Digital technologies are integral to how we interact with, engage and enact many worldly matters today. Digital technologies are arguably sensorial and epistemological machines and pivotal infrastructures of society. Digital technologies shape how citizens engage with and know many key democratic actors (governments, parties, media, the public sector, judiciary, etc.) and, conversely, how these actors know and engage with citizens. Digital technologies collect, aggregate, and compare the statistical and demographic figures that shape governance; control the flow of news and information about public affairs that inform and (dis)connect people; creating an ever-larger digital footprint that serves as the basis for innumerable decisions, policies, programs, and procedures. Lastly, digital technologies are part of the assemblage that shape our individual ideological and perceptual worldviews – or just - worlds. And recently AI has been added to the mix… Democracy and citizenship are thoroughly implicated and affected by digital technologies and are arguably under tremendous transformation currently.

How may we grasp these transformations and their consequences? What does democracy and citizenship mean; how are they practiced today and what are they becoming? How may we deliberate and shape democratic futures to come by, with and against digital technologies? These are the major questions that this conference series grapple with.

By bringing different disciplinary insights into conversation over this two-day event, this conference series is relational, (re-)connecting everyone with methodological, conceptual, and/or practical interests in digital democracy and citizenship. Specifically, we welcome studies and research projects that focus on issues and themes such as:

• Digital transformations of democratic institutions
• Digital networks of public debate
• Sociotechnical and practice studies of democracy and citizenship
• Public trust in technology
• Citizens’ mediated identities and agencies
• Control/empowerment of datafied publics
• Digital methodologies for the study of democracy and citizenship
• Conceptualizations of digital democracy
• Threats to democracy in the digital realm

The third iteration of this conference series is hosted by SHAPE, Aarhus University, Denmark and takes place August 27-28, 2026 at AIAS, Aarhus University.

• Abstracts (maximum 400 words excl. references) are invited as contributions to the main conference program.
• Deadline for submission of abstracts for both the main conference and the PhD workshop: April 15, 2026. Notification of accepted abstracts will be given on May 15, 2026. Please send your abstract to: ddc2026@cc.au.dk
• PhD fellows are invited to take part in the pre-conference PhD-workshop. To participate they are asked to submit a 500-word abstract (excluding references) that present their PhD research project by specifying 1) their research question(s) 2) the background and motivation for their project 3) research design and methods 4) theory and concepts. In addition, participants should provide a brief description (app. 200 words) of the current phase/stage of their PhD-project, their motivation to take part in the PhD-workshop and the problems or questions they hope to get clarified by participating in the workshop and conference.

The format of the PhD workshop: During the first half of the workshop, participants will be assigned to small groups with fellow PhD-students and one principal investigator as mentor. Participants will present their PhD-project and receive feedback by the mentor and their peers. The feedback will focus on the argumentative strengths of the proposal and participants presentation skills. In the second half of the workshop, the mentors will share their insights into academic careers in an interactive discussion format.

• For more information, please contact SHAPE at: ddc2026@cc.au.dk