[EASST-Eurograd] CfA 4S Toronto 2026 - Panel "How can the study of dependency theory enhance digital sovereignty?"

[Guilherme Cavalcante Silva via Eurograd]

Dear Colleagues, 

We warmly invite you to submit an abstract (250 words max) to our panel at the next 4S Annual Meeting in Toronto, from October 7 to 10, 2026.

Title: How can the study of dependency theory enhance digital sovereignty? (Panel 254)

Organizers:
Guilherme Cavalcante Silva (York University)

Juan Ortiz-Freuler (University of Southern California)

Paola Ricaurte (Tecnológico de Monterrey)

Marco Trigoso (University of Massachusetts Amherst)

Raul Zambrano (Independent Researcher)

Description: 

Due to the growing global leverage of large technology companies, Dependency theory is experiencing a revival in the political economy and international relations literature. Recent geopolitical events in Latin America and Africa have also contributed, as ‘technoimperialistic’ interventions are apparently here to stay. The digital infrastructural dominance of the United States and China has thus grown in relevance and faces renewed scrutiny. In this context, digital sovereignty has become the new ‘darling’ of technology governance around the world, particularly in Canada and the European Union. While critical reflections on the very notion of digital sovereignty and what it entails have been widely addressed in STS and Critical Data Studies, scholars in North America and Europe have largely circumvented the potential contributions of Dependency theory to the topic.

This panel invites contributions from scholars who investigate the many relations between the international division of labor, technoimperialism, and digital sovereignty, in dialogue with theorizations of dependency. The panel receives contributions that dialogue with one or more of the following questions:

- What theoretical and methodological contributions can dependency theory offer to the study of digital sovereignty?

- How are dependency relations reproduced in the context of current technological development in its many facets (labor, human development, industrial policy, technological culture, intellectual property, etc.)?

- What new insights do the emerging studies of digital sovereignty bring to the concept of technological dependency in particular and Dependency theory in general?

- How can STS approaches benefit from the study of dependency, particularly in the scenario of emerging hype around artificial intelligence and autonomous technologies?

- What other theorizations and empirical reflections from Latin America and other regions in the Global South offer meaningful connections to the study of dependency and digital sovereignty?

The panel is an initiative of the study group “Dependency Theory and Techno-Imperialism,” which emerged from the Non-Aligned Technology Movement (NATM) network, a coalition of researchers and members of civil society who promote, design, and affirm digital technologies that privilege self-determination, sovereignty, and popular participation. More information about the network can be found here.

Submission link: https://www.4sonline.org/call_for_submissions_toronto.php

Panel ID: 254

Deadline: April 30, 2026

We look forward to receiving your submissions. If you have any questions or want to discuss presentation formats, please feel free to reach out to us!

Guilherme C. Silva

PhD Candidate

Graduate Program in Science and Technology Studies

York University

4700 Keele St, M3J1P3, Toronto, ON, Canada