VOX-Pol’s third biennial conference will take place at the University of Amsterdam on 20 – 21 August 2018, with post-conference workshops taking place on 22 August 2018.
VOX-Pol’s inaugural two-day conference took place at King’s College London on 28 – 29 August 2014, while VOX-Pol’s mid-project conference took place at Dublin City University on 23 – 24 June 2016.
*** REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED***
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
The full conference programme, including keynote, book launch, and 17 panels, is now available online. To view this, please click on the button below
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Mina al-Lami heads the long-established team of online jihadism experts at BBC Monitoring (BBCM). She is the editor of BBCM’s Jihadism page that features daily reports and insight on jihadist developments, trends, profiles and online platforms. Her team relies on meticulous data gathering to inform their analyses.
Mina, who is a native Arabic speaker, has been closely monitoring and researching the activities of jihadist groups and individuals online for over a decade. This constant watch has allowed her to quickly detect shifts, trends, and the latest online tools and platforms jihadists experiment with and seek to exploit.
Prior to joining the BBC in 2013, Mina was a senior visiting fellow at the London School of Economics where she focused on the subject of online radicalisation. She is a regular speaker at events related to jihadist groups and their media operations.
BOOK LAUNCH
J.M. Berger will launch his new book, Extremism (MIT Press), at an evening reception during the conference in Amsterdam.
J.M.’s prior publications include, with Jonathon Morgan, The ISIS Twitter Census (2015); with Jessica Stern, ISIS: The State of Terror (2015); and Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam (2011), along with numerous other reports and papers.
Previous to joining VOX-Pol, J.M. was a Fellow at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, a Non-resident Fellow with Brookings’ Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, an Associate Fellow at VOX-Pol partner the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College London (KCL), and an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for Counter-terrorism (ICCT) — The Hague.
J.M.’s personal website is intelwire.com, and his Twitter handle is @intelwire.
CALL FOR PAPERS
We are seeking panels and papers describing and discussing in-depth and cutting-edge research on the intersections of violent extremism and/or terrorism and the Internet.
Perspectives from all academic (sub-)disciplines are welcome, particularly communications, computer science, criminology, cultural studies, data science, ethnography, international relations, internet studies, law, linguistics, media studies, philosophy, politics, psychology, sociology, and terrorism studies.
The following topics are of particular interest:
- History and evolution of violent online extremism and/or terrorism and the Internet;
- Online radicalisation;
- The Internet and recruitment into violent political extremist and terrorist groups;
- Instructional (e.g. re. attack types, targeting, etc.) online content;
- Children/youth, violent political extremism or terrorism, and online content;
- Women/gender, violent political extremism or terrorism, and online content;
- Public attitudes to violent extremism and/or terrorism and the Internet and responses to it;
- Case studies of particular (sub-)groups’ cross-platform use of the Internet and social media;
- Case studies of the use of the Internet by violent extremists and/or terrorists in particular countries or regions;
- Case studies of the manifestation(s) and workings of violent political extremism or terrorism on specific online platforms, particularly less-studied platforms (e.g. 4Chan, Internet Archive, JustPaste.It, Reddit, Telegram, VKontakte);
- Case studies of particular online mediums or Internet-related technologies (e.g. video, mobile telephones, etc.) and their roles in violent online extremism;
- Methodologies, including mixed methods approaches, for violent political extremism and terrorism-related Internet research;
- The role of online crowdsourcing in violent political extremism and terrorism and/or countering activity;
- The role of user generated content in violent political extremism and terrorism and/or countering activity;
- Online audience reception of violent political extremist or terrorist content;
- Policy/legislative and other responses to violent online political extremism, including online CVE, takedown activity, etc;
- Future trends in violent extremism and/or terrorism and the Internet and/or in countering the latter, including the use of dedicated platforms and apps, the use of messaging apps, gaming, blockchain technologies, crypto currencies, live streaming, Darkweb, etc;
- Ethical issues surrounding online extremism-related research;
- Freedom of speech, privacy, and other concerning aspects of online disruption and CVE activity;
- Evaluative or ‘taking stock’ analyses.
We welcome papers or panel proposals in these and all relevant areas, particularly empirically grounded research and papers reporting significant new results. Papers that are methodologically innovative are also especially welcome.
POST-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
Details of the post-conference workshops can be found HERE , and on Twitter via @VOX_Pol.
ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
Authors of individual papers should submit a 300-word abstract, and five keywords.
Panel proposals should include a
- 200-word panel abstract, five keywords, along with individual paper titles;
- Confirmed list of minimum four panelists.
Submissions are only possible via our conference EasyChair page. Please note that if you do not have an EasyChair account, you will need to set one up.
The closing dates for receipt of abstract submissions is Friday 13 April.
We expect to confirm acceptances no later than Friday 11 May.
REGISTRATION
CLOSING DATE FOR REGISTRATION: 8 AUGUST 2018
**REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED**
Those choosing a Student rate should note that they will be required to supply a valid full-time student ID from their institution at conference sign-in.
There will be no on-site registration
TRAVEL FUNDING
***TRAVEL FUNDING APPLICATIONS HAVE NOW CLOSED***
The conference organisers are able to provide a limited number of travel grants for PhD students, early-career researchers (within two years of graduation, maximum), end-users, and colleagues from the developing world. Support may be requested towards the cost of registration fees, transportation, and accommodation. Travel awards will be assessed, based on individual need, estimated cost of participation, and overall demand for funding. Reimbursement can only be processed subsequent to travel, via electronic funds transfer, upon receipt of original receipts, boarding passes, proof of participation, etc. Further details regarding the application and reimbursement process will be provided when decisions are made on selected papers. When you register for the event, you will have the option to apply for a travel grant.
VISAS
Countries whose nationals require a visa to enter the Netherlands are listed HERE. Participants may request a letter confirming their conference registration for visa purposes during the conference registration process. Letters of support cannot be processed in advance of conference registration.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Please email us at conference@voxpol.eu.