João C. Magalhães (University of Manchester, UK), Klara Matusewicz (University of Manchester, UK), and Robert Gorwa (WZB Berlin Social Science Center, Germany) are organising a two-day workshop, The Politics of GenAI Governance, at MANCEPT 2026 in Manchester, 2–4 September 2026.
The workshop treats GenAI governance as a collective and contested political practice — asking which actors, representing whose interests, have more or less power and legitimacy to influence the mechanisms whereby GenAI is governed into being, and who stands to benefit or lose from these processes. Contributions are welcome on topics including the conceptualisation of GenAI governance as a form of power, its intersections with democracy and authoritarianism, the political economy of GenAI, and the democratisation of GenAI governance.
Submit a 500-word abstract by 21 May 2026 to
joao.magalhaes@manchester.ac.uk.
