April 24, 2026

Online

Deadline: March 16, 2026

Read the full CfP here: https://ierlab.com/influencer-diplomacy/ 

This is a reminder that the submission deadline for the upcoming Influencer Diplomacy Symposium, hosted by the Influencer Ethnography Research Lab (IERLab), is in two weeks [16 March 2026].

The symposium will be held online via Zoom on 24 April 2026 and will examine the evolving practice of influencer diplomacy across political, cultural, and geopolitical contexts.

Recent scholarship has highlighted the growing role of influencers in political arenas, including their involvement in diplomatic communication, soft power initiatives, conflict mediation, and international perception management. While research has addressed political influencers, geopolitical influencers, and state–influencer collaborations, there remains no shared definition of ‘influencer diplomacy.’

This symposium foregrounds influencer diplomacy as a generative concept, referring to the ways in which influencer cultures, practices, and industries impact diplomatic processes, from influencers assuming diplomatic roles and politicians adopting influencer strategies, to marketing firms leveraging influencer infrastructures in the mediation of international relations. Influencer diplomacy operates not only at formal state and institutional levels but also intersects with everyday politics, shaping public discourse and social engagement. Moreover, it must account for how influencers, as platform-savvy actors, tailor diplomatic communication to the vernaculars, norms, and affordances of specific digital platforms. 

To explore this phenomenon in more detail, the Influencer Ethnography Research Lab (IERLab) will be hosting a one-day online symposium (on Zoom) to examine the evolving practice of influencer diplomacy. We invite submissions from humanities and social sciences, including but not limited to media studies, cultural studies, sociology, anthropology, political science, area studies, and international relations. We particularly welcome submissions that focus on empirically grounded research and comparative case studies. 

Selected papers will be considered for a peer reviewed edited collection. As such, we are only able to consider original, previously-unpublished abstracts/papers. Suggested topics include but are not limited to: 

• Influencers as official and unofficial intermediaries in diplomatic endeavours
  
• Motivations, labour, and negotiation in influencers’ diplomatic practice
  
• Politicians adopting influencer strategies in international communication
  
• The role of affect, intimacy, authenticity, and storytelling as diplomatic resources
  
• Audience participation, public formation, and the politicisation of influencer collaborations
  
• Influencer diplomacy as both a practice and a governing logic: how diplomacy increasingly ‘thinks like an influencer’
  
• Influencer diplomacy in crisis, conflict, humanitarian, and wartime contexts
  
• Regulation, disclosure, and governance of state–influencer collaborations

To be considered for the symposium, please submit a 250-word abstract and 100-word bio via the Google form below by 1700hrs (GMT+8) 16 March 2026. Notifications of acceptance will be sent on 20 March 2026. We gladly welcome co-authored submissions; to keep presentations consistent, each submission is limited to one presenter, preferably the corresponding author. Please submit via this form: https://forms.gle/7EWBPEuR4gk3ceKK7 

All enquiries should be directed to contact@IERLab.com

Key Dates:

• 16 March 2026: Abstracts and biographies due
  
• 20 March 2026: Notifications of acceptance
  
• 24 April 2026: Influencer Diplomacy Symposium

We look forward to receiving your submissions.

Faye Mercier, Wuxuan Zhang, Prof. Crystal Abidin

Influencer Ethnography Research Lab (IERLab), Curtin University