Mirko Tobias Schäfer is a media scholar at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

. He is an Associate Professor for AI, Data & Society at the Department for Information & Computing Sciences and Sciences Lead of the Data School.

Biography

Schäfer studied theater and media studies and communication science at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

and digital culture at Utrecht University. He obtained a Ph.D. in 2008 at Utrecht University. Schäfer's research revolves around (digital) technology, and how it transform society. He publishes on

digital culture Internet culture refers to culture developed and maintained among frequent and active users of the Internet (also known as netizens) who primarily communicate with one another as members of online communities; that is, a culture whose influence ...

cultural theory Cultural studies is an academic field that explores the dynamics of contemporary culture (including the politics of popular culture) and its social and historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers investigate how cultural practices rela ...

, new media,

big data Big data primarily refers to data sets that are too large or complex to be dealt with by traditional data processing, data-processing application software, software. Data with many entries (rows) offer greater statistical power, while data with ...

, and

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

. In 2011 he was awarded a fellowship at the

University of Applied Arts Vienna The University of Applied Arts Vienna (, or informally just ''Die Angewandte'') is an arts university and institution of higher education in Vienna, the capital of Austria. It has had university status since 1970. History The predecessor of the ...

to study technology use and epistemic practices in art. He has been postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Humanities at Utrecht University under Rosi Braidotti and a Mercator Research Fellow at the NRW School of Governance. In 2022 he was appointed visiting professor at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

Research activity

Schäfer investigates the transformational impact of

and data practices on the public sphere and public management. Earlier, Schäfer conducted research on hacker communities, user participation and their impact on cultural industries. In stark contrast to the general field of

new media studies New media studies is an academic discipline that explores the intersections of computing, science, the humanities, and the visual and performing arts. Janet Murray, a prominent researcher in the discipline, describes this intersection as "a sing ...

his research on

participatory culture Participatory culture, an opposing concept to consumer culture, is a culture in which private individuals (the public) do not act as consumers only, but also as contributors or producers (prosumers). The term is most often applied to the product ...

provides a critical deconstruction of user participation. Coining the term of an extended culture industry he builds upon the cultural critique of the

Frankfurt School The Frankfurt School is a school of thought in sociology and critical theory. It is associated with the University of Frankfurt Institute for Social Research, Institute for Social Research founded in 1923 at the University of Frankfurt am Main ...

, most notably

Adorno Theodor W. Adorno ( ; ; born Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund; 11 September 1903 – 6 August 1969) was a German philosopher, musicologist, and social theorist. He was a leading member of the Frankfurt School of critical theory, whose work has come ...

and Horkheimer. Developing the concept of an extended culture industry, Schäfer could show to what extent appropriation of design by users is embedded into corporate production. Through distinguishing user participation into explicit participation and implicit participation, Schäfer delivers a terminology to separate conscious and active user engagement from user activities that are channeled by user interface design. Schäfer's contribution to the field of participatory culture was his distinction of implicit and explicit participation. Explicit participation refers to the conscious activities of cultural production and social interaction as it has been covered by

Henry Jenkins Henry Guy Jenkins III (born June 4, 1958) is an American media scholar and Provost Professor of Communication, Journalism, and Cinematic Arts, a joint professorship at the University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg School for Communicatio ...

in his work on fan culture. Implicit participation refers to the subtle ways of channeling user activities through interface design. Schäfer considers strategies of implicit participation as key aspect in popular social media application He argues that media practices that had been developed in using the world wide web, now are implemented in easy to use interfaces and new business models. Schäfer's analysis of participatory culture depicts an accurate "shift within the commercial media industries to embrace certain conceptions of the fan as an idealized consumer of transmedia entertainment." In his analysis, Schäfer focused on the role of user interface design, platform governance and methods of controlling and channeling user activities. Since 2015 his research is situated in the field of critical data studies and revolves around investigating the impact of datafication and AI on citizenship and democracy. Schäfer is investigating how data practices and artificial intelligence are affecting democracy and citizenship, and how it transforms public management. He is a co-author of the Fundamental Rights & Algorithms Impact Assessment (FRAIA) developed by an interdisciplinary team of scholars at Utrecht University.

Data School

Together with Thomas Boeschoten, at the time MA student, Schäfer founded the Utrecht Data School in 2013. It is a platform for teaching data analysis and digital methods. Initially a lack of funding pushed the founders to reach out to external partners, e.g. corporations, government organisations and NGO's, to finance the courses through commissioned research projects. That allowed them and their students to work on actual projects and experience how datafication manifests and transforms organisations. Consequently, the Utrecht Data School developed services and products that would enable researchers to enter societal fields as "experts and not as mere researchers." Schäfer dubbed this approach entrepreneurial research. An example for this is their Data Ethics Decision Aid (DEDA), which is a dialogic process for evaluating data projects and develop value-sensitive design.Franzke, Aline, Mirko Tobias Schäfer, Iris Muis. 2021. Data Ethics Decision Aid (DEDA): A dialogical framework for ethical inquiry of AI and data projects in the Netherlands. Ethics & Information Technology. 27 January 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-020-09577-5 While organizations using DEDA can review and improve their data practices considering values and responsibilities, the researchers who function as workshop moderators can gather empirical data about the participants' awareness for data ethics, the organization's operational capacities and their data practices.

Publications

* Schäfer, M.T.; Van Es, K.; Lauriault, T.P. (2024) ''Collaborative Research in the Datafied Society. Methods and Practices for Investigation and Intervention''. Amsterdam:

Amsterdam University Press Amsterdam University Press (AUP) is a university press that was founded in 1992 by the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. It is based on the university press model and operates on a not-for-profit basis. AUP publishes scholarly and trade ...

. * * * Schäfer, M.T.; Van den Boomen, M; Lehmann, AS; Lammes, S.; Raessens, J. (2009) ''Digital Material. Tracing New Media in Everyday Life and Technology''. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. .

References

External links