About

Established in 2024
University of Antwerp
Belgium
Platform Wars
Platform companies such as Alphabet-Google, Meta and Amazon are central to recent transformations affecting our social relations, business transactions and governmental decisions. These same companies are also increasingly affecting how our wars are 'thought', fought and lived. However, their exact role within warfare remains poorly understood. This project introduces the novel concept of "platform wars" to theorize how platform companies propel new ways of thinking about and organizing political violence. Through the conceptualization of platform wars, we investigate how these emerging corporate-military networks produce new and shared ways of (i)thinking about, (ii) practicing, and (iii) regulating political violence. The Platform Wars project produces innovative conceptual knowledge, but it also delivers rich empirical knowledge on the social interactions between corporate and military actors, and how these shape new technologies and practices of war fighting. This knowledge is highly relevant from a political and ethical-legal perspective and crucial in order to intervene in the future regulation of these technologies and their use in armed conflict.
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↳ Our Domains

Unpacking the role of digital platforms in modern warfare.

Data

Platforms

Warfare

↳ Our Team

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Marijn Hoijtink
Associate Professor in International Relations, University of Antwerp
Marijn Hoijtink is Associate Professor in International Relations at the Department of Political Science at the University of Antwerp. Previously she was Assistant Professor at Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam. Her research and teaching focuses on military technology, militarism and the changing character of warfare. In her current research project, funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), she examines military applications of artificial intelligence (AI), with a particular interest in how these technologies shape the way in which warfare is thought, fought and lived.
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Jasper van der Kist
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Antwerp
Jasper van der Kist is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Antwerp. He completed his PhD at the University of Manchester. His research examines the impact of epistemological and technological developments on international protection and the conduct of war. It is situated at the nexus of Science and Technology Studies (STS) and Critical Security, Migration and Border Studies. His work has been published in International Political Sociology, Citizenship Studies, and the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.
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Fer Avar
PhD Researcher, University of Antwerp
Fer Avar is a PhD researcher at the University of Antwerp. She holds an MA in International Relations from Central European University, and an Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts and Sciences BA in Social Sciences from University College Roosevelt (Utrecht University). Her research focuses on non-Western innovation and technology hubs, mapping the global corporate-defense value chain and analyzing its implications for the international political order. Her theoretical work is situated at the nexus of Science and Technology Studies (STS), Critical Security Studies (CSS), and Political Anthropology.
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Martine Jaarsma
PhD researcher, University of Antwerp
Martine Jaarsma is a PhD researcher at the University of Antwerp. She holds a master degree in Conflict Studies and Human Rights as well as a master in Public International Law, both from Utrecht University. In her interdisciplinary research she will examine the impact that the daily practices related to the design and use of algorithmic technologies for aerial targeting have on the meaningful application of key principles of International Humantiarian Law.
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Laszlo Steinwärder
PhD Researcher, University of Antwerp
Laszlo Steinwärder holds a master's degree in Conflict Studies and Human Rights from Utrecht University. Before joining the PLATFORM WARS project, he worked as a Research Associate in Economic Geography at the University of Hamburg, where he explored the role of multinational corporations in uneven economic development. Building on his interests and previous experience, Laszlo's work in the project will explore the evolution of the military-platform complex and the political-economic dimension of an increasingly algorithmic warfare.
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↳ Milestones

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