Coincidentally or not, two ECREA groups used “periphery” in their 2017 conferences.
The Communication History section organised a workshop Our Group First! – Historical perspectives on Minorities/Majorities, Inclusion/Exclusion, Centre/Periphery in Media and Communication in Budapest at Eötvös Loránd University, on 7–9 September. During three days participants attended more than 25 presentations, including keynotes by Tibor Frank (Eötvös Loránd University), Andrea Pető (Central European University), Susanne Kinnebrock (University of Augsburg) and Erika Szívós (Eötvös Loránd University).
The CEE Network met at the University of Ljubljana, on 15–17 June, for the 10th CEECOM conference Critique of/at/on periphery?. The keynotes of Zlatan Krajina (University of Zagreb) and John Downey (Loughborough University) were followed by more than 50 presentations.Under the keyword “periphery”, the CEECOM conference addressed diverse topics about the relations between centres and margins, media(ted) transition of the postcommunist societies and criticality. All these were interwoven into the discussions about journalism, the public sphere, audiences and media industries. The question “what does it mean to be critical of, on and at the periphery?” echoed the conference, and invited the participants from Central and Eastern Europe to a (self) reflexivity exercise and (self) evaluation of CEE scholarship.
Photo 1: Zlatan Krajina, CEECOM’s keynote speaker
With the guest speaker outside communication studies, the round table organised by the Slovene Communication Association was a place to move theoretical debates into the everyday life in which, to rephrase the title, the “political is exhibited”. The dangers of the state interpretation of art were scrutinized using the example of the exhibition War and www on the Syrian Kurds, which was on display in Ljubljana, but withdrawn in Maribor after the intervention of the Turkish embassy.
Photo 2: (from left) The keynote speaker Tibor Frank, Nelson Ribeiro, the chair of the Communication History section, the local organiser Balázs Sipos, and the keynote speaker Andrea Pető.)
The talks presented at the Communication History section workshop made it clear how much can be learned about contemporary media and political discourses when looking at how communication technologies were used in the past to foster hate and fear against the “other”. The workshop aimed to discuss how communication has been used to disseminate stereotypes, narratives and social myths, creating clear distinctions between a superior “us” and the “other”. The chant “Our Group First”, which echoes past times, has gained momentum in the contemporary political discourse in Europe and the United States. This led the section to consider it urgent to discuss and better understand the role played by the media in the dissemination of populist and xenophobic ideals and to also look at how minorities have used different media to come together as communities.
One of the most touching moments at the workshop was the roundtable “Remembering Klaus Arnold”, in which section members paid tribute to one of the founders and the first Chair of the Communication History section who passed away earlier in the year. Those who participated at the roundtable remembered not only Klaus’ work in setting up the Section but also his contributions to Communication Studies at large. He will be missed and his legacy will remain as the section grows and develops its research agenda.
Photo 3: Business meeting of the Communication History Section.
At the business meeting section members were briefed on the development of the European Communication History Handbook, a project also envisioned by Klaus Arnold that will be published in 2018 by Wiley-Blackwell.
- The next workshop of the Communication History section is scheduled to take place in Vienna, 18–20 September 2018. Please do join!
- The next CEECOM conference will take place in Szeged from 30th May to 1st June 2018. Please visit conference website.
Report prepared by Jelena Kleut, University of Novi Sad, Serbia; CEE Network
with contribution from Nelson Ribeiro, Universidade Católica Portuguesa; chair of Communication History section
