Deadline: May 15, 2022

ECREA Pre-conference: Communication History section & International and Intercultural communication section

Venue: two offline sites at Aarhus University (Denmark) and Beijing Foreign Studies University (China) with joint online panels via ZOOM.

Language: English

General information

The growth and influence of emerging transnational media and technology corporations are transforming global communication. Various international scholars have developed different analytical instruments in order to account for the rise of these companies, focusing especially on the powerful home governments of these firms, the country-specific-advantages, media system models, and the transcultural implication for such business expansion and content distribution (e.g. Thussu, 2000; Halin & Mancini, 2012; Nordenstreng & Thussu, 2015; Panibratov, 2015; Teer-Tomaselli et al., 2019; Tang, 2020; Thussu & Nordenstreng, 2020).

In global media history, the term of “emerging” embodies both relativist and transformative implications as the opposition to the dominant powers. From early Japanese companies’ digital disruption in the United States on manufacturing specialized devices (like digital cameras) to Chinese and South Korean telecommunication companies’ competence in mobile devices and network services worldwide; from the Bollywood and Brazilian media conglomerates’ competition with predominant media counterparts in the region to the Korean Wave impact in global entertainment consumption; from Russian and Chinese internet companies’ alternative growth in the domestic and regional markets to the South African Naspers Group becoming the parent company of Europe’s largest consumer internet firm, the fast development, business relocation and strategic capital move of emerging transnational companies is changing—visibly and invisibly—the landscape and infrastructure base of global media and communication industry.

On the one hand, such changes nourished business and cultural diversity and further transcend national and cultural boundaries. On the other hand, it also raised critical questions towards intercultural conflicts and the fragility and resilience of the global cultural ecosystem. The technology competition between the United States and China, for example, signals the “securitization” trend of policymaking in the communication industry and rising concerns over risks in data protection, information security and democracy. It also illustrates fundamental constraints of emerging companies to challenge US hegemony in the field of media and communication and extends discussions about cultural imperialism following the technology and culture decoupling in related societies. A new dimension of transcultural communication is in great need to understand the characteristics and ambitions of transnational media and technology corporations: their rising influence on the global (commercial) media system, their future move in the global race to dominate information technology, their impact on international and intercultural communication and relations, and their promises for the responsibilities to the nature, community, and world society for the next generations.

This conference welcomes research papers that try to understand the rise of emerging media-technology power from interdisciplinary perspectives, with a special focus on the trans-nationalization process of these media and technology firms and the transcultural communication challenges they have been facing in their business development, expansion, concentration, implementation, legitimization, and related (organizational, institutional, and societal) discourses. Topics include but are not limited to:

· The politics, economy and culture of emerging media and tech companies.

· The transnational growth & influence of emerging media and tech companies in the regional markets, mature markets, and third-party markets.

· Transcultural implications of the rise of emerging media and tech companies (e.g., their impact on transcultural protest movements, or on everyday communication)

· The relevance, roles, and implications of alternative movements and/or counter-movements in media and tech industries.

· Transcultural communication formats and content by emerging media and tech companies.

· Global public discourse around emerging media and tech companies, and their business strategies applied for brand building or rebuilding.

· The technology and culture decoupling amid the US-China power competition, and its impact on (lessons to) transnational corporations in other countries.

· Theoretical reflections on the changing paradigm of cultural imperialism, transcultural communication, technology diffusion and soft power in the case of media and tech companies (e.g., their role in cultural homogenization, uni-channelization, and monopolization processes).

Keynote roundtable discussion (confirmed speakers):

· Daya Thussu, Hong Kong Baptist University

· Dwayne Winseck, Carleton University

· Stephen Croucher, Massey University

· Delia Dumitrica, Erasmus University Rotterdam

· Fei JIANG, Beijing Foreign Studies University

· Gabriele Balbi, Università della Svizzera italiana

Submission Guidelines:

This conference accepts abstracts and panel proposals. All submissions should be written in English and should be submitted by 15 May 2022 to EasyChair platform.

Abstract: Individual or co-authored abstracts should be between 300-500 words (excluding the title page and references). The title page should include the title of the paper and authors’ names, academic/professional affiliations, and email address.

Panel proposal: Panel proposals are up to 4 papers and limited to 1,200 words (excluding the title page, references, and appendices).

The organizing committee will inform applicants of its decision by 1 June 2022. An extended abstract for the special-issue publication (between 1500-2000 words, excluding the title page and references) is invited to submit by 30 September 2022.

Additional Information:

Organizer:

China Media Observatory, Università della Svizzera italiana (Lugano, Switzerland)

Journal of Transcultural Communication (De Gruyter)

Co-organizer:

School of International Journalism and Communication, Beijing Foreign Studies University

Institute for a Community with Shared Future, Communication University of China

Organizer Committee:

Gabriele Balbi, Università della Svizzera italiana

Zhan Zhang, Università della Svizzera italiana

Romy Woehlert, Kindervereinigung Leipzig e.V.

Fei Jiang, Beijing Foreign Studies University

Deqiang Ji, Communication University of China

Conference contact: chinamediaobservatory@gmail.com

Reference:

Hallin, D. & Mancini, P. (2011, eds) Comparing Media Systems Beyond the Western World. Cambridge University Press.

Nordenstreng, K. & Thussu, D. (2015, eds) Mapping BRICS Media, Routledge.

Panibratov, A. (2015) Liability of Foreignness of Emerging Market Firms: The Country of Origin Effect on Russian IT Companies. Journal of East-West Business, Vol 21, issue 1.

Tang, M. (2020) Huawei Versus the United States? The Geopolitics of Exterritorial Internet Infrastructure. International Journal of Communication 14:4556-4577.

Teer-Tomaselli, R., Tomaselli, K. & Dludla, M. (2019) Peripheral capital goes global: Naspers, globalization and global media contraflow. Media, Culture & Society, Vol.4 (8) 1142-1159.

Thussu, D. (2000) International Communication: Continuity and Change. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Thussu, D. & Nordenstreng,K (2020, eds) BRICS Media: Reshaping the Global Communication Order? Routledge.