🚨 We are entering the AI society.
After two decades of platforms reshaping markets, communication, and governance, a new shift is underway: AI is transforming society.
What should we expect from the 'AI society'? 🧵
📄 Our new paper faces this question:
osf.io/preprints/so...
You can now submit abstracts for the RC21 conference, which will take place in Vienna on 20–22 July. Check out the sessions: rc21-vienna2026.org/call-for-abs.... If you work on cities and digital technologies, consider session #10, “The Digital Frontier,” organized by @ayonadatta.bsky.social and me.
It's been really interesting to dive deep into these literatures and to learn more about the intellectual histories of urban studies.
By the end of the class, some students really like the Chicago School, most don’t. But I believe both proponents and critics have a lot to gain from a closer engagement with human ecology. A closer engagement with its various lineages can be inspiring or lead to more sophisticated critiques.
I believe this is important because the Chicago legacy includes some powerful insights. It’s also essential for understanding the genealogy of critical approaches, which are often articulated in opposition to the Chicago School.
The paper grew out of conversations in my Urban Debates course, part of the Research Master’s in Urban Studies at the University of Amsterdam. In the course and the paper, I try to take the Chicago sociologists seriously.
Dialogues in Urban Research recently published my new paper: “Parsing the Legacy of the Chicago School: Towards a Critical Human Ecology.” journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
🚨 PhD Position at the University of Amsterdam 🚨
Join my team as a computer scientist / computational social scientist working on LLMs, social media, and politics.
We offer freedom, impact, and an inspiring environment at one of Europe's leading universities.
🔗 werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...
Nederland laat Palestijnen bewust verhongeren.
Dat is geen hyperbool, het is de realiteit.
Als staat heeft Nederland zowel een juridische als morele plicht om het internationaal humanitair recht te handhaven. Niets doen, is kiezen. Niets doen, is medeplichtig zijn.
I thoroughly enjoyed "Long Live Queer Nightlife" by @aminghaziani.bsky.social and learned a lot (including that sociology suffers from a "joy deficit"). Unfortunately, I can't attend this lecture. But if you are in Amsterdam, you can, and you should.
📢 Ben of ken jij iemand die het @scponderzoek.bsky.social kan versterken? En draag jij straks bij aan het bepalen van onze inhoudelijke koers? Wij zoeken een programmaleider Sociale Samenhang. Leuke collega’s, belangrijk en mooi onderzoek én gegarandeerd impact! Deadline 21 mei tinyurl.com/2me6f676
Housing as a driver of inequality
On June 4 (4pm), Amsterdam Centre for Inequality Studies (AMCIS) & Centre for Urban Studies (CUS) present a seminar this topic with profs Rebecca Bentley (Melbourne) & Susan Smith (Cambridge).
Join us! Info and registration here:
amcis.uva.nl/content/even...
Op Bevrijdingsdag maakt Israël bekend wat allang te voorzien was: het voornemen om heel Gaza te bezetten. Geen rode lijn voor de Nederlandse regering. Hier is vooral ophef over protesten die ‘onze’ feestvreugde zouden verstoren.
Nevertheless, our study does suggest that there may be overlooked forces pushing cities toward greater equality. This is a hopeful for urbanites and an intriguing for scholars of inequalities and cities.
We do a lot of hedging in the paper. Our data doesn’t capture all forms of inequality nor the impacts of long-term threats like climate change, so we caution that our findings shouldn’t be read as a validation of current policies. Survey data come with many limitations.
Here’s what surprised us: Inequalities declined in most cities on most indicators. The middle class grew. Living standards converged. Educational inequality decreased. Although there are exceptions, the trend has been towards greater equality. The literature had not prepared us for for this finding.
We can’t offer a definitive answer since there are many ways to conceptualize and understand inequality. And despite Fred's heroic efforts to construct a comprehensive dataset with @ipums.bsky.social survey data, we lack consistent historical data.
Has inequality grown or declined in cities of the Global South? Together with Frederico R. Ramos, I tried to answer this question. Using a sample of 59 cities across three continents, we examined inequalities in labor markets, education, and living standards:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Why does everything suddenly feel so unsettled?
The economy, technology, geopolitics—everything seems to change
It's more than a vibe shift. It's epistemic.
In our new book, @uitermark.bsky.social and I explore this shift—
and argue we're entering Digital Modernity 🧵
www.seeinglikeaplatform.com
On Wednesday, 16 April, at 17:00 I am delighted to co-organize a presentation with Justus Uitermark @uitermark.bsky.social about his and Petter Törnberg's new book Seeing Like a Platform at @weizenbauminstitut.bsky.social.
Please register here: www.weizenbaum-institut.de/news/detail/...
Looking forward to our AMCIS Kick-Off event on 10 April - join us in Amsterdam for a discussion on wealth and class inequality with @norawaitkus.bsky.social and @mikesavagelse.bsky.social
@aissr.bsky.social
'Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.' H.G. Wells
#doeheniet
@woinactie.bsky.social
Great article by @pettertornberg.bsky.social on how investors in Rio boost the online visibility of their establishments. The Instagrammable props, such as neon letters and graffiti, are merely the most striking expressions of a profound reshaping of places
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Co-organizing this Winter Institute with dream team Sarah El Kazzaz, Rafeef Ziadah, Azadeh Mashayekhi & Noura Wahby.
Pls consider applying if eligible and kindly share.
beiruturbanlab.com/en/Details/2...
Luistertip! De nieuwe podcast van Roanne van Voorst en Michiel Baas "The Etic", over het begrijpen van de rare gedragingen van onszelf en de medemens. En dan vooral de episode 1, Je hele leven op Insta zetten. Want daar kom ik ook even aan het woord over de betekenis van Instagram voor jonge mensen.
Intriguing to read how local traditions, cultural icons, and social customs are created or revamped through (partly orchestrated, partly serendipitous) social media trends.
"Central to the making of a wanghong city is a
series of strategic actions involving speculation, hedging, and/or opportunity-taking—terms that are all too familiar to tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists"
A fascinating study by Sheng Zou on wanghong urbanism, revealing the speculative investments and creative work behind the online prominence of places: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
