From the first issue of Culture Unbound in 2009, which asked the still-relevant question “What’s the use of cultural research?”, the publication has been a forum for some of the most pressing issues of our time, publishing scholarship without cost to authors or readers on topics such as surveillance, sustainability, digitalization, climate change, natural and technological disasters, urban renewal and development, media modernity, and geomedia, and AI, just to name a few.
Born digital and operating under a gold OA scheme, Culture Unbound continues to operate on the cutting-edge of publishing, most recently with the publication of two “experimental” special issues using innovative, interactive technology that invites readers to engage with the research process rather than a supposed “final product” of that process. Reflecting on the past 15 years of Culture Unbound through these themes, we recognize an implicit overarching concern with questions and concerns relating to the future of democracy.
The future of democracy is a concern for all of society, making it vital that discourse on topics such as those addressed in Culture Unbound must be open, transparent, and egalitarian to contribute to democratizing knowledge and its circulation.
The implications and possibilities of this are essential to address, and we believe that the 15th anniversary of Culture Unbound is the perfect time to discuss how we can critically examine where we have been and where we need to go to help ensure the future of democracy. Our starting point for the Culture Unbound 15-year Jubilee Symposium in December 2024 will be how “experimenting” with new modes of publishing can enable us to be more inclusive – for example, of citizen scientists and marginalized voices – and foster cultural research that aims to serve democracy and humanity now and in the future.
In addition to the topics already noted, discussions can also include topics such as futures, energy transition cultures, cyber/digital capitalism, artificial intelligence, attacks on and the role of journals in defense of the humanities, the role of collaborative writing and publishing in relation to the merging of humanities with the sciences, such as the medical humanities. Key elements of the discussions held at the Symposium will be integrated into a report being developed on the past and potential future(s) of Culture Unbound.
In addition, a thematic special issue of Culture Unbound will be published for the 15-year Jubilee.
