Call for Contributions – Imagining the Internet(s): A Collaborative Glossary

Deadline: 15 September 2025|
Submit: a 100 word pitch and a bibliography

What concepts help us study how the internet has been imagined—historically, culturally, or politically? From ‘cyberspace’ to ‘network ideology’, from ‘technotopia’ to ‘vernacular web’, critical terms have long shaped how we understand digital networks. Yet these keywords often remain scattered across disciplines, regions, and languages.
This glossary seeks to bring them together. We invite researchers to pitch short entries (500–1000 words) that introduce a concept relevant to the study of internet imaginaries. The glossary will be published as an open-access zine by the Institute of Network Cultures, supported by EASST, and builds on work by Matter of Imagination, a collaborative research project on internet meaning-making.
We welcome theoretical, historical, and/or regionally grounded reflections. Selected entries should engage with a single keyword—explaining where it comes from, what it reveals, and why it matters. The tone may be academic, experimental, or personal, and entries will include a short bibliography for further reading.
Find the extended call here: https://matterofimagination.neocities.org/cfp
Questions? Contact co-editors Anya Shchetvina (anya.shchetvina[at]posteo.net) or Nathalie Fridzema (n.fridzema[at]rug.nl).
How to submit: Please send a ~100-word pitch, proposed keyword, short bio, and preliminary reading list to n.fridzema@rug.nl by 15 September 2025.