Socializing Algorithms Conference

Three-day conference, Oktober 7-9, 2026, Schleswig-Holstein State Library at Kulturspeicher Kiel, Germany

About the conference
Algorithms have become central objects of contemporary societies. They shape how we communicate, work, consume, govern, and imagine possible futures. Yet, despite their pervasiveness, algorithms are not merely technical systems: they are social, political, and cultural objects, embedded in relations of power, shaped by economic incentives, and infused with visions of what society should be. This conference, Socializing Algorithms, brings together scholars from across disciplines to examine algorithms not as isolated technologies, but as co-produced within social practices, institutions, and imaginaries. To structure this exploration, the conference is organized into three strands that address algorithms as socially embedded systems (Socializing Algorithms), as objects of regulation and instruments of governance (Governance and Accountability), and as sites for imagining alternative futures (Socio-technical Imaginaries).

Aim of the conference
The Socializing Algorithms conference brings these strands together to examine algorithms as simultaneously technical systems, regulatory objects, and sites of future-making. By focusing on processes of socialization, governance, and imaginaries, the conference seeks to move beyond essentialist debates about whether algorithms are powerful or powerless, transparent or opaque, and instead highlights how they are co-produced in practice.
We are inviting scholarly contributions tackling questions along one of these streams and we hope the conference will serve as the foundation for a network of researchers and practitioners for further collaboration. The conference is hosted by the “Governing Algorithms” project (DFG) at the Institute of Social Sciences at Kiel University (Prof. Robert Seyfert). The conference will be organised around keynotes, paper presentations, and discussions. It is in-person and requires the submission of an abstract and presentation of a paper. Remote participation or presentation is not possible. For accepted presenters we are able to cover travel and accommodation costs.

If you would like to attend the conference as a guest, please contact us in advance at the following email address:
Conference_2026@algorithmen-regieren.de



Conference Program - Socializing Algorithms Conference
Schleswig-Holstein State Library at Kulturspeicher Kiel, Germany,
October 7-9, 2026




07.10., Day 1; Location: Kulturspeicher Kiel

17:00: Opening Remarks (Seyfert) + Welcome Message (Director of Kulturspeicher)

18:00 - 20:00: Keynote I - N. Katherine Hayles: Does ‘Planetary Cognition’ Make Sense? Modifying It So It Does

20:00 Uhr: Reception



08.10., Day 2; Location: Kulturspeicher Kiel and Hansa 48

9:30 – 11:00: Panel 1 - Algorithmic Imaginaries commented by Jens Schröter (University of Bonn, GER)

- Lecture 1: Orit Halpern (TU Dresden, GER): A Government of Agents

- Lecture 2: Anna-Verena Nosthoff (University of Oldenburg, GER): tba

- Lecture 3: Jasmin Pfefferkorn/Emilie K. Sunde (University of Melbourne, AUS): Constructive Alternatives. A Reflexive Aesthetics for Generated Images


11:00 - 11:30: Coffee break

11:30 – 13:00: Panel 2 - Algorithmic Sociality I commented by Nikola Glaubitz (University of Kiel, GER)

- Lecture 1: Minna Ruckenstein (University of Helsinki, FIN): Autonomy and Feedback Loops in Algorithmic Sociality

- Lecture 2: Ronja Trischler/Cornelius Schubert (TU University Dortmund, GER): Repairing Algorithms. Praxeological Notes on a Mode of Social Ordering

- Lecture 3: Nathalie Schaefer (Bauhaus-University Weimar, GER): (De)Socializing Algorithms. Rethinking Algorithm-Human Relations Through the Practice of Unfollowing


13:00 – 14:30: Lunch

14:30 – 16:00: Panel 3 - Algorithmic Sociality II commented by tba

- Lecture 1: Renèe Ridgway (Aarhus University, DEN): (Re)imagining Knowledge Infrastructures. Open Source Chatbots as the Future of Search?

- Lecture 2: Xueni Yang (University of Leeds, UK): “Words Chasing Words”. Algorithmic Infrastructure of Feeling in Chinese Romance Reality TV Discussions

- Lecture 3: Maurice Stenzel (Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, GER):  Configurations of the Human in the Loop. Trust,  Accountability, and Human Judgment in Automated Decision-Making


17:00 - 19:00: Dinner

19:30 - 21:30: Keynote II - Future Histories Podcast with Louise Amoore at Hansa48


09.10., Day 3; Location: Kulturspeicher Kiel

9:30 - 11.00:  Panel 4 - Algorithmic Governance I commented by tba

- Lecture 1: Fabian Ferrari (Utrecht University, NL):  From Sovereignty to Leverage. Models, Machines, and Markets

- Lecture 2: Marc Lenglet (NEOMA Business School, FR): From Algorithmic Regulation to Algorithmic Governance. The Transformation of Financial Normativity

- Lecture 3: Heiner Heiland/Matthias Sommer (University of Göttingen, GER): Algorithmic Management at Work. Analyzing Worker-Algorithm Relations


11:00 – 11:30: Coffee Break

11:30 – 13:00: Panel 5 – Algorithmic Governance II commented by Daniel Neyland (University of Bristol, UK)

- Lecture 1: Malte Ziewitz (Cornell University, US): Humans of AI

- Lecture 2: Anna-Marie Rönsch (Leuphana University Lüneburg, GER): Regulating Access, Co-Producing Algorithms. The Paradox of AI-Overlays in Web Accessibility

- Lecture 3: Blue Maignien (University of Sheffield, UK): The Politics of Time in the Use of Surveillance Technology in Inpatient Mental Health Care


13:00: Lunch/Ending

Additionally as a PDF: Preliminary Conference Program + Abstracts

Conference Poster as a PDF