Big data influences social, cultural, economical and political aspects of today's society. With 'big data' being one of the most debated topics of 2017, we want to bring specialists to understand this concept in relation to politics in the broader sense. Each month, our new seminar series "Rethinking politics in data times" will invite scholars from different fields to discuss how data changes the way we discuss, analyse, argue and think about politics.

For the first session of the seminar series we are excited to have Dr. Lina Dencik from Cardiff University to talk about her ERC: 'Data justice: understanding datafication in relation to social justice'. Dr. Dencik's research concerns the interplay between media developments and social and political change, with a particular focus on resistance and globalisation. Recently, she has moved into the areas of digital surveillance and the politics of data and worked on the ESRC-funded project Digital Citizenship and Surveillance Society and the project Managing Threats: Social Media Uses for Policing Domestic Extremism and Disorder funded by the Media Democracy Fund, Ford Foundation and Open Society Foundations. Dr. Dencik also co-directs the Data Justice lab together with Dr. Joanna Redden and Dr. Arne Hintz at Cardiff university, UK. The Data Justice lab seeks to advance a research agenda that examines the intricate relationship between datafication and social justice, highlighting the politics and impacts of data-driven processes and big data.

Join us for the debate on our live tweeting -> #RethinkingPoliticsData

When: Monday, October 2nd 2017, at 5pm.

Where: Windsor Building, Room 103, Royal Holloway University, Egham.