This symposium builds on the work of the Queer Joy as a Digital Good project, funded by ESRC’s
Digital Good Network. We understand queer joy as the expression of queer identity and life
unencumbered by standards of cis-hetero-patriarchal propriety and palatability. We work from the
premise that queer joy is a societal good, and that queer joy in online spaces is therefore a digital
good. In our project, we make the case for conceptualising the express facilitation of queer joy
online as a possibility for a good digital society that benefits each users, platforms, and policy. In an
age of increasing hyper-visibility for queer people, there are all too many examples of queerphobic
political regress and its mediatisation online. As such, we foreground queer joy as a practice of
personal and collective resilience amidst a socio-political landscape of increasing queerphobia. In so
doing, we contend that the affordances digital technologies have for enabling joy are vital indicators
of its contribution to a good digital society.
We invite contributions to a symposium on the theme of ‘Queer Joy as a Digital Good’, broadly
construed. The symposium is intended as an intentionally interdisciplinary exposition on the role
queer joy plays, can play, and might play in a digitally good society. By bringing together academics,
artists, activists, policy makers, lawyers, community organisers, and cultural industry professionals,
we aim to establish a community of practice committed to embracing and enabling queer joy now
and in the future.
Expressions of interest for contributions should be submitted to Dr Lexi Webster, Principal
Investigator of Queer Joy as a Digital Good, at: l.webster@soton.ac.uk. Please include a title, the
description for a 15-20 minute session* (approx. 200 words), and a brief speaker biography.
*We are open to receiving expressions of interest for sessions delivered in a variety of ways,
including traditional research papers, round-tables, performances, installations, etc. Please note that
this list is not exhaustive, and we also welcome proposals for other forms of contribution.
The deadline for submissions is 28th February 2024. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 14th
March 2024.
The symposium will be hosted on 31st May 2024 at the University of Southampton (Southampton,
UK, SO17 1BF). Travel bursaries are available for students, postgraduate researchers, and
precariously employed contributors. Please indicate in your submission whether you would require a
travel bursary to attend, including where you would be traveling from and your preferred mode of
transport (i.e. rail; car).
