Draft:Disruption Network Lab

The Disruption Network Lab is Berlin based nonprofit organization with activities revolving at intersections of politics, technology, society and the arts.

Organization
The Disruption Network Lab was founded in 2014 and has since coordinated over 30 conferences, and related community gatherings and workshops associated in collaboration with grassroots networks and organizations, both within Berlin and internationally.

The organization has also conducted online series titled Disruptive Fridays.

The founder of the Disruption Network Lab, Tatiana Bazzichelli currently serves as the board chair and artistic director. The concept of disruption was idea of Bazzichelli to develop a comprehensive program of events starting from her own academic research.

Working Method
The notion of "disruption" is intentionally shifted away from its business-oriented connotation, now signifying a profound transformation that instigates unforeseen changes within systems.

In her PhD dissertation at Aarhus University, Disruption Network Lab's founder, Tatiana Bazzichelli, explains that "Networked Disruption" seeks to explore unforeseen perturbations emerging within closed structures. The concept of disruption evolves into a viable prospect of intervening with systems internally, encompassing realms of politics, technology, and the arts.

Whistleblowing, Surveillance and Digital Resistance
Since 2015 Disruption Network Lab has organised conferences, meetings and workshops focused on topics like drone warfare, digital surveillance, and whistleblowing. These events featured notable speakers including a former sensor operator from the US Air Force and the initial individual to blow the whistle on drone-related matters Brandon Bryant, who gave a speech during the first Disruption Network Lab's conference DRONES: Eyes From a Distance (April 2015).  Other notable speakers on the topics have been CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou who attended the conference PRISONERS OF DISSENT: Locked Up for Exposing Crimes (May 2017) giving a keynote about the effects and costs of national security whistleblowing in the United States. In March 2021 the Disruption Network Lab dedicated an entire conference to whistleblowing during the pandemic with BEHIND THE MASK, featuring Chinese artist AI Wei Wei.

In November of 2021, the anthology titled Whistleblowing for Change: Exposing Systems of Power and Injustice, authored by Tatiana Bazzichelli and published by transcript Verlag, consolidated the collective efforts of Disruption Network Lab and thirty individuals, including whistleblowers, researchers, journalists, artists, and activists. This compilation delves into the expanding trend of whistleblowing, scrutinizing the act of whistleblowing as an evolving political endeavor capable of instigating transformative shifts from within. The anthology was presented to the public at the conference WHISTLEBLOWING FOR CHANGE: Exposing Systems of Power and Injustice (November 2021), where American Intelligence whistleblower Reality Winner made her first public appearance since being sentenced to five years and three months in prison in August 2018.

Social Justice, AI and Human Rights
AI-driven discrimination, polarised narratives and the use of AI in prisons and in warfare have been discussed in several of Disruption Network Lab's conferences, from BOTS: Tracking Systems of Control (April 2016) and AI TRAPS (June 2019),  to BORDERS OF FEAR: Migration, Security & Control (November 2020) where Legal Advisor of ECCHR Migration Program Hanaa Hakiki discussed illegal pushbacks and border violence in Croatia confirmed in 2020. In March 2022 unmanned warfare has been discussed during THE KILL CLOUD conference and in April 2023 the conference SMART PRISONS: Tracking, Monitoring & Control addressed the issue of systems of surveillance around prisons, detention centres and borders.

Misinformation, Hate Speech and Empowering Civil Society
Over the years, Disruption Network Lab has created discussion spaces to reflect on free speech, hate speech and misinformation. The topic of the War on terror was addressed in November 2017 at the conference TERROR FEEDS: Inside the Fear Machine with the participation of Syrian journalist, human rights defender, activist and IT trainer Abdalaziz Alhamza. The conference HATE NEWS: Manipulators, Trolls and Influencers (May 2018) explored the manipulation of online opinion and discussed the Cambridge Analytica Scandal. INFILTRATION: Challenging Supremacism (September 2018) featured American R&B and blues musician and activist Daryl Davis. CITIZENS OF EVIDENCE: Independent Investigations for Change (September 2019) explored the investigative power of grassroots communities and citizens to expose corruption. Hate speech and misinformation were also addressed as collaborative projects with the Regional Democratic Hub Caucasus (from 2020 to 2022).

Identity, Critical Technology, and Artistic Practices
Disruption Network Lab created an opportunity to reflect on the international book launch of Sci-Fi theorist Antonio Caronia in 2015 by inviting cyberfeminist Australian art group VNS Matrix to the conference CYBORGS: Hacktivists, Freaks and Hybrid Uprsing (March 2015).  Since then, questions of identity and artistic practices have been part of the Disruption Network Lab's activities as cross-cutting themes, particularly in the conferences STUNTS: Distributed, Playful and Disruptive (December 2015), POWERS OF TRUTH: China, Art & Resistance (October 2021), TRANSITIONING: Art, Politics & Technologies of Gender Change (June 2022),  MADNESS: Fighting for Justice in Mental Health (November 2022), and ARTIVISM: the Art of Subverting Power (June 2023). 

Anti-Corruption and Transparency
From 2019 Disruption Network Lab addressed the topic of corruption, power and financial system organizing conferences and online events. The first conference on the topic has been DARK HAVENS: Confronting Hidden Money & Power (April 2019) with a keynote speech by German investigative journalist Frederik Obermaier. In 2020, in cooperation with Transparency International e.V. (TI), Disruption Network Lab organised the conference EVICTED BY GREED: Global Finance, Housing & Resistance. 

External links section

 * Disruption Network Lab website
 * Book: Whistleblowing For Change - Exposing system of power and injustice, transcript Verlag, 2021

Category:Civil society Category:Critical theorists Category:Human rights