The Ascent of Community and Activist Media

Theorising the turn to counter-power media and communication

An IAMCR/ICA bridge conference

This event is an IAMCR/ICA bridge conference, being both a post-conference event for the International Communication Association and a pre-conference for IAMCR. It will be held on 25 June at Griffith University Gold Coast Campus, Southport, Australia. Abstract submissions are due by 17:00 (AEST) 30 January, 2024.

Description

This event brings together scholars from the International Communication Association’s Interest Group in Activism, Communication and Social Change with colleagues from IAMCR’s Community Communication and Alternative Media Section. We invite scholars to consider the rise of ‘alternative’ forms of media and communication – including community, activist, radical and grassroots – in the context of a significant uplift in academic scholarship, coupled with the appearance of a plethora of new mastheads and initiatives in the digital age.

Background

In 2016, the inaugural edition of the Journal of Alternative and Community Media brought together leading scholars to set an ambitious research agenda for the field of community, alternative, radical, and activist media and communications studies. Definitions of ‘counter-power media’ (Fenton 2016), the importance of identifying and discussing the ‘longitudinal shifts in media power’ (Kidd 2016), a re-focus on ‘context, human agency and political economy of media’ (Rodriguez 2016), and the need for our scholarship to ‘engage energetically with information policy activism’ (Downing 2016) were just some of the calls made, 8 years ago, about the future challenges and trajectories for our field. In all, questions of power are central.

This event invites scholars to engage with considerations of power within the following broad themes:

• Intersectional inquiries into community, alternative, radical, and activist media and practices
• Spatial dimensions of counter-power media – the importance of place, for example urban resistance, the rural poor, and the networks that bind
• Historical reflections on theoretical underpinnings of the field, and future directions
• The rise of alt-right philosophies and narratives as interpretations of alternative and grassroots activism
• Decolonizing and participatory approaches to research and practice-research
• The role of community, alternative, radical, and activist media in advancing and expanding human rights and freedoms
• The role of social movements in contemporary counter-power and counter-hegemonic narratives
• Activism and resistance in Indigenous media content, processes, and practice
• Production and growth of media that services minority, ethnic and other diverse communities.

In alignment with the creative, contingent, and DIY approaches of activist, alternative and community media practitioners, participants will have the option to engage in creative audio practice to present their work instead of a traditional conference format. Please indicate in your abstract submission if you are interested in exploring this.

Location

Griffith University Gold Coast Campus, Southport