, and various which are open to all SFB members. Personal and financial matters won’t be public and will be discussed after the public part. Webex links for online participation will be sent out on the previous Friday. Attendance on-site is possible. 

Digital protocols will be provided via sciebo. 

more information to come

Topics can be submitted to the board meetings via the status representatives two weeks before the meeting at the latest. Invitations go out two weeks before the meeting. Funding applications must be submitted at least two weeks in advance via the coordination (Dominik Schrey), including an explanation, cost estimate, detailed cost overview, and programme.

Applications  must be submitted at least two weeks in advance via the coordination (Dominik Schrey), including an explanation and additional documents. For further information, please refer to the following templates. Please note that the tempolates are only available in German. For english versions please contact Dominik Schrey:

• Application for association
• Application for funding of a publication
• Application for funding of an event

The board meetings include reports, public topics, and various which are open to all SFB members. Personal and financial matters won’t be public and will be discussed after the public part. Webex links for online participation will be sent out on the previous Friday. Attendance on-site is possible. 

Digital protocols will be provided via sciebo. 

Digital media are marked by particular ambivalences towards bordering and the un/making of all kinds of boundaries. To function as seamlessly as possible, such media depend on the interoperability of various hardware and software components, devices and apps as well as on the expectations and practices of those who shape and operate them. Today’s sensor societies’ (cf. Andrejevic and Burdon 2015) promise of ‘seamless interoperability’ drives the growing implementation of so-called ‘smart’, networked computational infrastructures in urban and rural environments, for the governance of public spaces and to establish and uphold border regimes, in order to sense, capture and control human and non-human entities. Such ‘smart’ computational infrastructures thrive on and bring about increasingly unbounded – or “frameless” (Andrejevic 2018) – modes of data collection. 

Aspirations to ever more seamless data collection often go hand in hand with increasing restrictions for many to access the respective monitored environments. Sensor media-based and data-intensive environmental and individual capture, like static and mobile tracing and tracking are not only based on practices of differentiation, categorization, and calculation (cf. Friedrich 2022). They also inscribe themselves in the enforcement of border policies and ultimately in the understanding of borders themselves, in a process that Louise Amoore (2021) has called “deep bordering”. That is to say, sensor media and the wider data infrastructures they are embedded in (re)produce and reconfigure not only digital but also physical spaces and their more or less contingent boundaries, on the technical-infrastructural, societal and geopolitical level.

The ongoing effort to un/make boundaries within networked sensor media – be it in the name of efficiency, visionary design ideals, or economic competition – finds its counterpart in the un/making of boundaries through such media.  Since Mark Weiser’s (1999) famous invocation of the ideal of seamless availability of information across various devices and applications in the context of ubiquitous computing, there have been ongoing debates especially in the field of human-computer interaction about the conditions of possibility and value of “seamfulness” and “seamful design” (e.g. Chalmers 2003; Inman and Ribes 2019; Vertesi 2014). ‘Seams’ are envisioned to have the productive capacity of surfacing, emphasizing, and mobilising sites of friction and possible disconnects.

This conference aims at bringing three sites where boundaries are made, un- and re-made into a fruitful dialogue, inquiring into (deep) bordering as cooperative practice and the (re)configuration of seamlessness as an ongoing achievement:

1. In the southern EU borderlands, asymmetric seamless data collection translates into violent regimes of migration control, into practices of sensing and counter-sensing those regimes, and into attempts to cross material and digital borders. 
2. On ‘smart’ farms, the virtualisation of pasture fencing creates zones in which containment or exclusion is negotiated between more-than-human actors, that is, between livestock and the various devices used for tracking, monitoring and, ultimately, restricting their movement via operant conditioning. 
3. In urban spaces, “smart city” discourses and their innovation agenda’s promise to optimise the management of public spaces through platform technologies and networked digital devices offering “seamless” interaction and interoperability, while everyday practices of governing and navigating urban areas reveal their socio-technical “seams” opening up opportunities for situational forms of critical engagement. 

The conference welcomes contributions that engage with these sites, as well as contributions that offer a theoretical meta-perspective on seams, borders, frames and their respective absences.

References

Amoore, L. (2021). The Deep Border. Political Geography, 109, 102547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2021.102547
Andrejevic, M. B. (2018). “Framelessness”, or the cultural logic of big data. In M. Daubs & V. Manzerolle (Eds.), Mobile and Ubiquitous Media: Critical and International Perspectives (pp. 251–267). Peter Lang.
Andrejevic, M., & Burdon, M. (2015). Defining the Sensor Society. Television & New Media, 16(1), 19–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476414541552
Chalmers, M., MacColl, I., & Bell, M. (2003). Seamful design: Showing the seams in wearable computing. 2003 IEE Eurowearable, 11–16. https://doi.org/10.1049/ic:20030140
Friedrich, K. (2022). Tracken. In H. Christians, M. Bickenbach, & N. Wegmann (Eds.), Historisches Wörterbuch des Mediengebrauchs: Band 3. Böhlau Verlag. https://doi.org/10.7788/9783412514327
Inman, S., & Ribes, D. (2019). “Beautiful Seams”: Strategic Revelations and Concealments. Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300508
Vertesi, J. (2014). Seamful Spaces: Heterogeneous Infrastructures in Interaction. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 39(2), 264–284. https://doi.org/10.1177/0162243913516012
Weiser, M. (1999). The computer for the 21st century. SIGMOBILE Mob. Comput. Commun. Rev., 3(3), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1145/329124.329126

Keynotes, Workshops & Vorträge für Wissenschaft, Aktivismus und Zivilgesellschaft 

Sonne, Wasser, Wind und Boden tragen Bedeutungen und reichen weit über ihre materielle und ökonomische Macht hinaus. Ebenso verhält es sich mit seltenen Erden und Mineralien wie Gold, Kohle, Öl, Lithium und Kobalt. In ihnen offenbaren sich historisierte und materiell-diskursive Formen der Verbundenheit genauso wie Entflechtung, Rassifizierung und Entfremdung. Kolonialismus und Extraktivismus gehen Hand in Hand mit der ökologischen Beherrschung der Erde. Zugleich kann die gesellschaftliche Aushandlung der mit Extraktivismus verbundenen Klimakatastrophe Perspektiven auf Widerstand, Regeneration, Fürsorge, Vielfalt und Kreativität eröffnen. Sogenannte ‚Rohstoffe‘ erzählen von Grenzziehungen, Ausbeutung und Konflikten, aber auch von Sorge, Verbundenheit und neuen Formen des Zusammen(über)lebens. Angesichts von Ressourcen drängt sich die Frage auf, wie wir das Vorhandene in der Klimakatastrophe verteilen und nutzen wollen und wie wir Risiken gerecht verteilen. Fragen der Ressourcengerechtigkeit und Macht, der Repräsentation und gesellschaftlichen Teilhabe sind folglich untrennbar mit Prozessen medialer Vermittlung, sozialer und politischer Aushandlung und Symbolisierung verbunden. Angesichts der aktuellen technofaschistischen Regime müssen wir auch Extraktion als Gewaltform lokal und global mit proprietären technischen Infrastrukturen verbinden – im Ruhrgebiet und anderswo. Es ergeben sich dadurch neue soziale Perspektiven und Möglichkeiten intersektionaler Bündnisse, die einen anderen Blick auf postextraktive Landschaften erlauben. Erneuerbare Energietechnologien und Geoengineering stehen für Alternativen zu einer fossilen Welt, begleitet von medialen Bildern technischer, ‚grüner‘ Innovation. Aber auch sie perpetuieren extraktive Regime, oft verbunden mit Auslagerungen von Risiken, Verletzbarkeiten und Konflikten, wie sie etwa am Beispiel Wasserstoff auszumachen sind.

Die Spring School MEDIEN EXTRAKTIVISMUS setzt sich im Spannungsfeld von Medienkulturwissenschaft und Aktivismus damit auseinander, wie ‚Rohstoffe‘ gewonnen, genutzt, konstruiert, imaginiert und diskursiv verhandelt werden. Dabei wird die komplexe Verwobenheit von Materialität, medialer Inszenierung, Imagination und gesellschaftlicher Bedeutungszuweisung reflektiert:

• Welche Bilder, Narrative und Frames prägen öffentliche Vorstellungen von Rohstoffen, Energiequellen oder nachhaltigen Alternativen?
• Wie wird in journalistischen, sozialen und künstlerischen Formaten die Fragilität und Dringlichkeit von Ressourcen, aber auch ihre schöpferische Kraft der Heilung und der Sorge inszeniert?
• Welche extraktiven Regime erzeugen algorithmische und cloudbasierte Systeme oder setzen sie fort?
• Wie erzählen wir die mit KI und Cloud Computing verbundenen Wasser, Landnutzungs- und Energiekonflikte?
• Wo können wir auch im Alltag Widerstand gegen extraktive Gewalt mobilisieren und praktizieren?

Die Spring School lädt Wissenschaftler:innen, Aktive und Journalist:innen ein, theoretische und empirische Zugänge zu Ressourcen als medienkulturelle Phänomene zu erproben. Im Rahmen der Spring School wollen wir nicht nur Diskurse und Repräsentationen analysieren, sondern auch neue performative und partizipative Kommunikationsformate denken. Ziel ist es, wissenschaftliche Perspektiven mit klimapolitischem Handeln zu verbinden und damit neue Impulse für eine kritische Analyse von medienbedingter Extraktion zu setzen, die das öffentliche Verständnis von Nachhaltigkeit kritisch erweitert und angesichts der Dringlichkeit zu handeln, Umgänge mit der Klimakatastrophe finde. 

Wir freuen uns auf Vorträge von und Workshops mit Migration Audio Archiv, Jakob Claus, Gerko Egert, Azadeh Ganjeh, Matthias Grotkopp, Mariette Kesting, Frederike Lange, Petra Löffler, Julia Nitschke, Maike Reinerth, Rémi Willemin und anderen.

Zeitlicher Ablauf:

Freitag, 17. April 2026: 17:00 – 21:00 Uhr

Samstag, 18. April 2026: 10:00 – 21:00 Uhr

Sonntag, 19. April 2026: 10:00 – ca. 15:00 Uhr

Weitere Programminformationen folgen in Kürze.

Infos und Anmeldung

Wir bitten um Anmeldung an mail[æt]mediaclimatejustice.org

Das Orga-Team Alisa Kronberger, Julia Bee, Gerko Egert und Julia-Lena Reinermann 

Ann-Kristin Kolwes from Verein Erste Generation Promotion (https://www.egp-verein.de/)

About the series

The “Diversity Lunch” series is a cooperation between the CRCs “Media of Cooperation” and “Transformations of the Popular” and invites all members and interested people to discuss current topics and issues relating to diversity in science.

Participation is possible online as well as in presence in the Herren­garten. After the event, we invite you to a small snack/lunch in the Herren­garten (AH-A 208/209)!

Topics can be submitted to the board meetings via the status representatives two weeks before the meeting at the latest. Invitations go out two weeks before the meeting. Funding applications must be submitted at least two weeks in advance via the coordination (Dominik Schrey), including an explanation, cost estimate, detailed cost overview, and programme.

Applications  must be submitted at least two weeks in advance via the coordination (Dominik Schrey), including an explanation and additional documents. For further information, please refer to the following templates. Please note that the tempolates are only available in German. For english versions please contact Dominik Schrey:

• Application for association
• Application for funding of a publication
• Application for funding of an event

The board meetings include reports, public topics, and various which are open to all SFB members. Personal and financial matters won’t be public and will be discussed after the public part. Webex links for online participation will be sent out on the previous Friday. Attendance on-site is possible. 

Digital protocols will be provided via sciebo. 

Topics can be submitted to the board meetings via the status representatives two weeks before the meeting at the latest. Invitations go out two weeks before the meeting. Funding applications must be submitted at least two weeks in advance via the coordination (Dominik Schrey), including an explanation, cost estimate, detailed cost overview, and programme.

Applications  must be submitted at least two weeks in advance via the coordination (Dominik Schrey), including an explanation and additional documents. For further information, please refer to the following templates. Please note that the tempolates are only available in German. For english versions please contact Dominik Schrey:

• Application for association
• Application for funding of a publication
• Application for funding of an event

The board meetings include reports, public topics, and various which are open to all SFB members. Personal and financial matters won’t be public and will be discussed after the public part. Webex links for online participation will be sent out on the previous Friday. Attendance on-site is possible. 

Digital protocols will be provided via sciebo. 

Topics can be submitted to the board meetings via the status representatives two weeks before the meeting at the latest. Invitations go out two weeks before the meeting. Funding applications must be submitted at least two weeks in advance via the coordination (Dominik Schrey), including an explanation, cost estimate, detailed cost overview, and programme.

Applications  must be submitted at least two weeks in advance via the coordination (Dominik Schrey), including an explanation and additional documents. For further information, please refer to the following templates. Please note that the tempolates are only available in German. For english versions please contact Dominik Schrey:

• Application for association
• Application for funding of a publication
• Application for funding of an event

The board meetings include reports, public topics, and various which are open to all SFB members. Personal and financial matters won’t be public and will be discussed after the public part. Webex links for online participation will be sent out on the previous Friday. Attendance on-site is possible. 

Digital protocols will be provided via sciebo. 

Further Information will follow

With a keynote by Prof. Dr. Waverly Duck (University of California Santa Barbara).
More info coming soon.

More info coming soon.

More info coming soon.

Histories of Tracking

Université de Luxembourg | Universität Siegen

September 30 – October 2, 2026

Surveillance has become ubiquitous in digital media environments and is now taken for granted. With every PayPal interaction, at the least more than 600 trackers eavesdrop on its transactional data (Schneier 2018). While there is no lack of critique on digital surveillance and its discontents, its ubiquity and naturalization itself require more explanation. Which historical and economical trajectories have led into the current escalation of digital tracking, tracing, monitoring, classification, intelligence service, and advertising? How can we discover and mobilize counter-points and narratives that explain digital surveillance otherwise? Do micro-level media, data, and sensor practices represent “yet another mutation of capitalism,” to quote from Gilles Deleuze’s famous Postscript on the Societies of Control (1990)? 

Tracking persons, emotions, objects, apparatuses, money, signs and data is a veritable environing technique. It is also one of the key business applications of platform and data economies, which provide for the infrastructures of state-side institutional surveillance and control. With our joint Luxembourg-Siegen conference on Histories of Tracking we aim to track the trackers historiographically, technologically, and ecologically.

In a seminal text, Phil Agre (2003 [1994]) has encouraged us to think about the difference between rather centralized regimes of (visual) surveillance and data-based institutional regimes of “capture.” Agre has paved the way for a logistical theory of digital surveillance that investigates its micropolitics. While non-visual alphanumeric modes of capturing data do not feel like surveillance, they nonetheless establish an ever more mundane and affective mode of ubiquitous surveillance. What if we follow Agre’s analysis of institutional “grammars of action” that afford a whole spectrum of capturing, monitoring, sensing, and surveillant practices? Histories of tracking, we assume, are histories of the institutions, corporations, and agencies that create the tapestry of surveillance (Lauer 2017). That tapestry might seem all-encompassing and seamless by now, even if it contains loose threads, loopholes, and islands of encryption. 

Histories of tracking are co-operative histories that involve the consent, non-consent and dissent of digital media usage (Jones 2024). They are also business histories that rely on what Shoshana Zuboff (2019) has aptly called a “behavioral surplus” of data––without properly historicizing its inception. Last but not least, histories of tracking are histories of its public scrutiny and accountability, from opposing civil rights movements to the political and legal controversies that make the case for regulation.

We thus invite dedicated contributions from Media and Cultural Studies, History, Science and Technology Studies, Surveillance Studies, Platform Studies, Code Studies, Socio-Informatics, Law, and Sociology that combine historiographic and empirical work with grounded theoretical approaches. Activist and artistic positions that rethink tracking and/in/as media environments are highly welcome!

Possible thematic sections:

• Investigating tracking: activism, journalism, legal practice
• And all I got was a targeted ad
• Identification regimes, digital forensics and the human body
• Tracking beyond the West
• After 9/11: surveillance, terrorism and security
• Sensing environments and mobilized surveillance
• Counter-practices and resistance through time 
• Trajectories of debates, actors, issues, and controversies in the public space

Agre, Philip E. “Surveillance and Capture. Two Models of Privacy.” In theNewMediaReader, edited by Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Nick Montfort. MIT Press, 2003 [1994].

Deleuze, Gilles. “Postscript on the Societies of Control.” October 59 (1992): 3–7.

Jones, Meg Leta. The Character of Consent. The History of Cookies and the Future of Technology Policy. Information Policy. MIT Press, 2024.

Lauer, Josh. Creditworthy. A History of Consumer Surveillance and Financial Identity in America. Columbia University Press, 2017.

Schneier, Bruce. “The 600+ Companies PayPal Shares Your Data With – Schneier on Security.” Schneier on Security, March 14, 2018. https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2018/03/the_600_compani.html.

Zuboff, Shoshana. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism. The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. Public Affairs, 2019.

The Conference is organized by Valérie Schafer, C²DH, Université de Luxembourg, and Sebastian Gießmann, CRC Media of Cooperation, Siegen; project A01: Digital Network Technologies between Specialization and Generalization and supported by the FNR, Luxembourg and DFG, Germany.