The Post-Socialist and Post-Authoritarian Communication Working Group looks forward to the next IAMCR Conference and invites submissions (both individual proposals and collective panels) for the 2015 conference to be held at Montreal, Canada, from 12th to 16th July 2015.
Conference theme: “Hegemony or Resistance? The Ambiguous Power of Communication”
See the conference key dates and deadlines: http://iamcr.org/congress/montreal2015-keydates
See all Calls for Papers for IAMCR 2015: http://iamcr.org/congress/montreal2015-cfp
Visit the conference website: http://congresiamcr.uqam.ca
The conference will be held under the general theme “Hegemony or resistance? The Ambiguous Power of Communication”.
The discussions and reflections about the utopia of communication have been triggered by demonstrations and mass movements around the world, also in the transitional post-socialist and post-authoritarian societies. For example, there has been discussion on the role of digital media in mobilizing people. The protest movements have a paradoxical relationship to communication, resisting its role in the domination of global cultural industries and capitalism while at the same time applauding its capacity to foster values and communality that would otherwise have been lost. While multiple sites of resistance are spreading around the world, much of the debates about communication technologies mark an increasing suspicion towards the new media’s capability for empowerment.
The working group on Post-Socialist and Post-Authoritarian Communication welcomes papers and panels related to the conference theme, including such topics as:
- What is the capacity of (new) media’s empowerment in post-socialist and post-authoritarian societies, or in transitional societies in general?
- To what extent can media and communication “change our living world” in transitional societies?
- How can communication contribute to the empowerment of individuals and groups in their local contexts?
- How do modern forms of communication interact with the ideal of democracy, considered as much an apparatus for manipulation as for freedom?
- If communication has power, what is the nature of this power? How do media represent hegemonic processes and acts of resistance?
- In what ways do entertainment, social media, journalism or public relations act as symbols of resistance or control for corporations and civil society?
- In what ways does media and communication research constitute in itself a site of hegemonic domination or of resistance?
- Media structures and journalism cultures in transition
- Mass media, journalism and politics in transitional/conflict/post-conflict societies
Contributions may include empirical research from a wide variety of terrains, or methodological and theoretical papers from a large scope of epistemological perspectives. The Working Group welcomes also contributions that cover other transitional societies than post-socialist or post-authoritarian societies.
Individual papers and panels are possible, but all proposals must be submitted through the online Open Conference System at http://iamcr-ocs.org from 1 December 2014 – 9 February 2015. Early submission is strongly encouraged. There are to be no email submissions of abstracts addressed to any Section or Working Group Head.
Abstracts should be 300-500 words in length including the research objectives, theoretical framework and methodology. Submitted abstracts will generally be evaluated on the basis of: 1) theoretical contribution, 2) methods, 3) quality of writing, 4) literature review, 5) relevance of the submission to the work of the section or working group, and 6) originality and/or significance of the work.
This working group accepts abstracts in English only
It is expected that for the most part, only one (1) abstract will be submitted per person for consideration by the Conference. However, under no circumstances should there be more than two (2) abstracts bearing the name of the same applicant 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 other Sections or Working Groups of the Association for consideration, after an initial submission. Such submissions will be deemed to be in breach of the conference guidelines and will be automatically rejected by the Open Conference System, by the relevant Head or by the Conference Programme Reviewer. Such applicants risk being removed entirely from the conference programme.
Upon submission of an abstract, you will be asked to confirm that your submission is original and that it has not been previously published in the form presented. You will also be given an opportunity to declare if your submission is currently before another conference for consideration.
Presenters are expected to bring fully developed work to the conference. Prior to the conference, it is expected that a completed paper will be submitted to Section, Working Group, Session Chairs, and/or Discussants.
Post-Socialist and Post-Authoritarian Communication Working Group
Chair:
Anastasia Grusha [Contact]
Co-Chairs:
Katja Lehtisaari [Contact]
Michael Meyen [Contact]
See the conference key dates and deadlines: http://iamcr.org/congress/montreal2015-keydates
See all Calls for Papers for IAMCR 2015: http://iamcr.org/congress/montreal2015-cfp
Visit the conference website: http://congresiamcr.uqam.ca