The Community Communication and Alternative Media (CAM) Section of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites the submission of proposals for papers and panels for IAMCR 2025, which will be held in Singapore from 13 to 17 July 2025, hosted by the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University.
The deadline for submission is 7 February 2025, at 23h59 UTC.
See the list of all sections and working groups and their remits
See the CfPs of all sections and working groups
IAMCR conferences address many diverse topics defined by our 37 thematic sections and working groups. We also propose a single central theme to be explored throughout the conference with the aim of generating and exploring multiple perspectives. This is accomplished through plenary and special sessions, as well as in many of the sessions of the sections and working groups. The 2025 central theme is Communicating Environmental Justice: Many Voices, One Planet.
Consult a detailed description of the main theme
The Community Communication and Alternative Media Section (CAM) brings together research on community, alternative and citizens’ media and communication forms, media and digital activism, and other kinds of civil society-based communication. It considers a wide range of non-governmental and non-commercial communication practices such as do-it-yourself media; media by, for, and with geographical communities and communities of interest; indigenous/First Nations media; social movements’ communication; digital resistance, techno-politics, and social media protests; counter-cultural and culture jamming expressions; media surveillance and watchdogs; and participatory communication and media that form a ‘third sector’ distinct from public service and commercial media. Such practices may use a variety of communication technologies and forms, from print newsletters to mobile phones, from group communication and demonstrations to community radio and (online) social networks.
The section asks questions such as:
- How do marginalized, minority, or vulnerable groups develop, adapt, use, and appropriate media and communication technologies?
- What makes citizen media and communication forms effective and sustainable?
- What are the innovative forms of media activism? Are the older forms still alive and useful?
- What are the social, economic, legal, and political contexts of community and alternative media?
- What are the most fruitful theories and research methods for studying these media and communication forms?
- Which kind of journalism do they practice? What are the links between journalism and activism?
- Do these media and communication expressions point us to new forms of networked publics, participatory democracy, and active citizenship? Are these concepts problematic?
- What do we learn from citizen & community media? How do we integrate community communication in the Higher education curriculum? Community engagement is central to our work: how does the neoliberal context challenge or constrain scholarship in our area?
- How do alternative and citizen communication projects speak to the global and ecological crises that we face?
- How does community communication understand interculturality and create connections with communities in mobility: migrants, refugees, diasporas, etc.?
The section welcomes current research conducted with grassroots and systemically marginalized communities and social justice movements. CAM is a large, diverse, open, and friendly section. We are committed to the discussion of current practices and challenges facing social justice communications, the development of appropriate research approaches that can be useful for grassroots communities and social and environmental justice movements.
Community Communication and Alternative Media: Collaborative action; transformative justice
The Community Communication and Alternative Media Section welcomes contributions from all scholars and practitioners who research and work in this field and is particularly interested in submissions on the following themes, which intersect with the 2025 conference’s focus on communicating environmental justice:
- Forging community solidarities and subaltern public spheres.
- Building environmental justice through pluralistic and inclusive dialogue across sectors, identities and narratives.
- Exploring holistic models of the Pluriverse that move beyond the human-centred to a focus on Nature.
- Resisting and ‘re-existing’ hegemonic structures, including economic, political, social, cultural, and ecological systems, as a way to re-imagine alternative/progressive futures.
- Examining the role of pedagogy, including beyond the university, in responding to contemporary challenges.
In the spirit of our commitment to dialogue and community, we actively encourage proposals for roundtables and other formats, such as film screenings and (virtual) exhibitions, that will encourage active participation by conference attendees. Contact the Head of the section for proposals in different formats (details below).
Joint sessions
In 2025, the Section will be hosting joint sessions with the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN), with the Participatory Communication Research Section (PCR), and with the Environment, Science & Risk Communication Section (ESR).
CAM/ESN - Papers submitted to the joint session with the Emerging Scholars' Network should have as a primary author/presenter an individual who identifies as an emerging scholar and relate to one or more of the themes above. To participate in this joint session submit your abstract to ESN and choose the topic CAM/ESN joint session on the submission platform.
CAM/PCR - Abstracts that align with Community Communication and Alternative Media and Participatory Communication Research scholarship will be considered. To participate in this joint session submit your abstract to PCR and choose the topic CAM/PCR joint session on the submission platform.
CAM/ESR - Abstracts that align with CAM and ESR scholarship will be considered. To participate in this joint session submit your abstract to CAM and choose the topic CAM/ESR joint session on the submission platform.
Guidelines for abstracts
Abstracts must be submitted exclusively through IAMCR’s submission system from 3 December 2024 through 7 February 2025, at 23.59 UTC.
Abstract should be between 800 and 1000 words.
It is expected that each person will submit only one abstract. However, no author’s name should appear on more than two abstracts and authors should not submit more than one abstract to the Community Communication and Alternative Media Section. Your abstract, or a version with minor variations in title or content, must not be submitted to any other 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 more than one Section or Working Group 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
- Relevance to the section and current trends or controversies in its field
- Depth of knowledge of the research, theory and/or literature related to to the proposed topic as evidenced in the submission
Acceptance of proposals may also be conditioned by programme diversity and balance criteria. The Community Communication and Alternative Media Section may use additional criteria and may assign different weights to the above criteria.
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.
Languages
The Community Communication and Alternative Media Section accepts abstracts in English, French and Spanish. You can submit the abstract and the full paper (if accepted) in any of these three languages. Papers will be organized in groups according to the themes they have in common, and these will be multilingual.
In line with the section’s existing practice of facilitating ‘whisper translation’ of sessions where possible, we will make every effort to provide some form of informal translation support in our sessions in 2024. Presenters are asked to assist in this process by ensuring that supporting materials (e.g., slides) include text in a different official language to that of their oral presentation.
Deadlines and key dates
The deadline to submit abstracts is 7 February 2025, at 23.59 UTC. For other key dates see https://iamcr.org/singapore2025/keydates. Dates are subject to change.
Contacts
For further information about the Community Communication and Alternative Media Section, its themes, submissions, and panels please contact the Head of the section:
Co-Chair: Vinod Pavarala
UNESCO Chair on Community Media, University of Hyderabad, India
vpavarala@gmail.com
