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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 13h

"Among the plans for integrating AI into everyday use is an online platform for export-based businesses to bundle information on export regulations and credit options, and expediting visa processing by using AI to review an applicant's documents."

Source: www.dw.com/en/german-go...

How the German government is going all in on AI – DW – 10/05/2025

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s cabinet agreed on a "modernization agenda" this week, which includes the use of AI. Critics have questioned how much of this is in the public interest.

www.dw.com

Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 13h

"Reducing bureaucracy costs by 25% by 2029, offering more public services online and using artificial intelligence in government and in courts are some of the projects Chancellor Friedrich Merz's cabinet agreed to this past week."

How the German government is going all in on AI – DW – 10/05/2025

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s cabinet agreed on a "modernization agenda" this week, which includes the use of AI. Critics have questioned how much of this is in the public interest.

www.dw.com

Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 1d

we might have caught the wrong Jonathan in the loop, though -- the co-author of the article is not yet on BlueSky from what I know, unlike other scholars with his name 😅

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 1d

thanks, Anja, and not just for the enthusiastic reception: I remember you encouraged me to write something about it earlier this year, and I'm glad we eventually did!😊

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 2d

Jonathan and I wrote about the fantasy of total efficiency, algorithmic governance, and the bureaucratic horror story as a recurring fictional trope — thank you, KWI Blog team, for hosting the piece!

Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut Essen (KWI) @kwi-essen.bsky.social · 2d

The #KWIBlog is back! The 1st post of the new semester by @alexandrairim.bsky.social & Jonathan Foster contextualises recent developments in US public administration, examining the rise of AI governance in light of literary & visual depictions of administrative technology.
🏢 tinyurl.com/2zdzpjme

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 3d

next week at the University of Cologne we're looking at how literature engages with Niklas Luhmann's concept of organizational "boundary roles"

Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 15d

Bureaucritics #5 is now online!

It brings along a busy stretch of new publications, from the just-printed to the just-planned, plus fresh calls for papers and events.

Back in Office

We’re back!

bureaucritics.substack.com

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 22d

The international #symposium Files, Forms, Fictions is turning into a real thing!

Browse through the full program and learn more about the event at filesformsfictions.com.

Thank you, @humboldt-foundation.de & @unibonn.bsky.social, for all your support!
#bureaucraticfiction #comparativeliterature

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · Sep 8

www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3-0... you can find it for free

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Reposted by Alexandra Irimia

Critical Inquiry @criticalinquiry.bsky.social · Aug 29

"Jenkin-Smith brings to his readers’ attention authors and periodicals that literary histories have meanwhile discarded or longtime ignored."

Alexandra Irimia on Daniel Jenkin-Smith's The Rise of Office Literature, from @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social: criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/alexandra_ir...

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · Sep 4

ACLA Seminar on the Objectification of Office Workers, co-organized with Karolin Schäfer

Feb 26 - Mar 1, 2026, Montreal

Submissions (abstracts max. 1500 characters, bios max. 500) are open on the ACLA platform by Oct 2. Accepted seminars notified by Dec. 2.

www.acla.org/seminar/3ebf...

View Seminar | American Comparative Literature Association

www.acla.org

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · Aug 30

"The book resonates with particular urgency in an era marked by evolving modes of office work and the wielding of antibureaucratic rhetoric as an instrument of political warfare."

Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · Aug 30

Just published in Critical Inquiry: my review of @dcjenkin-smith.bsky.social’s book "The Rise of Office Literature"—a most pleasant read that gave me a lot to think with.

Thanks for the review copy, @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social!

criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/alexandra_ir...

Critical Inquiry

A journal of Art, Culture and Politics, Published by the University of Chicago

criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · Aug 29

That's great to hear, thank you for the heads-up! 😀

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · Aug 28

Thank you for sharing, Nissa! I'm not a member of the MSA and I can't make it to Boston in October, but I'm very curious to get a glimpse of the papers / discussions at the seminar, if / when that becomes possible😀I wish you and the participants a productive time at the conference!

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · Aug 28

Hi Nissa, I'm intrigued by the seminar you're co-organizing (congrats!) and I'd love to hear more details!

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · Aug 18

Bureaucratic Modernism is curious to hear your ideas!

DL: Nov 15📩

Full call here: call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/08/...

@moderniststudies.bsky.social @fimassociation.bsky.social @modernism-asia.bsky.social @modernistudies.bsky.social @mmodernity.bsky.social

cfp | call for papers

call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · Aug 11

We've just hit "Publish" on Bureaucritics #4!📬

Check out our summer dispatch on the latest in bureaucracy studies, and don't forget to subscribe if you're so inclined.

Out of Office

Summer may be the season of automated email replies and empty cubicles, but the machinery of bureaucracy never truly takes a holiday.

bureaucritics.substack.com

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · Aug 4

Darchinger's entire collection is available in the Archive of Social Democracy (AdsD), digitized at collections.fes.de/archivgut.

Archivgut

collections.fes.de

Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · Aug 4

Snippets of West German bureaucracy from the 1970s.

[gelatin silver prints from the exhibition Jupp Darchinger: The Eye of the Republic [Das Auge der Republik], LVR-Landesmuseum, open June 12 - September 14, 2025]

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · Jul 23

The three other adaptations date back to 1914 (André Liabel), 1936 (Yves Mirande), and 1978 (Daniel Ceccaldi).

Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · Jul 23

The French fascination for the curious life and paper forms of bureaucracy endures.

Here, screenshots from Messieurs les ronds-de-cuir (Henri Diamant-Berger, 1959), one of 4 film adaptations of Georges Courteline's 1893 eponymous novel.

#bureaucraticfiction #officenovel #bureaucratcomedy

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · Jul 9

It's only fitting that a special issue about administrative aesthetics comes out with some delay. Vol. 8 of Administory - co-edited with Jonathan Foster, Burkhardt Wolf, and Stefan Nellen is now published in Open Access! Find our intro and 17 fantastic contributions here: sciendo.com/issue/ADHI/8/1

Administory

Volume 8 (2023): Issue 1 (December 2023)

sciendo.com

Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · Jul 1

I finished my guest lecture at Uni Konstanz and walked away with an unexpected gift. It will stay on my desk for a while.

Plus: a sharp audience, good conversations, most useful feedback. Thanks to all involved, it's truly been a pleasure!

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