The Crisis, Security and Conflict Communication Working Group of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites the submission of abstracts of papers and proposals for panels for the 2019 conference of the Association, which will be held from 7 to 11 July, 2019 at the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. The deadline for submission of abstracts is 8 February 2019, at 23.59 UTC.
The central theme for the conference focusses on communication and technology in relation to human dignity:
“Communication, Technology, and Human Dignity: Disputed Rights, Contested Truths”
In keeping with this overarching theme, we particularly welcome proposals that engage with this topic, and related topics, in relation to crisis, conflict and security communication. Key questions include, but are by no means limited to: What is the role of communication in disputing rights and contesting truths in times of crisis, conflict and insecurity? What implications might Big Data, uses of control systems in political and legal decision-making processes, post-truth, fake news and social network bots have in the context of crisis, conflict and security? How might different means of communication empower citizens and journalists, and reinforce their rights, in crisis or conflict situations? What is the relationship between communication technology and human dignity during times of conflict, crisis and insecurity? How might technological innovations impact upon human dignity during times of conflict and crisis?
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The Crisis, Security and Conflict Communication Working Group provides a forum for scholars researching the ways in which political, social and economic crises, wars and conflicts, security matters, disasters and emergencies, risks and acts of terrorism are communicated, represented and mediated, combining global and local perspectives. We therefore adopt a broad understanding of communication in the context of crisis, security and conflict with theoretical, methodological and empirical contributions from a range of perspectives and disciplines. The aim is to stimulate diverse and fruitful discussions across disciplines and specialisation. To do so, we adopt an interactive approach where we ensure that each submitted paper will have an assigned discussant.
Key themes include:
• Media and Communication related to Conflicts and Wars.
• Media and Communication related to Security.
• Media and Communication related to Economic and Financial Crisis.
• Media and Communication related to Disasters, Pandemics, and Climate Change.
• Media and Communication related to Political Crisis.
• Media and Communication related to Immigration, Mobility, Ethnicity and Race.
In addition to individual papers, we would like to encourage research panels aimed at exploring the communication of crisis, security and conflict in different areas and regions across cultural and disciplinary boundaries. A proposal for a panel should provide a panel title, a panel summary text (with the overall idea of the panel in maximum 500 words), and short abstracts for each paper in the panel, with titles and authors. A panel chair and a discussant can also be proposed. The panel summary text and the individual paper abstracts need to be submitted separately.
Submission guidelines
Abstracts should be between 300 and 500 words in length. Abstracts must be submitted from 3 December 2018 through 8 February 2019. We welcome both individual paper abstracts and panel presentations.
We ask you to kindly submit proposals in good time at the abstract submission site – https://iamcr-ocs.org. Abstracts sent via email will not be accepted.
It is expected that each person will submit only one (1) abstract. However, under no circumstances should there be more than two (2) abstracts bearing the name of the same author, either individually or as part of any group of authors. Please note also that the same abstract or another 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 by the OCS system, by the relevant Head or by the Conference Programme Reviewer. Authors submitting them risk being removed entirely from the conference programme.
For further information, please consult the IAMCR Madrid 2019 web page or contact the Local Organizing Committee by email: madrid2019@iamcr.org
Language policy
The Crisis, Security and Conflict Communication Working Group can only accept abstracts in English and can only arrange for presentations in English.
Deadlines and important dates
The deadline to submit abstracts is 8 February 2019, at 23.59 UTC.
• 3 December 2018 - Abstract submission system opens at https://iamcr-ocs.org
• 8 February 2019 - Deadline to submit abstracts
• 28 March 2019 - Abstract decisions announced by sections and working groups
• 7 April 2019 - Deadline to apply for travel grants and awards
• 11 April 2019 - Deadline to confirm participation
• 7 May 2019 - Draft conference programme schedule released
• 14 May 2019 - Last day for Early bird registration
• 7 June 2019 - Deadline for full paper submission
• 17 June 2019 - Last day for changes to be made in the print version of the programme
• 7-11 July 2019 - IAMCR Conference
Evaluation Criteria
Submitted abstracts will be evaluated on the basis of:
1. Theoretical contribution
2. Methods
3. Quality of writing
4. Literature review
5. Relevance of the proposal to the work of the Section or Working Group
6. Originality and/or significance
Contacts
Please contact Rikke Bjerg Jensen, Chair of the Crisis, Security and Conflict Working Group (details below), if you have any questions.
Working Group Chair
Rikke Bjerg Jensen
Royal Holloway University of London, UK
Information Security Group
Rikke.Jensen [at] rhul.ac.uk
Working Group Vice-Chair
Virpi Salojärvi
University of Helsinki, Finland
Media and Communication Studies
virpi.salojarvi [at] helsinki.fi