ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

December 10, 2021

University of Lublin, Poland

Deadline:  September 30, 2021

Institute of Social Communication and Media Studies, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Poland in partnership with Academia Europaea Wroclaw Knowledge Hub

Continuing our research meetings focused on specific issues of mediatisation chaired by eminent experts (Göran Bolin (2017), Johan Fornäs (2018), Andreas Hepp (2019),Mark Deuze (2020)), this year the workshop will take place online on 10 December 2021 and it will be led by Professor André Jansson, director of the Geomedia Research Group at the Karlstad University, Sweden.

The title of this year's edition is: counter-mediatization, digital disconnection and other reverse trends in media use.

We invite all mediatization researchers who wish to discuss their own research projects in a narrow and closed group of media scholars under the guidance of an expert. The aim of such exchange is to answer questions like:

• What are the causes and effects of the retreat from media technologies and mediated processes?
• How conscious media management, containment, contestation, negation is shaping?
• How the media environment is being desaturated and what off-the-grid life is about?
• How private, professional, social and public life is being demediated?
• What digital disconnection is and what it entails?
• How fashions, trends and tendencies such as digital detox, etc. are changing everyday media practice, as well as various aspects of private and social life?
• How are various forms of counter-mediatization related to the production of space and place?
• How are different disconnection strategies related to social power and privilege?
• How the theory of mediatization can develop in the context of the reverse trends in media use?

The idea and format of the meeting is based on a closed specialization workshop in a formula proven in the previous editions, i.e.:

• participants work on different types of materials (articles, works in progress, proposals, theses, reports, drafts etc.) under the guidance of the edition leader;
• meeting is preceded by substantive preparation by the leader and all participants on the basis of materials circulated among all participants in advance;
• during the meeting all participants focus on group discussion and expert feedback (presentations and speeches are limited to a minimum);
• seminar is preceded by an introductory lecture by the leader.

There is no conference fee.

Schedule

• 30.09.21 - submissions of proposals (please use the form available on the webpage: https://tiny.pl/r33v6 ; other submission will not be accepted)
• 10.10.21 - notification of acceptance of proposals
• 10.11.21- submission of materials for discussion (only pdf format is accepted)
• 11.11-9.12.21 - preparation for the workshop by the leader and all participants
• 10.12.21 - closed online workshop (Google Meets will be used)

Any substantive questions about the workshop can be answered by Katarzyna Kopecka-Piech, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, via email: katarzyna.kopecka.piech@gmail.com. For technical and organisational matters, please write to: tdomrv@gmail.com

July 12, 2021, 4pm-5.15pm

MeCCSA Local and Community Media Network - Virtual research seminar

Please join us to discuss latest trends and debates on AI in news media focusing on local journalism. Our speakers will be:

• Carl-Gustav Linden: AI and local news
• Neil Thurman, Bartosz Wilczek, Florian Stalph and Sina Thäsler-Kordonouri: Automation in local journalism: The views of news consumers, editors and executives in the UK and Germany
• Agnes Gulyas and Gentian Gashi: Artificial Intelligence and Journalism: A Systematic Literature Review

The event is free but please register here:

https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcoventry-ac-uk.zoom.us%2Fmeeting%2Fregister%2FtZUvd-ihpj0uGdBJDOJa0QtUnh-nE8-NqrBn&data=04%7C01%7Caa5891%40coventry.ac.uk%7C18aa3ead69bd4a4783f408d93247a801%7C4b18ab9a37654abeac7c0e0d398afd4f%7C0%7C0%7C637596105750626436%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=Y79FVIj5Zkqygbf6HE57w2AcBbmk3gDAzYO8lhbSD0w%3D&reserved=0

By joining you give your consent to be recorded (this seminar will be posted online at a later date). Please mute your microphone during the main presentation, before the Q and A.

Abstract of presentations:

AI and local news

PhD Carl-Gustav Linden, Associate Professor of Data Journalism, University of Bergen, Norway

In this talk, I will analyse AI strategies in four Nordic news agencies, how they serve local newsrooms with content or applications and what plans for the future they have. The case study is based on interviews with representatives of four news agencies, STT (Finland), NTB (Norway), TT (Sweden) and Ritzau (Denmark). We will specifically explore access to digital data as a driving force for automation. The Nordic states and local government produce massive amount of open access data, also real time data, which can be used for many purposes. News agencies have good reasons to adopt new technology that makes their work more efficient and have been a leading force in news automation (Lindén, 2017; Fanta, 2017). The four Nordic news agencies have all been on the forefront when it comes to, for instance, the use of natural language technology for media purposes.

Automation in local journalism: The views of news consumers, editors and executives in the UK and Germany

Professor Neil Thurman, University of Munich, Bartosz Wilczek, University of Munich, Florian Stalph, Florian Stalph and Sina Thäsler-Kordonouri, University of Munich, Germany

This talk will present early results from two studies. The first investigates how local newspapers in Germany are adopting AI for input, throughput and output activities along the news value chain and what factors drive or constrain that adoption. Twenty online/digital editors and executives at 14 of the largest local German newspapers were interviewed, and the data analysed using cross-case pattern matching. The results reveal whether and how news automation is being used; and the factors—including linguistic, financial, and data availability—constraining its adoption. The second study is a qualitative comparative analysis of data-driven local news texts written with various levels of automation and none. Workshops were held with 31 participants from various UK regions during which they read articles from a range of sources, including PA Media’s RADAR (Reporters And Data And Robots) service, BBC News online, and local online newspaper websites. The results reveal both some of the differences between human- and machine-written local news stories and how news consumers can respond to those differences.

Artificial Intelligence and Journalism: A Systematic Literature Review

Professor Agnes Gulyas, Canterbury Christ Church University and Gentian Gashi, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK

News organisations have begun to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) into their newsrooms, to automate article production, distribution and fact-checking. Using search terms such as “Automated Journalism,” “Algorithm Journalism” and “Robot Journalism,” a systematic literature review was conducted, analysing a reduced sample of 142 journal articles. The review analysed the content of the publications in terms of definitional and theoretical approaches, methodological design, focus of news organisation and AI providers, ethical and legal considerations, as well as perceived impact of AI on journalism. Initial findings suggest that the number of journal articles published on the topic has increased significantly since 2019 and most papers present results of an empirical study, while theoretical contributions are limited. Most news organisations discussed in the papers are national or international outlets from developed countries. Research on AI providers and local news organisations appears to be scarce, which suggests less widespread use of AI in local media.

July 2, July 9, July 23, 2021

Online seminars

We are pleased to announce a seminar series called „Teaching Media Development“ which focuses on innovative curricula, creative teaching techniques and networking opportunities for emerging scholars in the field of media development. University teaching is a crucial aspect when it comes to establishing media development as an academic field. Students from BA to PhD level constitute the upcoming generation of journalists, communication researchers or media policy advisers who will shape debates on how to develop media sectors all over the world – be it in media outlets, NGOs, ministries, law offices, research centers, or think tanks. Therefore, it is hugely important to spark students’ interest in questions of media and development and to qualify them to be able to conduct sound analyses thereof. The seminar series attempts to start a conversation about best practices of teaching media development at university level this July. In the long run, it is supposed to contribute to improved academic training of media development experts as professionals who are skilled at thoroughly considering and analyzing local circumstances and developing localized solutions.

Convenors: Ines Drefs, Mira Keßler, Michel Leroy

Location: Zoom. Free and open to all.

This series is organized by MEDAS 21 and the IAMCR Media Sector Development Working Group .

SEMINAR 1: Media development curricula from around the world

Friday, July 2, 20201, 1.00-2.30 pm CEST (7.00-8.30 am New York; 7.00-8.30 pm Manila)

Registration: https://tu-dortmund.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4vmnqzlDTDSKfDWEvTjW6Q

Chair: Ines Drefs (MEDAS 21/Erich Brost Institute)

Confirmed speakers: Joya Chakraborty (Tezpur University), Christoph Dietz (Catholic Media Council), Winston Mano (University of Westminster), viola milton (University of South Africa)

Outline: Efforts aimed at developing the media sector are being discussed in university classrooms all around the world. The related courses are sometimes offered by departments of journalism studies, sometimes by departments of communication and sometimes as part of development studies, oftentimes they are interdisciplinary. What are the implications of where media sector development sits within university structures? What skills do teachers of these courses need to impart to the students and how to make sure these can be localized? Is there a canon of essential literature for students learning about media sector development? If so, what is and what should be in there? These are the guiding questions of this session in which course leaders, university teachers and curators of literature collections present and discuss their approaches.

SEMINAR 2: Creating opportunities for the next generation: speed date with media development PhD students!

Friday, July 9, 20201, 1.00-2.30 pm CEST (7.00-8.30 am New York; 7.00-8.30 pm Manila)

How to apply: Applicants interested in networking with peers should submit a short description (1,000 characters max.) of their research project to michel.leroy@tu-dortmund.de

Deadline for submission: June 21st, 11:59 pm CEST

Chair: Michel Leroy (MEDAS 21/Erich Brost Institute)

Outline: Within the relatively new IAMCR working group focusing on efforts of shaping and developing media systems, early-career scholars sometimes feel isolated or that communication links with professionals in the sector are difficult to establish. The aim of this session is therefore to provide a framework for networking among peers. We invite PhD students working on media development issues to an online “speed-dating session”. It is an opportunity for junior scholars from the “Global North“ and “South“ to network and to meet with practitioners and senior researchers to voice their concerns and challenges such as (but not limited to) choosing a relevant topic, grants and funding issues, access to data and literature. More information on the session: https://www.medas21.net/news/#PhDspeeddate

SEMINAR 3: Creative techniques in classroom and applied training

Friday, July 23, 20201, 1.00-2.30 pm CEST (7.00-8.30 am New York; 7.00-8.30 pm Manila)

Registration: https://tu-dortmund.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bWxky1Q7QZqYSUWx1CqfLw

Chair: Mira Keßler (MEDAS 21/Ruhr University Bochum)

Confirmed speakers: Linje Manyozo (School of Media and Communication, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia), Saleh Masharqeh (Media Development Center, Birzeit University, Palestine), Martin Scott (School of International Development, University of East Anglia, England) and more

Outline: The training of media development experts must be ahead of its time to meet future challenges. This is not only about technical innovation, big data, and new ways of storytelling. It is also about a creative approach to educational content and teaching methods. Here it is important to note that media development is on the one hand based at a university level; on the other hand, it is based on practical trainings. For this reason, it is our aim to connect scholars with practitioners, if both hearts are not already in one chest. For both realms, creativity means innovation by using imagination and critical thinking. Breaking free from repetition and simple reproduction clears the way for new development and implementation approaches. It is important to us to bring different experts together, different in the sense of different living and working environments, different institutions, and different experiences with their own best practices. Our guiding questions for this multi-disciplinary panel on “creative teaching techniques” are: When and why do we need to be creative for teaching media development? How could this creativity look like?

The Internet and the media landscape are broken. The dominant commercial Internet platforms endanger democracy. Despite all the great opportunities the Internet has offered to society and individuals, the digital giants have acquired unparalleled economic, political and cultural power. As currently organised, the Internet separates and divides instead of creating common spaces for negotiating difference and disagreement. Democracy requires Public Service Media and a Public Service Internet.

The Public Service Media and Public Service Internet Manifesto:vhttp://bit.ly/psmmanifesto

Please sign the Manifesto: http://bit.ly/signPSManifesto

Occupy the Internet: 200 Media Experts Publish an Alarming Wake Up Call and Demand a Public Service Internet: https://pressat.co.uk/releases/occupy-the-internet-200-media-experts-publish-an-alarming-wake-up-call-and-demand-a-public-service-internet-dff5ea1ec4e675012df261a3e02c2774/

Launch event (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0kiilUrF9o

Aarhus University

The School of Communication and Culture at Aarhus University invites applications for the position of assistant professor of digital strategic communication based at the Department of Media and Journalism Studies.

The assistant professorship is a full-time, fixed-term, three-year position; and subject to appropriate funding, there will be an opportunity to apply for a subsequent associate professorship. The position begins on 1 October 2021 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The School of Communication and Culture is committed to diversity and encourages all qualified applicants to apply regardless of their personal background.

The position

The field of media and journalism studies is currently undergoing significant changes not least due to the increasing digitalisation of culture and society that has radically transformed the basic conditions under which mediated content is produced, distributed, used and experienced. These new conditions call for critical and innovative ways to prepare qualified media and journalism studies students for a rapidly changing job market, and to produce high-quality research that helps society, organisations, corporations and people make sense of and navigate contemporary media landscapes. The Department of Media and Journalism Studies at Aarhus University is taking an international lead in developing research and study programmes based on the premise that the ability to understand fully the implications of digitalisation in communication, media production and distribution necessitates the adaptation and integration of new modes of enquiry into both research and teaching.

Against this background, we are looking for a colleague who can strengthen and develop the department’s profile in strategic communication in an online context, develop teaching and research in this area, and contribute to the department’s continued focus on digital, methodological competences.

Our ideal applicant can document research results at an international level in analysing contemporary strategic communication within either a political, a commercial, a public or a civil societal context. Strong skills in digital methods and analysis of digital communication are also relevant, and we ask the applicant to present a convincing three-year research plan for the development and/or implementation of these skills and competences within a strategic communicative research context. Experience of teaching or practice in strategic communication is considered a strength, but not a requirement.

In sum, we are looking for a dedicated applicant who will strengthen the research and teaching profiles of the department nationally and internationally, as well as contributing to Aarhus University’s core activities in the areas of research, teaching and supervision, talent development and knowledge exchange.

Research

The Department of Media and Journalism Studies at Aarhus University has a pronounced and significant international profile and a robust research network.

We are looking for an applicant who can document research competences in one or more of the following areas:

• strategic online communication or media planning (with regard to their function as designed/aesthetic products in a societal, organisational, political context, their media and algorithmic conditions, and/or their audience/user perspectives)
• digital transformations in strategic communications in corporate or non-corporate contexts, e.g. in the field of political communication, NGOs, social movements or start-up enterprises
• the development of theory and theoretical approaches to strategic communication in a digitalised world, possibly including but not limited to the role of organisations, communicative content, platforms, automation, stakeholder management and outreach strategies for business, political or civic purposes, strategic planning and evaluation methods, persuasion and audience reception
• proven skills (through publications or project reports) in applying and/or developing digital methods applicable for the analysis of strategic communication in an online universe

We are looking for applicants who are enthusiastic about developing digital strategic communication as a new field of research and teaching at the department, drawing on the department’s existing resources and competences as well as developing their own research portfolio and expertise in an internationally competitive and highly relevant field of research.

The successful applicant will be expected to develop research projects that result in academic publications. The successful applicant will also be expected to participate in the research community at the department in terms of collaborative research projects with internal and external partners, as well as participating in applications for external research funding.

Teaching and supervision

The successful applicant will be expected to take part in the department’s teaching and supervision activities and to teach and supervise on the department’s Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes, particularly a course in strategic communication on the Master’s degree programme in media studies which is expected to start in 2022. Please indicate in your application which courses you could teach. The successful applicant will also be expected to apply and develop innovative teaching methods in synergy with existing degree programmes and research centres.

The successful applicant will be expected to develop supervision capabilities at both BA and MA levels.

Given the international focus of the degree programmes, the successful applicant will be expected to teach in English as well as Danish.

The person appointed to the post of assistant professor must complete Aarhus University’s teacher-training programme for assistant professors, which is designed for university teaching.

Knowledge exchange

It is expected that the successful applicant will engage in knowledge exchange, for instance in terms of research collaboration with private companies, government consultancy, collaboration with civil society, and the public dissemination of knowledge.

The successful applicant will have excellent opportunities to engage in collaborative initiatives with partners inside and outside Aarhus University.

Qualifications

Applicants must have a PhD degree or must document equivalent qualifications in a relevant field related to organisational and strategic communication. Applicants must be able to document:

• an internationally-oriented research profile within digital strategic communication, organisational communication, public relations or media studies and affiliated fields of communication research
• experience of conducting research commensurate with that attained through a completed PhD
• relevant teaching experience at university level, including teaching methods, commensurate with that attained through a completed PhD

Furthermore, it will be considered an advantage if applicants can document

• experience of participation in relevant national and international research networks
• time spent abroad working at one or more internationally recognised research institutions

Finally, applicants are asked to provide a research plan for the next three years as well as their strategy/vision for their contribution to future developments within the field of digital strategic communication.

Please note that applications that do not include uploaded publications (maximum five) will not be considered.

Work environment

Active participation in the daily life of the department is a high priority, and we emphasise the importance of good working relationships, both among colleagues and with our students. In order to maintain and develop the department’s excellent teaching and research environment, the successful applicant is expected to be present at the department on a daily basis.

We respect the balance between work and private life and strive to create a work environment in which that balance can be maintained. See Family and work-life balance for further information.

International applicants

International applicants are encouraged to see Attractive working conditions for further information about the benefits of working at Aarhus University and in Denmark, including healthcare, paid holidays and, if relevant, maternity/paternity leave, childcare and schooling. Aarhus University offers a wide variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including a relocation service and career counselling for expat partners. For information about taxation, see Taxation aspects of international researchers’ employment by AU.

An appointee who does not speak Danish will be required to acquire proficiency in Danish equivalent to level B2 (CEFR) in order to handle tasks including administrative and managerial responsibilities and to participate fully in the activities of the School of Communication and Culture within approximately three years of commencing the appointment.

The department/section

The place of employment is the Department of Media and Journalism Studies, Helsingforsgade 14, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark.

Prospective applicants are invited to view the department’s website.

School of Communication and Culture

The school is a part of the Faculty of Arts. You will find information about the school and its research programmes, departments and diverse activities on its website.

For further information about the position, please contact Anne Marit Waade, Head of the Department of Media and Journalism Studies, by tel.: +45 8716 2009 or by email: amwaade@cc.au.dk.

If you need help uploading your application or have questions about the recruitment process, please contact Arts HR support by email: hsi@au.dk.

Qualification requirements

Applicants should hold a PhD or equivalent academic qualifications.

Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including relocation service and career counselling to expat partners: http://ias.au.dk/au-relocation-service/. Please find more information about entering and working in Denmark here: http://international.au.dk/research/.

Formalities

Faculty of Arts refers to the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Danish Universities (the Appointment Order).

Appointment shall be in accordance with the collective labour agreement between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations.

Further information on qualification requirements and job content may be found in the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities .

Further information on the application and supplementary materials may be found in Application Guidelines.

The application must outline the applicant's motivation for applying for the position, attaching a curriculum vitae, a teaching portfolio, a complete list of published works, copies of degree certificates and examples of academic production (mandatory, but no more than five examples). Please upload this material electronically along with your application.

If nothing else is noted, applications must be submitted in English. Application deadline is at 11.59 pm Danish time (same as Central European Time) on the deadline day.

All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background.

Faculty of Arts

The Faculty of Arts is one of four main academic areas at Aarhus University.

The faculty contributes to Aarhus University's research, talent development, knowledge exchange and degree programmes.

With its 500 academic staff members, 260 PhD students, 10,500 BA and MA students, and 1,500 students following continuing/further education programmes, the faculty constitutes a strong and diverse research and teaching environment.

The Faculty of Arts consists of the School of Communication and Culture, the School of Culture and Society, the Danish School of Education, and the Centre for Teaching Development and Digital Media. Each of these units has strong academic environments and forms the basis for interdisciplinary research and education.

The faculty's academic environments and degree programmes engage in international collaboration and share the common goal of contributing to the development of knowledge, welfare and culture in interaction with society.

Read more at arts.au.dk/en

The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University's website.

September 10, 2021

Virtual symposium

Social and Digital Change PGR Symposium

Deadline: July 20, 2021

The Social and Digital Change PGR Group warmly welcomes submissions for a one-day virtual symposium taking place on Friday 10 September 2021. This informal symposium offers an opportunity for PGRs and Early Career Researchers to present and discuss their research in a friendly, supportive and multidisciplinary setting.

The symposium will focus on the biggest social and digital change we’ve lived through to date: the COVID-19 pandemic. New and repurposed digital technologies have resulted in a proliferation of the internet of things (IoT), with new challenges for big data analytics, artificial intelligence, blockchain technologies and many more. Throughout the pandemic, there have been questions surrounding the inequalities perpetuated by new technologies, and resistance to them. But this social and digital change has also created many positive effects: improved sustainability, environmentally friendliness, and accessibility. We welcome research that offers different perspectives on the nature of our digitally changed world, whether for or against.

We also welcome presentations and discussions on the practicalities of PGR life during the pandemic, including methodological or wellbeing considerations.

The Social and Digital Change Group encourages multidisciplinary approaches and encourages submissions from: Sociology, Education, Urban Studies, Media, Cultural Policy, Film and TV Studies, History, Music, Theatre, International Relations, Business and Law.

Submission details: Titles and accompanying abstracts (300 words) and other informal enquiries should be sent to Wilko Mattia Artale (w.artale.1@research.gla.ac.uk).

Important dates:

• 20 July 2021 - Abstract submission deadline
• 10 August 2021 - Accepted abstract announcement
• 10 September 2021 - Symposium Day

June 23, 2021

Lisbon, Portugal

Integrated in CIIA 2021 – 8th International Congress of audiovisual researchers, which takes place in Lisbon between the 24th and 25th of June 2021, the pre-congress “Future Visions” promoted by FILMEU will take place on the 23rd of June.

FILMEU is one of the new projects promoted by the European Union to support the creation of trans-European universities in different areas of knowledge. In the case of FILMEU, it brings together the film and media arts department of the Universidade Lusófona, the IADT in Dublin, the LUCA in Brussels and the SZFE in Budapest, four European film schools that come together to create the first European film and media arts university.

This pre-congress aims to promote debate and reflection on some of the project’s intervention areas, namely artistic research and pedagogical practices in cinema and audiovisual teaching. Another highlight is a session dedicated to the New European Bauhaus, a new EU initiative in which FILMEU and Universidade Lusófona participate.

More info: https://congressoaudiovisual.ulusofona.pt/en/filmeu-future-visions-3/

Streaming on youtube: https://youtu.be/TcxarxQnbHU

Zoom: https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/89333796902#success

Dmitry Chernobrov

How do people make sense of distant, but disturbing international events? Why are some representations more appealing than others? What do they mean for the perceiver’s own sense of self? Going beyond conventional analysis of political imagining and perception at the level of accuracy, this book reveals how self-conceptions are unconsciously, but centrally present in judgments and representations of international others.

Combining international relations and psychosocial studies, Dmitry Chernobrov shows how the imagining of international politics is self-affirming and is shaped by the need for positive societal self-concepts. The book captures evidence of self-affirming political imagining in how the general public in the West and Russia understood the Arab Uprisings and makes an argument both about and beyond this particular case. The book will appeal to those interested in perception and political imagining, ontological security, identity and emotion, collective memory, international crises and political psychology.

The paperback edition has just launched with a 30% discount with code RLFANDF30 on the publishers website.

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781786610041/Public-Perception-of-International-Crises-Identity-Ontological-Security-and-Self-Affirmation

Deadline: June 24, 2021

Preliminary title: Everyday Life in the Culture of Surveillance

Format: Anthology (double-blind peer review)

Publisher: Nordicom (Open Access, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Editors: Coppélie Cocq, Jesper Enbom, Stefan Gelfgren, & Lars Samuelsson (all at Umeå University)

Contact: Stefan Gelfgren, Associate Professor, Dept. of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, Umeå University (stefan.gelfgren@umu.se)

Background and aim of the planned publication

Today, personal data is gathered through the welfare state and healthcare providers; societal infrastructure (electricity, water, demographics, voter statistics, etc.); and voluntarily sharing of our data through use of smartphones, wearables, social media, streaming services, games, and more. Data is gathered, coordinated, and analysed to gain insights into our everyday lives; thus, members of contemporary digitalised societies live in what David Lyon refers to in his book of the same name, The Culture of Surveillance (2018).

With ubiquitous surveillance the “new normal”, Nordicom and external editors invite contributions for an anthology focusing on the cultural, mundane, and everyday-life aspect of online surveillance – in Lyon’s words, “the participation and engagement of surveilled and surveilling subjects” (2018: 6).

Studies addressing the Nordic countries and their contexts and perspectives will be of particular interest, but studies focusing other countries may also be considered (not least if they are of a theoretical, philosophical, or universal character – an example could be online surveillance from a human rights perspective). A central question to be explored is how online surveillance is perceived and handled by citizens in the Nordic countries – whether it is through acceptance, adaptation, and resistance. Among others, the following are questions to be posed:

• What can legitimise the collection and use of personal data, from the perspective of private citizens?
• What is perceived as surveillance in our digital age, that is, when does information sharing on social media platforms, for instance, become uncomfortable and risky?

Whereas attitudes and actions of “ordinary” citizens will be an important theme for the book, contributions focusing on ethical or philosophical questions are also welcome, and so are contributions focusing on policies surrounding online surveillance. The following are potential questions that could be approached, among others:

• What ethical aspects of data collection do researchers and policy-makers need to address or compromise with when compiling, sharing, publishing, and analysing large datasets based on private data?
• What limitations and potentials does surveillance culture impose in terms of democratisation?

We anticipate contributions from a variety of disciplines, but especially encourage contributions from the humanities and cultural studies sphere. An ambition with the book is to put forth humanistic perspectives on surveillance and the emergence of surveillance cultures.

Procedure

All with an interest in contributing should write an extended abstract (max. 750 words) where the main theme (or argument) of the intended chapter is described. The abstract should contain the preliminary title and keywords (3–5). How the chapter fits with the overall aim of the anthology – to examine and analyse online surveillance in the Nordics – should be mentioned.

Deadline for extended abstracts: 24 June 2021. Please contact Stefan Gelfgren (stefan.gelfgren@umu.se) for further information.

Scholars invited to submit a full chapter will be notified by e-mail in August 2021. Guidelines for how individual chapters are to be structured and formatted (including style of referencing) will be provided to all scholars invited to submit a full chapter.

Deadline for the submission of full chapters (approx. 7,000 words): January 2022 (exact date to be decided later).

Rounds of reviews and revisions are planned to take place during the first half of 2022, and a full manuscript is to be submitted to Nordicom before the summer (2022).

Please note: The dates are preliminary. The ambition is, however, to publish the book in 2022.

About Nordicom

Nordicom is a centre for Nordic media research at the University of Gothenburg. The centre is jointly funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Swedish Ministry of Culture, and the University of Gothenburg. All Nordicom publications are Open Access and can be read online and downloaded for free.

Important dates

24 June 2021: deadline for the submission of extended abstracts (contact: stefan.gelfgren@umu.se)

Spring 2022: finalising of manuscripts

Autumn 2022: publication

July 14, 2021

We invite you – on 14th July - to Citizen Agency in a Datafied Society - the final event in the Keywords in Technology and Society series hosted by the research theme Technology and Society at the University of Surrey. We are thrilled to be hosting Stefania Milan – from the University of Amsterdam for this last event. “Citizen agency in the datafied society” explores the evolution of citizenship in the age of big data and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Dialoguing with critical data studies and political sociology, this talk surveys how the expansion of intelligent systems into society alters the perception and exercise of political agency, focusing in particular on the consolidation of governance by data infrastructure and the emergence of grassroots responses such as data activism.

Speaker Biography:

Stefania Milan teaches New Media and Digital Culture at the University of Amsterdam and her research explores the interplay between digital technology and participation, and activism and social movements in particular, cyberspace governance, and data epistemologies. Stefania is the author of Social Movements and Their Technologies: Wiring Social Change (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013; released in paperback in March 2016), and co-author of Media/Society (Sage, 2011). Her work has appeared in a variety of peer-reviewed journals, including Information, Communication & Society, the International Journal of Communication, Internet & Policy, the Internet Policy Review, Social Media + Society. Stefania represents non-commercial users in the Council of the Generic Names Supporting Organization of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), and serves in the Working Group ‘An Internet Free and Secure’ of the Freedom Online Coalition, where she contributes to develop guidelines for cybersecurity decision-making. As a consultant she worked for, amongst others, the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, where she contributed to the implementation of the Digital Agenda for Europe, and the European Commission.

Please do join us for Agency on 14th July.

Please sign up here: Agency Tickets, Wed 14 Jul 2021 at 14:00 | Eventbrite.

Video Recordings of Keywords Events:

‘Agency’ will be the final event in our 2021 Keywords Series. We welcome you to take a look at the live recordings of our previous events on the theme page – we have all our Keywords sessions recorded and available to view online: Strategic Research Theme: Technology & Society | University of Surrey.

Please note that this event is fully public and open to anyone to attend, so please feel free to circulate this email to anyone in your wider external networks who may be interested in either this event or the wider series.