Technology, Inclusion and Esports: Opening Up New Spaces of Participation

This event explores the relationship between technology, inclusion, and esports, examining how digital gaming environments can create new opportunities for participation, connection, and belonging in society and organisations.

Nearly thirty years ago, as a student at the University of Warwick, Mark Fisher first introduced the concept of Gothic Materialism, theorising subjectivity as a process emerging through human and non-human forces, including technology, cybernetics and fiction. Since then, the world seems to have continued moving toward a point of no return, where the boundaries between human and machine, living and dead, material and immaterial blur irreversibly. Yet, questions of care, inclusion and citizenship are posed by scientific communities and wider stakeholders with renewed urgency. These questions cannot be disentangled from our relationship with technology, complicating the epistemologies through which we learn to define the technologies we bond with and increasingly depend upon.

In this scenario, our relationship with technology and its capacity to shape our life projects remains deeply contested. Big tech companies contribute to this debate by framing technology as the means to restore dignity to those who need it most, from people with disabilities to exploited and precarious workers. Yet, on the other side stands the individual, whose relationship with any given technology remains a unique and original experience, still much in need of study and understanding.

Esports sit at the heart of this tension. As one of the fastest-growing sectors globally, competitive gaming brings together millions of players, spectators and workers within organisational structures that are still largely unmapped. Research has begun to show that esports ecosystems reproduce and amplify broader social inequalities, with gender, race and class shaping access, visibility and labour conditions in ways that demand serious organisational scrutiny. Despite their scale and cultural reach, esports remain an understudied terrain where technology, inclusion and the politics of participation collide in urgent and consequential ways. As we navigate these complex issues, we believe it is crucial to promote informed discussions and develop strategies to tackle this pressing issue.

Driven by commitment to address inequalities, REEF seeks to craft equitable futures for work and societies in a changing world. Its research aims to contribute to a better understanding of advances and practices that re-imagine just organisations for the future. 

This REEF event will feature expert academic speakers who will present their research exploring inequalities in technology with a specific focus on esports. The online event will be hosted by REEF co-director Marco Distinto and Cinzia Priola, The Open University Business School (DPO), UK. 

Attendees are invited to join the discussion and contribute with their insights. The aim is to initiate a productive debate and inspire new ideas on creating inclusive workplaces and societies in our ever-evolving world.

Register on Eventbrite

Speakers

• Tom Brock (Manchester Metropolitan University)
• Silvio Ripetta (Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Naples, Italy)
• Yue Meng-Lewis (The Open University)
• Amber Murray (The Open University)

Hosts

• Marco Distinto (The Open University)
• Cinzia Priola (The Open University)