Deadline for Abstracts: 14 November 2022 

Edited by Alexander R. E. Taylor (University of Exeter), Linda Kopitz (University of Amsterdam), Alexandra Kviat (University of Leicester) and Yiğit Soncul (University of Winchester) 

Overflowing email inboxes. Back-to-back Zoom meetings. Unending data extraction. Constant connectivity. Data-driven productivity measurement. Gruelling gig economy work. The pressure to maintain social media presence. Netflix binging. 

Daily life in digital culture can be exhausting. 

This edited collection takes the theme of ‘digital exhaustion’ as a starting point for critical inquiry into the ever-expanding presence of digital technologies in daily life. We offer ‘exhaustion’ as a broad and versatile conceptual prism for thinking through human-technology relations in the current climate of digital overload.  

Digital exhaustion - along with a range of other related affects and experiences, including digital burnout, Zoom fatigue, information overload and social media overuse – have all emerged as key structures of feeling in the present. With digital technologies entrenching themselves deeper and deeper into our personal and professional lives, the possibilities of ‘disconnection’ and ‘detox’ seem increasingly tempting. At the same time, the need to engage in sustained dialogue about digital futures and the ways that digital technologies are being deployed, embraced and opposed is of pressing importance. This edited collection is responsive to this need. 

We are interested in issues and approaches pertaining to the study of digital exhaustion and welcome contributions from a range of topics, such as:  

• The fatigue arising from back-to-back Zoom calls 
  
• The ‘burnout’ that comes from social media overuse 
  
• Digital labour 
  
• Digital remedies to digital exhaustion 
  
• Digital aesthetics of exhaustion 
  
• Digital detoxing 
  
• The exhaustion of planetary resources generated by digital device manufacture/demand 
  
• Gig economy and app-driven work 
  

Please submit the following by 14 November 2022 for consideration: 

• A 500-word proposed chapter abstract 
  
• A one-page CV 
  
• A 150-word bio (please make sure to include your current position, institutional affiliation and email address) 
  
• One previous writing sample representative of writing style and narrative voice
  

We are looking to balance the disciplines and methods represented in the collection and this will partly inform our selection process. 

Tentative Production Schedule: 

• Please send the above material to a.r.e.taylor@exeter.ac.uk by 14 November 2022   
  
• Authors notified following review – 21 November 2022 
  
• First chapter drafts due (6,000-8,000 words - 10 February 2023 
  
• The deadline for the submission of full contributions will be late Spring 2023 
  

Please send any questions to a.r.e.taylor@exeter.ac.uk