Call for papers

Recently, the concept of digital risk has invaded the media. Many publications suggest that digital technology could carry many threats, whether informational, psycho-social, ethical, cognitive, sanitary, technical, socio-economic or legal. The threat of addiction to technologies among young people (Lardellier and Moatti, 2014) or Nicholas Carr's argument on our slavery to machines in the reading modes (Carr, 2011) are some examples. This approach focused on risks tends to categorize individual and social practices in structures that do not reflect their evolution and diversity, nor the actors' capacity to innovate, which implies taking risks. The intention in this symposium will be to go beyond a stigmatizing approach of risk. It will rather consider risk as the center of discourses, representations and practices that need to be deconstructed and understood. According to Ulrich Beck, "risks designate a future that must be prevented from happening". Real and imaginary at the same time, they are "the event not yet occurred that motivates the action" (Beck, 2008). Thus, the "increasing risk of the world" is also denounced by Patrick Peretti-Watel. For the latter, the risk "is a danger without cause, a no-fault damage, which nevertheless becomes predictable and calculable" (Peretti-Watel, 2010). The feeling of digital risks would therefore encourage people to act: how? in what ways? with what critical stance ? The term "digital risk" is often used to refer to the dangers associated with the security of computer systems, particularly in computer and management science. The field of law is also concerned, with the problems of information security, personal data protection (Rouvroy, 2014) and e-reputation (De Juaye, 2014). Other publications also deal with ethical issues, in the sensitive areas of the protection of personal data especially in health systems. 

In the field of psychology, digital risks are treated from the point of view of cognitive overload (Tricot, 1998) and addictions (Stiegler and Tisseron, 2010, Blaya, 2015). The notion of information risk is often related to knowledge management (Robert and Pinède, 2012), the problems of manipulation and evaluation of information (Serres, 2012), asymmetry of knowledge (Pariser 2001, Cardon 2015). For managers, digital risk is related to data security, strategic information or reputation. Regarding education and the the use of digital technologies, a report published in 2008 by Christine Dioni, "Pupil's profession, teaching profession in the digital age", focused on the problems of discrepancy between the perceptions of pupils and teachers as well as between mutual perceptions and the reality of practices (Dioni, 2008). What is happening ten years later? The stakes of digital practices in terms of learning (Hayles, 2016, Jehel and Saemmer, 2017), the socio-economic risks related to the digital divide (Plantard, 2011) are leading education stakeholders to question the ways to deal with it. The concept of media risks is also used to denounce inappropriate contents, such as violence, hatred or pornography, which call for the setting of new standards and rules (Jehel, 2011). Currently, the risk of ideological and political manipulation is put back on the front of the media scene with conspiracy theories,  "fake news" theme and the sensitivity of young people to propaganda.

For the educator, the risk is also related to illegal uses of information by students, such as enforcement of the laws prohibiting the dissemination of revisionist, racist and sexist information in France. Many other uses can be problematic, such as the privacy of teachers, education staff or other students. Cyber-bullying situations are also problems that educators have to deal with. The digital practices of young people are all the more complex as they combine creativity and skills development, intimacy and self-exposure. The internet sphere is therefore an ecosystem in which the relationship between the teacher and his students is inevitably positioned.  This multidisciplinary perspective has as a common point which is to try to identify what the digital does to the individual and society in different contexts (educational, professional, political ...). The aim of the conference will be to compare discourses on risk with the practices and representations that mobilize the actors on different professional and educational grounds, to explain their stakes in a digital context.  We assume that individuals have resilience capabilities (Tisseron, 2013) in a changing world. Can the perception of digital risks be a resource or a lever for developing a critical culture in a digital context, and under what conditions (Capelle et al., 2018)? We invite researchers, professionals and doctoral students to come and discuss the means we have today to move from risk perception to information on risks, from information to knowledge, and from knowledge to action (Liquete, 2011). We propose three axes.

Axes 

Axis 1: Identify the determinants and expressions of digital risk perception 

This axis aims to question the ways in which individuals are led to perceive, identify and categorize risks. In particular, we seek to identify the sources of information and discourses on risks, their contexts, their contents in situation. Risk perception can be questioned from a diachronic perspective: how does risk perception develop and evolve within a community of users? Why and how do actors inform themselves and set up means of detection and qualification of the risks in situation? The work will analyze formal and / or informal digital practices in different contexts (leisure, educational, professional, etc.).

Axis 2: Taking action beyond digital risks  

This second axis will examine how users act in risky situations. Field studies on plans against digital risks or organizations that link information systems, risk management and representation in a digital context will be favored.  We will discuss how individuals are or become empowered. The notion of social "acting" (Baltz, 1998), informational (Simonnot, 2009, Cordier and Stalder, 2017), communicational (Mallowan, 2012) and professional (Lehmans, 2015) could be fruitful to analyze the modalities of action and commitment beyond risk. In particular, how do actors react in a context of discourses on the risks, what behaviors do they develop (refusal, negation, confinement, circumvention ...) to act strategically , despite the feeling of dangers. We can also question the individual behaviors in real danger situations and the effects of information or training.  

Axis 3: Prevent and manage digital risks in the context of education and training  

Should we educate to prevent digital risks in the 21st century? If so, in what way ? If not, what are the alternatives? How does risk prevention deal with education? More generally, the issues of digital education, media and information literacy (MIL) issues will be addressed. Reflection on this third axis will offer a critical look at digital education (Jehel and Saemmer, 2017). It will seek to go beyond the risk approach to propose concrete prevention or training actions facing digital risks.