New Research Fellow for Interdisciplinary Research on Digital Society and Economy
Published: 14 August 2023
In August 2023, Gemma Milne joined the theme leadership in order to support research across the college. In this blog, Gemma introduces her research interests, previous work, and what the digital society and economy interdisciplinary research theme means to her.
By Gemma Milne (School of Social and Political Sciences)
Hey everyone! I’m Gemma, and I’m the new IRT Fellow in Digital Society and Economy based in the College of Social Sciences. My research interests are in the narratives surrounding, political economy of, and activism in science and technology. In short, I’m interested in how and why certain ideas, businesses and movements in science and technology flourish, and why others do not.
I have three main research projects ongoing: 1) I’m exploring the ‘metamodern market’ that is corporate futurism (I’m in my final year of my PhD in Sociology at Edinburgh University); 2) I’m exploring the political imagination of the ‘New Space’ sector and the role that the creative industries play in shaping and disrupting norms (in my role as a CIRCE Fellow (Creative Industries Research Centre Europe)); and 3) I’m exploring the political economy of ‘Deep Tech’ (in continuing my work from my ‘past life’ as a journalist and broadcaster in this field). They all overlap in many ways, and I’m thrilled that my new role as an IRT Fellow focused on Digital Society and Economy brings together these strands under one roof.
Before academia, I’ve had a meandering interdisciplinary career in the science and technology sector. Most recently, I’ve been a freelance journalist and broadcaster for outlets such as The Guardian, WIRED, Forbes, the BBC and others, and during which I published my first book ‘Smoke & Mirrors: How Hype Obscures the Future and How to See Past It’. I’ve also worked as a Scout for a Venture Capital fund in the deep tech space, I’m an assessor for Innovate UK across SME science and technology funds, I’ve worked as a Tech Innovation Strategist in a big advertising firm, I’m co-host of the Radical Science podcast, I’m the editor of The New Real Editions - a magazine focused on the intersection of AI and art, and I’m a Fellow of the Institute for the Future of Work, an Affiliate Researcher with the Edinburgh Futures Institute Centre for Technomoral Futures, an Innovation Jury Member for SXSW and have previously been a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, and an Expert Advisor for the European Commission. My initial academic background is as a mathematician. In short, I feel more at home in interdisciplinary spaces than in siloed disciplines...!
To me, understanding science and technology means understanding not just the ‘how it works’ but also the ‘why it works (or does not)’: the history, the politics, the economics, the lived experience, the ideologies, the media environment – and beyond. No one discipline can really untangle our digital society, and not one institution either. I’m keen to see how we can bring together academics across the spectrum as well as government, industry, media, activists and citizens in reimagining and co-creating a just, fair and flourishing world.
Interdisciplinary Research Fellows have been appointed in order to support funding applications from colleagues across the College of Social Science, as well as working on fellowship applications to further their own research trajectories. If you are thinking about applying for funding and wondering how Gemma's role could support this, please get in touch: digital-irt@glasgow.ac.uk
First published: 14 August 2023