Dear all,
We have officially started the countdown to our conference INDL-8 – "Contesting Digital Labor: Resistance, Counter-Uses, and New Directions for Research", in Bologna, Italy.
Yes—Bologna! "La Rossa, La Grassa, La Dotta"—The Red, The Fat, and The Learned. The city of tortellini and medieval towers. Home to Europe's oldest university and centuries of rebellious thinking.
This year's edition is packed with great speakers challenging the status quo of digital labor research, as well as exciting events (at some rather unexpected locations...).
Keynote Speakers:
- • Sarah T. Roberts(UCLA, USA) on "the hydra of AI", labor devaluation & human agency
- • Maria Luz Rodríguez Fernandez(UCLM, Spain) on data ownership and worker rights in the platform economy
- • Sandro Mezzadra(University of Bologna, Italy) on digital labor, resistance & infrastructural struggles
... Plus, our panelists:
- • Joan Kinyua(Data Labelers Association, Kenya)
- • Felipe Corredor Álvarez(RidersxDerechos, Spain)
Special Event @ DAMA Tecnopolo:
Data centers are normally off-limits. It's not every day you step inside one—let alone host a meeting of researchers, workers, and union leaders there. So we decided to do something bold. For Day 2 of our conference, we'll head inside Bologna's former tobacco factory—now transformed into one of Europe's largest AI and data hub—for a special session with 100 union representatives from across Italy, in conversation global activists and scholars. We will also screen the 2025 documentary "In the Belly of AI", directed by Henri Poulain.
Special Event City Tour:
As part of INDL 8, you'll have the chance to explore the historic city of Bologna from a different perspective during a special tour. The city is renowned for its rich history of activism and political movements. Thanks to the Archivio Storico dei Movimenti (Historical Archive of Social Movements), on Day 1 we will organize an evening city walk that will take us through some of Bologna's most iconic sites linked to its countercultural heritage.
👉 Full program, accommodation info, and directions are available here: https://www.indl.network/its-60-days-to-indl-8/
📅 Don't forget: Registration closes August 20, 2025.
Register Here