Pluralist Perspectives on Digital Technologies and Societal Transformation

EAEPE and the Philosophy of Economics Working Group of the INET YSI are putting their forces together to organize the 11th pre-conference workshop which will be held on 23 September 2025 in Athens. 

 We are pleased to announce the following talks: 

“Environmental Intelligence: AI for a Diverse Society” by Sabina Leonelli (Technical University of Munich) 

“Political economy vs. evolutionary perspectives on (digital) technology and innovation” by George Liagouras (University of the Aegean) 

“Media Discourses, Digital Capitalism, and the Struggle for Socio-Ecological Futures” by Hendrik Theine (Johannes Kepler University Linz) 

 The purpose of this year’s EAEPE YSI pre-conference workshop is to explore pluralist perspectives on digital technologies, and to bring them together on a common ground. Artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies are reshaping our society at an unprecedented pace, sparking debates and discussions across disciplines and opening up spaces to analyze existing social challenges in a new light. But the discourse surrounding digital technologies is too fragmented in different strands of disciplines such as standard economics, political economy approaches, and Science and Technology Studies (STS) without a common framework clear of ambiguities. Bridging these perspectives is both timely and necessary. The pre-conference speakers and participants will reflect on how different strands of disciplines can be integrated or contrasted to provide a more nuanced understanding of digital technologies and their role for societal transformation. 

Following the talks, participants will have the chance to participate in group discussions. Furthermore, there will be a get-together session where young scholars will introduce themselves and their research interests and get the chance to get feedback from and pair up with other young and senior scholars. Coffee break, lunch, and a social dinner will provide further space to connect and warm up for the main conference.  All pre-conference participants are warmly invited to participate at EAEPE’s main conference. 

Application

You can apply for the pre-conference during the registration process for the main conference. Please register for the main conference by choosing the ‘PhD registration for members.’ After you ‘proceed to check out,’ you will be directed to enter your information and answer some questions. Among them is ‘apply for the pre-conference?’ where you should click on ‘yes.’ 

The reduced rate (90 euro) for PhD students covers the costs of coffee breaks and lunches during the main conference. Participation in the pre-conference (including all meals and social dinner) is free of charge for those who registered for the main conference.  Pre-conference application opens on May 27, 2025, and closes on June 28, 2025. You will receive a notification of acceptance per email by the pre-conference organizers around July 10. 

In addition, thanks to the INET YSI support, we have some limited stipends available to partially cover the travel expenses of young scholars who do not have support from their home institutions. To apply, please send a short application letter before June 20, 2025, to eaepe.preconference@gmail.com 

For more information please visit the EAEPE YSI Pre-Conference Website.