Call for proposals 2026
The IAMCR Communication, Social Justice and Democracy (CJD) Working Group invites the submission of abstracts for its 2026 conference, to be held from 28 June to 2 July 2026 in Galway, Ireland, hosted by the University of Galway.
The deadline for submission is 3 February 2026 at 23:59 UTC.
Download this call for papers as a PDF file
Theme
IAMCR conferences cover a wide range of topics defined by our thematic Sections and Working Groups (S/WG). Each year, a central theme invites participants to engage in shared reflection across these diverse areas, fostering dialogue and collaboration.
The 2026 central theme, Peripheries and Connections: Media, Communication, and Transformation, addresses the complexities of contemporary media systems in a polarised and interconnected world. By interrogating the tensions between centrality and marginality—whether geographical, cultural, political, or conceptual—this theme aligns with IAMCR’s commitment to fostering critical and inclusive dialogues across diverse perspectives.
Consult a detailed description of the main theme
The Communication, Social Justice and Democracy working group invites proposals within the thematic perspective of the general call, addressing issues in the areas of Communication, Social Justice and Democracy and their intersections. Proposals falling within the 2026 central theme, Peripheries and Connections: Media, Communication, and Transformation, could examine, for instance, how justice claims articulated through different communicative practices and spaces can give visibility to marginalised voices, or how they can inform policy and action for genuine democratic practice, how the discourses around centrality and marginality—whether geographical, cultural, political, or conceptual— construct citizenship, denizenship, privileged and pariah subjects and claims, how territories, borders and boundaries of communication and knowledge create exclusions or allow for democratic and inclusive spaces and practices of knowledge and communication, how critical, postcolonial, decolonial and feminist approaches to justice and democracy, communicated through different media and practices, may instruct struggles for fairer and more democratic societies.
In addition to the call for proposals that reflect the general conference theme, we would like to invite proposals for papers and panels that address the working group’s areas of interest, critically examining the role of spaces, practices and technologies of communication, through the exploration of themes that centre around, but are not limited to:
- the diverse understandings and practices of social justice and democracy in the different parts of the world, moving beyond western conceptualisations and embracing non-human-centric approaches in considerations of viable democracy and justice (e.g., eco-justice),
- how contestations of democracy, and the rising appeal of the far-right and of authoritarian regimes are entangled with a failure to genuinely address social justice claims,
- how digital communication and AI are used in mediating, facilitating or destabilising democracy, enabling or disabling social justice claims,
- how state and corporate forms of surveillance, disinformation and propaganda contribute to social injustice and citizens’ rights violations,
- how citizens resist oppression and authoritarian systems that assault democracy, struggling for fairer societies, dignity and freedom.
Lastly, we are particularly interested in how visions, discourses and practices of hope for justice, peace and democracy are communicated and performed, in public discourse, in political struggle, in everyday encounters, in media, through activism, art or education.
Guidelines for abstracts
Abstracts for papers to be presented in person at one of the Communication, Social Justice and Democracy (CJD) working group’s conference sessions should be between 800 and 1000 words. They must be submitted exclusively through IAMCR’s submission system from 28 November 2025 through 3 February 2026 at 23:59 UTC. Abstracts submitted by email will not be considered.
Submissions to CJD do not have to address this year’s central theme, but they are expected to be thematically relevant to the WG’s areas of scholarly interest.
It is expected that each person will submit only one abstract. However, no author’s name should appear on more than two abstracts, either individually or as part of any group of authors and authors should not submit more than one abstract to any single section or working group. The same abstract, or a version with minor variations in title or content, must not be submitted to more than one Section or Working Group. Such submissions will be deemed to be in breach of the conference guidelines and will be rejected. Authors submitting the same work to multiple Sections or Working Groups may be removed entirely from the conference programme.
Evaluation criteria
Submitted abstracts will generally be evaluated on the basis of:
- Technical merit
- Readability
- Originality and/or significance
- Use of or contribution to theory
- Depth of knowledge of the research, theory and/or literature related to the proposed topic as evidenced in the submission
- Relevance to the working group and current trends or controversies in its field
Acceptance of proposals may also be conditioned by programme diversity and balance criteria.
Languages
The Communication, Social Justice and Democracy working group accepts abstracts in English, French or Spanish. Presentations are also welcome in any of the three languages, but we recommend researchers to prepare presentation aids (e.g. PowerPoint), in English to facilitate comprehension and discussion.
Statement on use of AI tools
IAMCR does not encourage or condone the use of generative AI tools to prepare abstracts submitted for consideration for our conferences. IAMCR values originality, integrity, and transparency in academic work, and believes that human-authored contributions best support rigorous and innovative scholarship in media and communication research. Should an author choose to use a generative AI tool in the preparation of an abstract, we require that they include a clear statement within their submission disclosing the tool's use. This statement must specify: (1) the name of any AI tool used; (2) how the tool was used in preparing the abstract, and; (3) the reason for using the tool. Failure to disclose the use of generative AI in accordance with these guidelines may impact the evaluation and acceptance of the submission.
Intention to attend
Each abstract submitted to IAMCR represents a real cost to the Association and contributes to the workload of volunteer reviewers and organisers. As the number of submissions each year far exceeds the available presentation slots, we ask authors to submit only if they genuinely intend to attend and present their work at the conference if accepted.
Deadlines and key dates
The deadline to submit proposals is 3 February 2026, at 23:59 UTC. Other key dates. Dates are subject to change.
About the Communication, Social Justice and Democracy Working Group
Learn more about the work and scope of the Communication, Social Justice and Democracy Working Group
Contact the Working Group
Co-chair: Vaia Doudaki, vaia.doudaki@fsv.cuni.cz
Co-chair: Fernando Oliveira Paulino, fopaulino@gmail.com
Vice-chair: Tania Cantrell Rosas-Moreno, tcrosasmoreno@loyola.edu
