In this lecture, Rafael Grohmann, assistant professor of Media Studies at the University of Toronto, draws from Latin American traditions of critical thought to challenge dominant narratives about AI and labor.

Building on recent work in Big Data & Society and the Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society, Grohmann frames how past epistemologies, histories, and political struggles of Latin America can inform current debates on AI. Rather than treating the region as a passive site of technological implementation, he emphasizes how enduring theories of informality and dependency are essential to understanding how AI is implemented, contested, and reimagined in the region. This means centering Latin American perspectives not merely as sites of study, but as central to the development of epistemologies and theories on digital humanities.

The talk frames Latin America as ‘labor-atories’ for digital economies. The region has long served as a testing ground for neoliberal policies, which now continue through the platform economy and the AI context. But it has also been a space of experimentation by the working class. This lecture will address the power of collective grassroots organising, digital solidarity economies, and the ways in which workers – particularly in Brazil and Argentina – are negotiating digital sovereignty and autonomy from below.

Finally, Grohmann calls for non-extractive, collaborative research practices that take seriously the knowledge produced by workers, activists, and grassroots organisations. This requires moving beyond traditional policy frameworks and into the terrain of lived experiences in order to understand AI governance from below.

Practical information

This online lecture will take place on Thursday 30 October, from 15:30 to 16:30 hours, via a Teams webinar. A link to join will be sent to al registrants before the event. You can sign up via the registration form at the bottom of this page. Participation is free of charge.

Level

No prior knowledge or experience in digital humanities is required. The lecture will be held in English.

For whom?

This online lecture is open to all interested in the lecture topic or the work of Rafael Grohmann.

About

Rafael Grohmann is Assistant Professor of Media Studies (Critical Platform Studies) at the University of Toronto and Research Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford. He leads DigiLabour and is one of the founding editors-in-chief of the Platforms & Society journal.

His research focuses on the ways workers are building collectivities and trying to govern digital technologies such as platforms, data, and AI. It also analyses how Latin American histories inform the present and futures of workers and technologies in the region. Grohmann has published on sectors such as food delivery, media, technology, data work and click farm. He is the principal investigator of Worker-Owned Intersectional Platforms (WOIP) and Creative Labour and Critical Futures (CLCF). He is also conducting research on queer and trans perspectives for labour and technology. His first book in English will analyse how workers are failing and learning to govern platforms through co-operatives, social movements and unions in Brazil and Argentina.

Registration

To sign up, please complete the registration form below. If you are unable to attend after registering, kindly email cdh@uu.nl to cancel. Thank you for your cooperation.