Discussion: View Thread

 Technology and Social Justice in Management: Power, Equity, and Ethics

March 6- 8, 2025, New York

Conference website can be accessed here.

Organizing Committee:

• Latha Poonamallee, The New School (Chair)
• Simy Joy, Independent Scholar, formerly with University of East Anglia & IIM – Kozhikode, India.
• Anita Howard, Case Western Reserve University
• Joanne Scillitoe, California State University, Northridge
• Akhil, S.G, Case Western Reserve University

We are pleased to invite scholars, educators, practitioners, entrepreneurs, and students to submit abstracts of papers, proposals for workshops and panel discussions to participate in the 2025 Management and Social Justice Conference to be held in New York.

Background:

From May 2020, the Management and Social Justice collective has examined the peculiar and paradoxical challenge that haunts the field of management studies. On one hand, management is frequently demonized as a realm of oppressive ideas and practices on how to impoverish the world further by focusing on extractive economies that depend on endless growth. On the other hand, there is widespread agreement on the necessity for such ideas to make the world we inhabit a slightly better place and even use management theory and practice for collective advancement. Together, we have examined, debated, embraced, and critiqued these ideas and practices over the last four years in virtual conversations and in the 2023 conference held in New York City. 

The Call

The continuing animating question is if it is possible to think of management in terms of larger questions of social justice and use management ideas and practices to generate social justice (whether ecological, economic, racial, sexual, or gender). For the 2025 conference, we are focusing on the role of technology in shaping managing for social justice. Technology has a significant impact on how management thoughts evolve (Bodrozic & Adler, 2017; Bodrozic & Alder, 2022; Akhil, S.G. & Poonamallee, L. 2023). The role of technology innovation for solving social and environmental problems is well-established (Poonamallee, et.al. 2021; Scillitoe, et.al. 2019; Joy, et.al. 2022).  However, it is a complicated space with contradictory beliefs and evidence. While technology has made workplace flexibility possible through remote work practices, it has given rise to surveillance capitalism (Zuboff, 2018). While technology innovation has led to an empowered civil society and citizen science applications, it has also led to organizations like Cambridge Analytica, psychological profiling of voters and targeted misinformation and disinformation campaigns challenging the very foundations of democracy. Technology has bridged access and resource gaps in education and global health while also simultaneously deepening wealth gaps and data ownership and particularly the vulnerable and lower socioeconomic classes are subject to even more disempowerment. Open source, distributed, and collectively and cooperatively owned technologies are increasingly popular, wealthiest men on the planet who own close to half of the planet's wealth are all connected with technology as business. We hope to explore some of these issues in this conference in a critical, collaborative, and constructive fashion and continue to strengthen this community of inquiry and practice.

We encourage submissions from a diverse array of fields and not just what one sees as traditional management, i.e. folks who work in business schools or work in businesses or occupy the role of managers or entrepreneurs. We welcome contributions from different disciplines including humanities and arts, different industries, different occupations, different vantage points, and different perspectives. Please see Annexure 1 at the end of this call for a list of potential (not exhaustive topics and questions).

Full papers are not necessary for inclusion in this conference. Full papers if submitted however will be fast-tracked for review in an edited volume currently under consideration with Palgrave Macmillan/Springer, who published previous edited volumes Socio-Tech Innovation: Harnessing Technology Innovation for Social Good (2020) and Managing for Social Justice: Harnessing Management Theory and Practice for Collective Good (2023).

Submission Information:

All submissions must be at least 750 words and not more than 1500 words. We invite the following types of submissions:

• Scholarly submissions (750-1500 words): We will organize both traditional paper presentations and poster sessions.
• Proposals for Teaching Demos/Workshops Must have details about the workshop or demo design; must have an experiential component.
• Practice panels (minimum 1500 words). Practice panels should introduce the topic and list panelists who have agreed to participate and attend the conference and their expertise.

We encourage all proposals to consider the implications for teaching and practice.

Please include a separate title page with names, affiliations, and email contact for all the submitters. Submit to poonamallee@newschool.edu with the subject line Management and Social Justice Conference Submission.

Important Dates:

Deadline for submission of abstracts: Nov 15, 2024

Acceptance Notification: Dec 15, 2025

Conference Early Bird registration: Feb 5, 2025

Conference dates: March 6-8, 2025

Email poonamallee@newschool.edu with questions.

Annexure 1: Examples of topics and themes

Tech for Social Good: Addressing Inequality through Innovation

• How technological advancements can help bridge economic, educational, and healthcare gaps in marginalized communities.
• How can design processes be made more inclusive to reflect the needs of marginalized and underrepresented communities (e.g., racial minorities, people with disabilities)?
• Case studies on inclusive design in technology, architecture, and product design.

Decolonizing Technology: Rethinking technology innovation and Practices

• Exploring the colonial legacies embedded in technology innovation practices and how to decolonize tech education and industries.
• How indigenous and local knowledge can inform technology that respects cultural diversity and promotes social justice.

AI and Bias: Can Machines Be Truly Neutral?

• Examining how artificial intelligence perpetuates bias and discrimination, and how to create fair and transparent algorithms.
• Designing AI and machine learning systems that mitigate racial, gender, and socio-economic bias.
• Strategies for ensuring fairness and accountability in algorithmic decision-making.

Data Privacy and Surveillance: Protecting Vulnerable Communities

• The impact of data collection on marginalized populations and the importance of privacy rights in a digital world.
• Examining how design choices in surveillance technology impact privacy, especially in marginalized communities.
• Designing technologies that respect civil liberties while maintaining public safety.

Digital Divide: Ensuring Equitable Access to Technology

• Strategies for reducing the digital divide in terms of internet access, digital literacy, and access to emerging technologies.

Tech Labor: Workers' Rights in the Gig Economy

• Discussing the challenges faced by workers in tech-driven industries (e.g., gig economy, remote work) and how labor rights can be protected.
• How to design technologies that support fair labor practices such as automation and AI transform industries.
• Ensuring that technological advancements promote equitable job creation and worker protections, particularly for vulnerable populations.

Accessible and inclusive Tech: Designing for Disability and Inclusion

• How technology can empower individuals with disabilities, and the importance of inclusive design in tech development.
• How ethical tech design can incorporate social justice principles to promote inclusivity and fairness for all users.

Blockchain and Decentralized Technologies: Empowering Social Movements

• How blockchain and decentralized technologies can support grassroots activism, social movements, and alternative economies.

Tech and the Climate Crisis: Addressing Environmental Justice

• How technology can both contribute to and solve environmental issues, particularly for marginalized communities disproportionately affected by climate change. For example, as we generate more renewable energy, our energy consumption increases through novel technologies such as cryptocurrencies and cloud computing.
• The intersection of technology, climate change, and environmental justice.
• How technology can help vulnerable communities facing the brunt of environmental degradation.
• The ethics of developing and deploying green technologies.

Cybersecurity and Protecting Activists

• The role of cybersecurity in protecting human rights defenders and social justice activists from state and corporate surveillance.
• Best practices for ensuring the digital security of social movements.

Representation in Tech: Closing the Gap in Diversity

• Exploring the lack of diversity in the tech industry and how to create more inclusive spaces for underrepresented groups.

The Future of Work: Automation, AI, and Economic Justice

• How the rise of automation and AI will impact labor markets, particularly for vulnerable populations, and strategies for an equitable future of work.
• Proposals for inclusive policies such as Universal Basic Income (UBI) and retraining programs.

Tech Policy and Advocacy: Shaping Legislation for Social Justice

• The role of tech policy in advancing or hindering social justice causes and the importance of advocacy for equitable regulations.

Social Media and Justice: Amplifying Voices, Combating Disinformation

• How social media platforms are used to amplify marginalized voices, while also being battlegrounds for disinformation and hate speech.
• How marginalized communities use social media to amplify their voices and organize.
• The role of social media platforms in perpetuating hate speech, misinformation, and censorship.
• Regulatory frameworks to ensure that social media platforms promote justice and accountability.

Digital Health and Equity: Access and Innovation in Marginalized Communities

• The impact of digital health technologies on improving healthcare access in underserved populations.
• Challenges in business models and cost structures: who pays for it?

Designing Digital Public Spaces: Equity in Virtual Worlds

• Exploring the social justice implications of design in virtual spaces, including social media, gaming, and the metaverse.
• How can digital public spaces be designed to be inclusive, safe, and accessible for all users?

Design Justice and Power: Who Controls the Design Process?

• Analyzing how power dynamics shape the design process and whose voices are centered or marginalized.
• How to democratize the design process and promote equity in design leadership and decision-making.

Participatory Design: Engaging Communities in the Design Process

• Involving underrepresented communities in the design process to create products, services, and systems that meet their specific needs.
• Case studies on co-designing with marginalized groups and the role of participatory design in social justice movements

Designing Tech for Activism: Tools for Social Justice Movements

• The role of design in creating platforms and tools for activism, protest, and organizing social justice movements.
• Case studies of design innovation in movements like Black Lives Matter, climate justice protests, and feminist movements.

Technological Power and Inequity: Who Benefits from Innovation?

• Who do technological advancements in business benefit?
• How management can ensure that the benefits of innovation are distributed equitably across an organization.

Email poonamallee@newschool.edu with questions.