Digital technologies are fundamentally transforming the power structures and norms that shape global governance. As data-driven decision-making, artificial intelligence, and digital platforms increasingly mediate public authority, digital sovereignty has emerged as a central strategic priority across the Global South. Rather than remaining passive recipients of global digital norms, states and regional organizations in the Global South are actively developing regulatory models to assert technological autonomy and reshape the international digital order.
This panel examines a central question: How is the pursuit of digital sovereignty reshaping institutional integrity and global governance across the Global South? Rather than assuming either emancipatory or authoritarian outcomes, the panel invites competing theoretical and empirical perspectives to develop a deeper understanding of the institutional consequences of emerging digital governance frameworks.
We particularly encourage contributions that examine institutional responses to AI governance, data governance, digital public infrastructure, and emerging regulatory models at the national, regional, and international levels. Comparative analyses across different regions of the Global South are especially welcome, as are studies exploring how states, regional organizations, and non-state actors negotiate the tensions between technological interdependence, regulatory autonomy, and institutional resilience.
By bringing together diverse theoretical, comparative, empirical, and policy-oriented perspectives, this panel seeks to advance scholarly debate on how institutions in the Global South are adapting to the algorithmic age and contributing to the evolution of global governance.
