Call for Chapters

Deadline: January 20, 2025

This edited volume seeks contributions from scholars whose subject matter, methods, or researcher identities resonate with what might be considered peripheral in communication studies. We aim to explore how diverse perspectives—often shaped by specific contexts, marginalized identities or cases, or alternative approaches—can challenge, expand or be an alternative to traditional paradigms, perspectives and cases in the field. The concept of the periphery is not defined here as a rigid geographic or socio-political category, nor is it a simple counterpoint to the North or Western paradigms. Instead, we understand the periphery as a space where various ‘ways of being’ and ‘ways of doing’ emerge, offering insights into communication processes and practices. We define the periphery in three interconnected ways. First, it can reflect geographic and contextual realities rooted in specific locations and their challenges. Second, it may describe the researcher's identity, which, while often tied to context, can stand apart from geographic definitions. Third, it relates to the subject matter and theoretical gaze, especially when these are understudied, overlooked, challenge dominant paradigms, or offer alternative epistemologies. The full call text is available here.

We welcome submissions that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

Researcher Situatedness and Methodology

- Reflections on how researchers’ contexts, identities, or positionalities influence their approaches, perspectives, and contributions to media and communication studies.

- Explorations of methodologies that embrace situatedness, such as autoethnography or reflective practices, as a means to deepen our understanding of communication phenomena.

Diverse or Transgressive Communication Spaces and Practices

- Analyses of how communicative practices—particularly in less conventional or transgressive spaces like digital sex work, hacktivism, or grassroots art movements—shape identity, expression, and community.

- Studies highlighting understudied or alternative communication practices, including those rooted in indigenous knowledge systems, oral traditions, and embodied performances, to enrich the field.

Expanding Theoretical Boundaries in Communication Studies

- Contributions that challenge, extend, or reimagine dominant theories in media and communication studies, informed by peripheral perspectives.

- Theoretical insights from underrepresented regions or traditions, such as Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Oceania, or Latin America, that shed new light on established debates.

- Understudied areas of communication, including theories or methods from other disciplines—such as ethics, political science, or performative arts—that bring fresh insight into the field.

​​Non-Human Subjectivity and Communication

- Investigations into the role of non-human subjectivities (e.g., animals, plants, or artificial intelligence) in communication processes and how these subjectivities challenge traditional human-centered paradigms, especially in non-Western contexts.

- Analyses and case studies of embodied, non-verbal, or other-than-human communicative practices that engage with human-animal, human-environment relationships, or offer theoretical and practical implications of decentering the human gaze.

Beyond the Digital Turn

- Explorations of non-digital communication spaces and practices—such as those in architecture, urban spaces, theater, or other embodied forms—and their contributions to the discipline.

- Research that revisits non-digital media to expand the understanding of communication in a digital-first world.

Economic Class and Communication

- Inquiries into how economic class shapes communication practices, representation, and access in varied contexts.

- Perspectives that place economic inequality at the forefront of communication studies, offering alternative ways of thinking about class and media.

Knowledge Production in Communication Studies

- Discussions on the structural biases in academic publishing and scholarship that influence which voices and perspectives are elevated or marginalized. Implications of working in authoritarian contexts.

- Critical engagements with global and local knowledge hierarchies, offering alternatives to reductive binaries and promoting diverse epistemologies.

Perspectives and Challenges of Early-career Scholars

- Considerations of the experiences of early-career researchers in regard to academic and professional challenges, particularly in peripheral or undervalued contexts.

- Innovations in methodology or theory that arise from the unique perspectives of early-career scholars.

Submission Guidelines and Contributions Sought

We aim to hold an online (closed) workshop on March 22, 2025 (subject to change) in order to facilitate discussion among the potential authors. The workshop will be a medium for the authors to debate their argument with each other as well as making themselves familiar with other contributions through informal paper presentations. The target publisher (e.g. Springer, Brill Books, Routledge, Lexington Books) will also be decided during the workshop. After the workshop, the authors will have 4 months to finalize the contributions. Full chapters will be around 6,000 words including the bibliography.

You can send the abstracts around 500-600 words (including the references) and a 100-word author bio to cansu.koc04@bilgiedu.net by January 20, 2025. The abstract should clearly outline the theoretical framework, specific context(s), and the broader implications of the proposed chapter for communication studies. The authors will be notified about the selection results by February 20, 2025.

Editors: Cansu Koç (Istanbul Bilgi University), Ezgi Altınöz (Istanbul Bilgi University), Yusuf Yüksekdağ (Istanbul Bilgi University)

This project is stemming from the Interdisciplinary PhD Communication Conference series at Istanbul Bilgi University. The previous edited collection, Collaboration in Media Studies, was published by Routledge in 2024.