81969 - FEMINIST CRITIQUES OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL THOUGHT (1) (LM)

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

At the end of the course students will acquire a knowledge of the ways in which women had historically criticized the theoretical justification of their subordination articulated in Western political and social thought. By applying the fundamental tools of feminist and post-colonial theories, the course will provide an historical analysis of political and social concepts – such as authority, freedom, rights, citizenship, society, labor – as the expression of gendered relations of power.

Contenuti

Feminist critiques and the politics of the algorithm

The module is a component of the integrated course (IC) in «Political Theory». It introduces students to the «politics of the algorithm», by explaining how social relations are embedded into – and reproduced by – algorithm-driven technologies. A close reading of some of the most recent contributions of feminist political theory to the understanding and critique of the “politics of the algorithm” is combined with that of some classic texts of feminist political thought in the second half of the twentieth century. Algorithmic operations – such as the rating of results on search engines, facial recognition, recommendation systems, matching systems – are explained and interpreted through feminist lens, in order to investigate how the algorithm redefines some key political concepts such as identity, gendered/sexual difference, and recognition in the field of tension between masculine domination, racist discrimination, capitalist exploitation and women’s claim for freedom.

Power-points and selected writings will be uploaded on Virtuale before the beginning of the course. Reading the uploaded materials is not compulsory, but it is suggested to encourage discussion during classes.

— Weeks 1: introduction to «the politics of the algorithm»

The first week is devoted to providing students with the tools necessary to understand and define «the politics of the algorithm». What is an algorithm? What are the main social and political concerns related to the widespread application of artificial intelligence?

— Week 2: Feminism confronts technology

The second week will provide an overview of different feminist approaches to science and technology, by emphasizing the material-semiotic dimension of the feminist critique.

— Week 3: Data Feminism

The third week focuses on Data Feminism, one of the main feminist ‘technical’ responses to the algorithms’ effects of domination and discrimination. Data feminism will be introduced by exposing its specific feminist theoretical roots through the explanation of categories such as «white supremacist capitalist patriarchy», «performativity», and «intersectionality».

— Week 4: Algorithmic identities

Starting from case-studies — Meta’s management of the user’s self-identification, reccomendation systems – the fourth week focuses on the feminist critique of the algorithmic codification of identities.

— Week 5: Algorithmic recognition

Starting from case-studies – the discriminations produced by facial recognition systems, the algorithmic distribution of social services – the fifth week focuses on the feminist critique of neoliberal identity politics and its algorithmic reproduction.

Testi/Bibliografia

— Compulsory readings (for all students) — uploaded on Virtuale:

– K. Crawford, Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2021, part. Introduction, Ch. III, Ch. IV.

– S. Harding, The Science Question in Feminism, Ithaca-New York, Cornell University Press, 1986, part. ch. I.

– D. Haraway, Situated Knowledges. The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective, in S. Harding (ed), The Feminist Stand Point Theory Reader. Intellectual & Political Controversies, New York and London, Routledge, 2004, pp. 81-101.

— Attending students should choose one of the following texts for the paper [students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending].

–Benjamin R., Race after Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code, Cambridge, Polity Press, 2019.

– Broussard M., More than a Glitch. Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech, The MIT Press, 2023.

– Browne J., Cave S., Drage E., McInerney K., (eds), Feminist AI: Critical Perspectives on Algorithms, Data, and Intelligent Machines, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2023 (open access resource: https://academic.oup.com/book/55103 )

–Chun W.H.K., Discriminating Data. Correlation, Neighborhoods, and the New Politics of Recognition, Cambridge (MS) – London, The MIT Press, 2021.

– D’Ignazio C. and Klein L.F., Data Feminism, The MIT Press, 2020.

– D’Ignazio C., Counting Femicides. Data Feminism in Action, Cambridge (MS) – London, The MIT Press, 2024

(open access resource: https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/5767/Counting-FeminicideData-Feminism-in-Action)

– Haraway D., Simians, Cyborgs, and Women. The Reinvention of Nature, Routledge, 1991.

– Noble S.U., Algorithms of Oppression. How Search Engines Reinforce Racism, New York, New York University Press, 2018.

– Plant S., Zeroes + Ones. Digital Women and the New Technoculture, Harper Collins, 1998.

– Wajcman J., Technofeminism, Cambridge-Malden, Polity Press, 2004.

Non attending students should choose two texts from the following list for the oral exam [students who attend less than 75% of the lessons are considered non-attending]

–Benjamin R., Race after Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code, Cambridge, Polity Press, 2019.

– Broussard M., More than a Glitch. Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech, The MIT Press, 2023.

– Browne J., Cave S., Drage E., McInerney K., (eds), Feminist AI: Critical Perspectives on Algorithms, Data, and Intelligent Machines, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2023 (open access resource: https://academic.oup.com/book/55103 )

– Chun W.H.K., Discriminating Data. Correlation, Neighborhoods, and the New Politics of Recognition, Cambridge (MS) – London, The MIT Press, 2021.

– D’Ignazio C. and Klein L.F., Data Feminism, The MIT Press, 2020.

– D’Ignazio C., Counting Femicides. Data Feminism in Action, Cambridge (MS) – London, The MIT Press, 2024

(open access resource: https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/5767/Counting-FeminicideData-Feminism-in-Action)

– Haraway D., Simians, Cyborgs, and Women. The Reinvention of Nature, Routledge, 1991.

– Noble S.U., Algorithms of Oppression. How Search Engines Reinforce Racism, New York, New York University Press, 2018.

– Plant S., Zeroes + Ones. Digital Women and the New Technoculture, Harper Collins, 1998.

– Wajcman J., Technofeminism, Cambridge-Malden, Polity Press, 2004.

Metodi didattici

Teaching method will be based on lectures. Questions and discussion among students, are strongly encouraged.

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

If the course is a component of an Integrated Course (C.I.) in the student's syllabus, the examination of the two component courses of the C.I. must be taken on a single date and the final grade will be the arithmetic mean of the grades obtained in the two components.

— Attending students will write a final paper (minimum 5000 maximum 7000 words, including notes and references) based on the compulsory and chosen texts from the bibliography. The paper should be sent to the teacher one week before the exam via email. The paper will not be discussed during the exam day. The teacher will communicate to the students their grade via email before the exam day. All editorial criteria are admitted, under condition of being homogeneous. Students have to write their name, matricula and email, the title of the course and the date of submission on the front page. At the moment of the submission, they must specify wether they enrolled for the IC in Critical Theory.

Non attending students will have to pass an oral exam based on the compulsory and chosen texts, with questions aimed to verify their knowledge of the book contents.

In all cases, the assessment will concentrate particularly on the skill displayed by the students in handling the sources and material in the exam bibliography and their ability to find and use information and examples to illustrate and correlate the various themes and problems addressed in the course and discussed during the lectures (in case of attending students). It will be also assessed the capacity of a student to display an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the material and a confident and effective use of the appropriate terminology.

The assessment will thus examine the student's:

— factual knowledge of the subject;

— ability to summarise and analyse themes and concepts;

— familiarity with the terminology associated with the subject and ability to use it effectively.

Evaluation criteria:

Proper language, factual knowledge of the subject and the ability to both expose synthetically and critically speak about the choosen topic or the contents of the chosen texts will lead to a good/excellent final grade

Acceptable language and the ability to resume the contents of the chosen texts will lead to a sufficient/fair grade.

Insufficient linguistic proficiency and fragmentary knowledge of the chosen topic or the contents of the chosen texts will lead to a failure in passing the exam.

Exam sessions are scheduled for the following months of the academic year (one session per month):

- January, February, April, June, July, September, October, November.

Exam sessions are open for all students.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

Power point will be used as a visual guide to lectures. They will be uploaded on virtuale.

 

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities:

Please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Paola Rudan