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4 min readAug 16, 2025

This is a book project I have been thinking about for over six months, and I’ve finally made it public. The book idea emerged from our doctoral seminars in İstanbul. It also aligns with my plan to conduct an ethnography of Turkish LLM development. The CFP borrows vocabulary from the recent decolonial literature but is not necessarily bound to its frameworks.

Call for Papers: Data Politics in the Global Majority

Edited Volume on AI Development, Data Sovereignty, and Digital Futures

We invite proposals for chapters in a forthcoming edited volume that examines how data politics shapes technological development, governance structures, and lived experiences across Global Majority contexts. This collection seeks to foreground perspectives, methodologies, and case studies that challenge or complement Western-centric conceptualizations of data and AI systems, illuminating alternative frameworks emerging from diverse socio-cultural environments.

Context

The rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence systems reflects and reinforces existing global power asymmetries. While critical scholarship has increasingly questioned how data extraction and algorithmic governance operate within Western contexts, less attention has been paid to how communities, institutions, and nations in the Global Majority navigate, resist, and reconfigure these technological infrastructures. The political economy of data production, processing, and deployment manifests distinctly across diverse contexts, necessitating research that engages deeply with localized technological practices while identifying transnational patterns of power, resistance, and innovation. This volume aims to establish a conceptual framework for understanding data politics that centers Global Majority perspectives, examining how technological systems are embedded within specific historical, cultural, and political contexts while contributing to broader theorizations of data as a contested terrain of social struggle.

Primary Research Themes

We particularly welcome submissions addressing the following core themes:

1. Data Infrastructure and Digital Sovereignty

This theme interrogates how Global Majority nations develop autonomous data infrastructure while negotiating complex sovereignty questions. Potential investigations include:

Ethnographic analyses of data center development and cloud computing initiatives
Critical examinations of regulatory frameworks for data localization and cross-border data flows
Historical analyses of how postcolonial power dynamics shape infrastructure governance
Case studies of community-based digital infrastructure projects
Comparative studies of data sovereignty legislation and implementation

2. Language Data and AI Development

This theme explores how linguistic hegemony operates within AI development, examining:

Empirical investigations of language data availability across non-European languages
Ethnographic studies of local initiatives developing multilingual AI systems
Critical analyses of translation practices and cross-lingual AI development
Intersectional approaches to understanding language, technology, and power
Methodological frameworks for decolonizing language datasets

3. Alternative AI Development Models

This theme documents emergent approaches to AI governance and development that center Global Majority perspectives:

Case studies of community-centered AI initiatives and their governance frameworks
Comparative analyses of AI ethics frameworks across different cultural contexts
Ethnographic examinations of alternative values shaping technological design
Detailed studies of how traditional knowledge systems inform AI development
Critical engagement with technological appropriation and adaptation

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4. Labor and Data Production

This theme investigates the political economy of data work, focusing on:

Ethnographic studies of data annotation, content moderation, and hidden technological labor
Empirical analyses of working conditions within global AI supply chains
Historical examinations of labor organization within digital economies
Case studies of alternative models for data work and collective action
Intersectional approaches to understanding data labor exploitation

Secondary Research Themes

While focusing primarily on the themes above, we also welcome proposals addressing these secondary dimensions:

Health Data and Medical AI
Data Politics of Financial Inclusion
Agricultural Data and Food Sovereignty
Education Data and Knowledge Production
Urban Data Politics and Smart Cities
Climate Data and Environmental Justice
Digital Identity Systems and Citizenship
Cultural Heritage Data and Digital Preservation
Migration Data and Border Technologies
Religious and Spiritual Data Practices

Submission Guidelines

Abstract Submissions:

500-word abstract outlining the chapter’s focus, methodology, and primary arguments
150-word author biography including institutional affiliation and relevant publications
Indication of which primary or secondary theme the submission addresses

Timeline:

Abstract submission deadline: October 1, 2025
Notification of acceptance: October 15, 2025
Full chapter submission (6,000–8,000 words): January 31, 2026
Anticipated publication: October 2026

We particularly encourage submissions from scholars, practitioners, and community researchers based in or from Global Majority contexts. Collaborative submissions are welcome. Methodological Approaches: We welcome diverse methodological approaches, including but not limited to ethnographic studies, critical discourse analysis, historical analysis, policy evaluation, practice-based research, and theoretical interventions. All submissions should engage substantively with empirical realities while contributing to conceptual understanding of data politics.