Equity and Artificial Intelligence Symposium
Possibilities for Justice and Liberation
Call for Abstracts
Symposium Dates: November 6-7, 2025
Location: Hybrid (York University, Toronto, and online)
Call for Abstract closing date: June 20, 2025
Location: Hybrid (York University, Toronto, and online)
Call for Abstract closing date: June 20, 2025
Symposium Planning Committee:
Dr. Christo El Morr, Dr. Rachel Gorman, Dr. Elham Dolatabadi, Dr. Laleh Seyyed-Kalantari
Part of an SSHRC Connection Grant Project
Background
AI is often celebrated for its efficiency, speed, and potential to advance human progress. But Artificial Intelligence is not neutral. Beneath its algorithms and predictive capacities lie data infrastructures and design logics that too often reinforce systems of marginalization. The development, deployment, and discourse of AI are deeply entangled with histories of colonialism, racial capitalism, ableism, patriarchy, and heteronormativity. From healthcare algorithms that reproduce racial inequities, to surveillance technologies that criminalize poverty, to data architectures that erase Indigenous sovereignty, AI can entrench existing structures of domination.
Yet, AI also holds potential—if shaped with care and collective vision—for advancing justice and liberation. This potential can only be realized when we embrace equity as a foundational and political commitment. Currently, equity in relation to AI is often approached as a technical fix. To do this, developers, designers, engineers, and scientists need access to co-design processes with marginalized communities and social sciences and humanities scholars who work in critical social theory.
This multidisciplinary symposium invites contributions that explore what it means to center equity in AI. We ask: How are marginalized communities—particularly Indigenous, racialized, disabled, queer, and impoverished groups—impacted by AI systems? What possibilities for justice and accountability emerge when these communities are not only considered, but also placed at the center of AI research, design, and governance?
We welcome submissions that confront these complex realities and contribute to building a framework for Equity AI—one rooted in justice, accountability, and deep interdisciplinary collaboration. The symposium brings together scholars, students, community organizers, technologists, and practitioners across fields. We welcome AI researchers and developers who are critically engaging with questions of power, representation, and harm in their work.
Topics and Themes
We welcome submissions that speak to the critical intersections of AI, equity, and justice. We especially encourage contributions from underrepresented voices, community researchers, and those engaged in transdisciplinary or activist scholarship.
Possible themes include, but are not limited to:
● AI Fairness and Biases
● AI Safety
● Beyond Bias: From Algorithmic Harm to Structural Accountability
● Responsible AI
● Decolonial and Disability Justice Approaches to AI
● Data Colonialism and Algorithmic Power
● AI and the Maintenance of Racial, Gendered, and Medical Hierarchies
● AI and Social Reproduction: Labour, Care, and Exploitation
● AI, Surveillance, and the Criminalization of Marginalized Bodies
● Participatory and Community-Driven AI Practices
● Co-design, Data Justice, and the Politics of Inclusion
● AI and Liberation: Imaginative and Speculative Approaches
● Cultural, Artistic, and Creative Interventions in AI
● Policy, Ethics, and the Struggle for Equitable AI Futures
● Resistance, Refusal, and AI Abolition
● Equity by Design: AI’s Role in Reframing Justice
Submission Guidelines
Submissions should clearly address one or two central themes and reflect critical, original thought. Please do not submit work that has already been published, presented elsewhere, or is currently under review, as such submissions will not be accepted.
Abstract Length: 300 words (excluding title, authors, and affiliations)
Submission Deadline:June 20, 2025 Upload it via the following Google Form
Notification of Acceptance: June 30, 2025
First Draft Manuscript (2,500–3,000 words): August 15, 2025
Review Feedback: September 15, 2025
Final Revised Manuscript: September 30, 2025
Publication Opportunity
Accepted contributions will be considered for inclusion in a forthcoming edited book.
Contributors to the book should follow the guidelines below regarding the use of Generative AI:
The symposium will run in a hybrid format to ensure international and community participation. In-person attendance is encouraged, but a limited number of virtual sessions will be available.
Presenters are responsible for their travel, accommodation, and registration fees (CAD $150). Registration fees will be waived for student presenters.
Dr. Christo El Morr, Dr. Rachel Gorman, Dr. Elham Dolatabadi, Dr. Laleh Seyyed-Kalantari
Part of an SSHRC Connection Grant Project
Background
AI is often celebrated for its efficiency, speed, and potential to advance human progress. But Artificial Intelligence is not neutral. Beneath its algorithms and predictive capacities lie data infrastructures and design logics that too often reinforce systems of marginalization. The development, deployment, and discourse of AI are deeply entangled with histories of colonialism, racial capitalism, ableism, patriarchy, and heteronormativity. From healthcare algorithms that reproduce racial inequities, to surveillance technologies that criminalize poverty, to data architectures that erase Indigenous sovereignty, AI can entrench existing structures of domination.
Yet, AI also holds potential—if shaped with care and collective vision—for advancing justice and liberation. This potential can only be realized when we embrace equity as a foundational and political commitment. Currently, equity in relation to AI is often approached as a technical fix. To do this, developers, designers, engineers, and scientists need access to co-design processes with marginalized communities and social sciences and humanities scholars who work in critical social theory.
This multidisciplinary symposium invites contributions that explore what it means to center equity in AI. We ask: How are marginalized communities—particularly Indigenous, racialized, disabled, queer, and impoverished groups—impacted by AI systems? What possibilities for justice and accountability emerge when these communities are not only considered, but also placed at the center of AI research, design, and governance?
We welcome submissions that confront these complex realities and contribute to building a framework for Equity AI—one rooted in justice, accountability, and deep interdisciplinary collaboration. The symposium brings together scholars, students, community organizers, technologists, and practitioners across fields. We welcome AI researchers and developers who are critically engaging with questions of power, representation, and harm in their work.
Topics and Themes
We welcome submissions that speak to the critical intersections of AI, equity, and justice. We especially encourage contributions from underrepresented voices, community researchers, and those engaged in transdisciplinary or activist scholarship.
Possible themes include, but are not limited to:
● AI Fairness and Biases
● AI Safety
● Beyond Bias: From Algorithmic Harm to Structural Accountability
● Responsible AI
● Decolonial and Disability Justice Approaches to AI
● Data Colonialism and Algorithmic Power
● AI and the Maintenance of Racial, Gendered, and Medical Hierarchies
● AI and Social Reproduction: Labour, Care, and Exploitation
● AI, Surveillance, and the Criminalization of Marginalized Bodies
● Participatory and Community-Driven AI Practices
● Co-design, Data Justice, and the Politics of Inclusion
● AI and Liberation: Imaginative and Speculative Approaches
● Cultural, Artistic, and Creative Interventions in AI
● Policy, Ethics, and the Struggle for Equitable AI Futures
● Resistance, Refusal, and AI Abolition
● Equity by Design: AI’s Role in Reframing Justice
Submission Guidelines
Submissions should clearly address one or two central themes and reflect critical, original thought. Please do not submit work that has already been published, presented elsewhere, or is currently under review, as such submissions will not be accepted.
Abstract Length: 300 words (excluding title, authors, and affiliations)
Submission Deadline:June 20, 2025 Upload it via the following Google Form
Notification of Acceptance: June 30, 2025
First Draft Manuscript (2,500–3,000 words): August 15, 2025
Review Feedback: September 15, 2025
Final Revised Manuscript: September 30, 2025
Publication Opportunity
Accepted contributions will be considered for inclusion in a forthcoming edited book.
Contributors to the book should follow the guidelines below regarding the use of Generative AI:
- (Disclosure) All chapter contributors will be informed about the use of generative AI tools and encouraged to disclose their own use of such tools during the drafting process.
- (Ethical Use) Generative AI will only be used as a supportive tool, and all outputs will be manually reviewed and revised to ensure originality and adherence to academic standards.
- (Limited Role) AI tools will not replace human authorship or judgment in the development of the book’s key arguments, analysis, or case studies.
- (Oversight) The editorial team will maintain strict oversight of all content to ensure consistency, integrity, and compliance with publisher guidelines.
The symposium will run in a hybrid format to ensure international and community participation. In-person attendance is encouraged, but a limited number of virtual sessions will be available.
Presenters are responsible for their travel, accommodation, and registration fees (CAD $150). Registration fees will be waived for student presenters.