ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Edited collection

Deadline for submissions: November 1, 2020

full name / name of organization: Georgia Aitaki / Örebro University

contact email: georgia.aitaki@oru.se

Debate around ‘woke television’ has been increasingly more present in popular parlance. Within television criticism, there has been heavy reflecting on (and co-constructing of) a meta-genre of contemporary US television characterized by a particular sensitization to issues of social justice, racial justice, and gender equity and a showcasing of commitment toward denouncing institutional ideologies such as structural poverty, white supremacy, and patriarchy. Indeed, a swell of popular criticism has been quick to discern the micro-contexts of politically alert television fiction, discussing for instance African-American history and white privilege in Atlanta and Dear White People, diversity in Star Trek, progressive reimaginings of classic shows such as Buffy and Charmed, the gender-swap in Doctor Who, LGBTQ pedagogy in the revival of Will & Grace, multidimensional female characters in Glow, complex and unapologetic teen sexuality in Normal People, Big Mouth and Sex Education. These instances inform the notion of “woke television” as the inclusion of relevant and topical themes, blatantly calling out structural inequalities and delivering cultural texts that reify the pleasures and intricacies of ‘woke culture.’

Apart from celebrating contemporary television’s bold engagement with social, racial and gender-related issues, popular critical writing has simultaneously questioned the transformative and empowering implications of woke television, recognizing issues such as the ideological ambiguity of feminist shows (including the impossible-to-ignore whiteness of critically acclaimed The Handmaid’s Tale and the poshness of Fleabag), as well as the problematic representational strategies of gendered violence and rape (for example, in 13 Reasons Why). Concurrently, the popular press has engaged in debates that challenge the legacy of some of television’s most revered cultural monuments, by exposing for example the problematic layers of shows such as Friends and Sex and the City. Criticisms of this kind discuss ‘wokeness’ not only within today’s cultural zeitgeist, but also as a rejuvenating source for contemporary television criticism, thus revealing a climate of close monitoring of television production and heightened expectations from entertainment—and one that specifically invites viewers to position themselves with regard to that wokeness.

‘Wokeness’ is not only addressed as a textual feature of contemporary television but also as part of particular production logic seeking to accommodate audiences in the Trump, BLM, and post-#MeToo era; as such, it genuflects to their needs for more complex takes on everyday realities and experiences, ones that are not exclusively tainted by the requirements of the ‘majority white’ viewers. Industrial perspectives, including Netflix’s commitment to inclusion and diversity and BBC’s strategy of “repurposing” classic novels to cater to contemporary television audiences, reveal a commitment to discussing and advancing social change within the industry itself. However, audiences’ reactions have been ambivalent: ranging from discovering newfound pleasures to complaining about how contemporary television reeks of didacticism and political correctness.

As little attention has been directed toward the concept of woke television within academia, Woke TV aims to gather contributions that further explore how expressions of woke culture translate into the world of television narrative and representation, but also in dimensions of production and reception. This collection is primarily interested in navigating the context of US television; however, studies based on other national/cultural contexts will also be considered. We seek to engage with the following lines of inquiry: (a) industry perspectives, (b) textual (representational/discursive) approaches, (c) issues of audience reception, as well as (d) issues of critical reception. Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• white privilege and racism-as-problem narratives (Dear White People, Atlanta, Gentefied)
• revisiting/rewriting history (Glow, Hollywood)
• strong women characters and female camaraderie (Orange Is the New Black)
• quirky femininity (Insecure, Broad City)
• toxic (but self-reflective) masculinity (BoJack Horseman)
• woke teen TV (Euphoria, Sex Education, Big Mouth, Never Have I Ever)
• woke reboots/revivals (Will & Grace, The L Word Gen Q)
• retrospective criticism (Friends, Sex and the City, etc. and whiteness)
• woke TV as queer pedagogy
• LGBTQIA+ superheroes
• industry perspectives such as specific production logics/strategies, questions of casting, programming etc.
• woke TV before ‘woke TV’
• woke TV in international contexts
• woke TV and its audiences
• woke TV in popular criticism
• woke TV and woke capitalism (e.g., woke advertising)

Deadline for proposals: November 1, 2020

Notification of acceptance: November 15, 2020

Deadline for first drafts: February 15, 2021

How to Submit Your Proposal:

Please submit one-page abstracts/proposals to either Georgia Aitaki (georgia.aitaki@oru.se) or Lauren J. DeCarvalho (Lauren.DeCarvalho@du.edu) by November 1, 2020 and be sure to include both a tentative title and short biographical note.

About the Editors:

Georgia Aitaki is a Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication at Örebro University, Sweden.

Lauren J. DeCarvalho is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Media, Film and Journalism Studies at the University of Denver, USA.

Gender, Work and Organisation

Deadline: February 15, 2020

Guest Editors:

• Emmanouela Mandalaki, NEOMA Business School, France
• Noortje van Amsterdam, Utrecht School of Governance, The Netherlands
• Ajnesh Prasad, Academy of Management, United States
• Marianna Fotaki, University of Warwick Business School, UK

This Special Issue encourages academic debate around how social and gendered inequalities exacerbate under times of bio-political and socio-economic crises—such as the COVID-19 pandemic— in an increasingly globalized and transnational world. Exploring interconnections between feminist philosophy, art and activism, we call for a wide range of methodologically disruptive papers, which preferably (though not exclusively) critically analyze diverse gendered experiences in light of intersectional and transnational feminist perspectives on inter-connectedness, relationality and care (e.g., Butler, 2004; Ettinger, 2006; Holvino, 2010; Federici, 2012; Fotaki & Harding, 2017).

The pandemic has called into question certain key premises of the neoliberal ideology—including individualism and the ability for market mechanism to maintain economic fairness—while accentuating issues of gendered power relations, intersectionality, diversity, and inclusion, among others. Nascent COVID-19 research documents disproportionate risks and worsening prospects for women, socially and economically vulnerable populations of the Global South (Wenham et al., 2020; Prasad, 2020; Wasdani & Prasad, 2020) as well as increased instances of feminicide, sexism and racism.

By dramatically reiterating how vulnerabilities are socially recreated and unequally distributed across different bodies situated at varying intersections of race, gender, ethnicity and class in a transnational neoliberal world (hooks, 1984; Apaddurai, 1995) of serial socio-economic crises, COVID-19 has sparked new and pre-existing solidarity initiatives reminding us of the unavoidable conditions of interdependence that sustain human bodies (Fotaki, 2019; Fotaki et al., 2020). Notably, attesting to their political potential to create a free space, where marginalized, transnational identities can be expressed for desired social transformation to be imagined and endeavoured (Fernandes, 2013; Li & Prasad, 2018), artistic and activist initiatives continue to lead efforts to bond different bodies together against neoliberal patriarchies (Mendes, 2020), even under social isolation (Mandalaki & Daou, 2020). Such initiatives propose new forms of knowledge, relationality and resistance, which promise to create possibilities for re-centering care, inclusion of difference and solidarity as foundations of our society.

Thus, COVID-19 presents us with a timely opportunity: to reconceptualize the possible forms of relationality that vitally encompass social life and to understand how these can reframe the paramountcy of individualism that proliferates under the neoliberal order (Fotaki & Prasad, 2015), thereby creating new and perpetuating old forms of inequalities and global poverty (Shiva & Mies, 2014). Underscoring this need, this Special Issue invites a wide range of theoretically informed contributions critically discussing these issues, especially those with a non-conventional format, inspired by art, activism, feminist thought and/or feminist forms of doing and writing research (Fotaki et al., 2014; Prasad, 2016; Pullen et al., 2020). Specifically, we invite poetic accounts (van Amsterdam & van Eck, 2019), short essays/prose, manifestos, activism (Alakavuklar, 2020), reflective accounts of (post)quarantine (Plotnikof et al., 2020), embodied (auto)ethnographies (Prasad, 2014; van Amsterdam, 2015; Mandalaki, 2019), dialogical/multi-voice accounts (Ahonen et al., 2020; MeldgaardKjaer & van Amsterdam, 2020) and arts-based research (e.g., Biehl-Missal, 2015, Ward & Shortt, 2020) engaging with photography, drawing, collage, performance, film/drama, video, dance and others. By encouraging multi-disciplinary connections between feminist philosophy, art and activism, we acknowledge the political capacity of genre-blending, non-traditional methodologies, to create an inclusive space, where different voices can be expressed and heard, to catalyze global debate over the power structures that sustain social inequalities. This promises to enliven organization studies by reconnecting it to situated human experiences of othering in a globalized, neoliberal world and to identify possibilities for social and political transformation. We welcome papers that explore, but are not limited to:

• Gendered experiences on the reification of patriarchal structures amid/post-COVID-19 crises;
• Experiences of diversity, intersectionality and social inclusion/exclusion in a translational (post)pandemic world;
• Construction of diverse/hybrid identities within social, economic, power dynamics, under global crises;
• How COVID-19 links with pre-existing crises and social inequalities to create opportunities for relationality, solidarity and social justice;
• Theoretical or empirical papers informed by feminist philosophy and/or ethics of care addressing broader societal implications of the (post)COVID-19 crisis;
• Feminist writing, activist writing as a catalyst for social change amid global crises;
• Poetic, storytelling or dialogical/multi-voice accounts exposing (post)COVID-19-related experiences;
• Accounts discussing world-changing activist responses intended to counter pre-existing social, racial, gendered inequalities in a post-pandemic world (e.g., Black Lives Matter, WEDO, Me Too);
• Embodied differences: How different bodies navigate times of global crises;
• Arts-based research accounts on (post)COVID-19 related experiences;
• Accounts unveiling the political potential of artistic forms of expression to create possibilities for social change;
• Ethnographies, netnographies, autoethnographies related to (post)pandemic experiences and beyond;
• Activist (post)pandemic responses, including academic activism, research and teaching for desired futures;

Submission Instructions

Submissions should be made electronically through the Scholar One submission system: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/gwo.

Please refer to the Author Guidelines at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/14680432/homepage/forauthors.html prior to submission.

Please select the ‘Special Issue’ article type on submission and select the relevant Special Issue title from the dropdown list where prompted.

For questions about the submission system please contact the Editorial Office at gwooffice@wiley.com

For enquiries about the scope of the Special Issue and article suitability, please contact the Emmanouela Mandalaki (emmanouela.mandalaki@neoma-bs.fr) directly.

Deadline for submissions: 15 February 2021

Deadline: October 10, 2020

Please send your

1) name, affiliation & contact info

2) 100-word bio

3) Chapter title

4) 600-800-word abstract plus references to: miazhevichg@cardiff.ac.uk

• Notices of acceptance will be sent by October 15, 2020.
• Your fairly final draft is due: November 15, 2020
• Full chapters of 7000-8000 words are due January 30, 2021.

Race and ethnicity as social categories and concepts continue to generate critical perceptions of differences that ultimately define who we are in local, national and international settings. We are looking for academic essays that provide an in-depth look at issues of race, ethnicity and communications from the Eastern European, Russian and East Asian perspectives. Contributions will not only identify the malaise of our times with regard to the topics of race and ethnicity, but will also provide a bridge to understanding our historical and political pasts that affect our present and will continue to have an impact on our future. Potential approaches could be built on, but not limited to, the following areas:

Traditional/Digital/Alternative Media

Structural issues of mass media

• Laws and policies for or against ownership of media by ethnic racial groups or individuals
• Ownership or control of media by ethnic/racial groups or individuals
• Media management by ethnic racial/groups or individuals
• Ethnic/race-oriented outlets: print (newspapers, magazines), broadcast (radio, television), cable, telecommunications, Internet for news and/or entertainment.

Content of mass media:

• Political content: 

- The coverage of ethnic/racial candidates during elections

- Media outreach and advertising campaigns by ethnic/racial candidates during elections

- Political comparisons of individuals, politicians, and/or campaigns of ethnic/racial vis-à-vis “dominant/majority society” individuals, politicians, and/or campaigns

• News content (other than politics): 

--Newspaper (national, regional, local) coverage of ethnic/racial individuals, events, stories related to: culture, science, sports, crime, environment, climate change, natural disasters -

- Television (national, regional, local) coverage of ethnic racial individuals, events, stories related to: culture, science, sports, crime, environment, climate change, natural disasters

-Online (national, regional, local) coverage of ethnic/racial individuals, events, stories related to: culture, science, sports, crime, environment, climate change, natural disasters.

• Entertainment content:

- Television representations, portrayals, stereotypes of ethnic/racial individuals (in drama, soap operas, crime, comedies, children’s shows, animation, etc.)

- Cinematic representations, portrayals, stereotypes of ethnic/racial individuals (in crime, drama, adventure, horror, comedies, etc.)

- Online (YouTube, games, social media) representations, portrayals, stereotypes of ethnic/racial individuals.

• Commercial advertising content: 

- Print, broadcast, online representations, portrayals, stereotypes of ethnic/racial individuals 

• Public service: 

- Print, broadcast, online representations, portrayals, stereotypes of ethnic/racial individuals.

Audiences/Uses of mass media:

• Ethnic/racial characteristics, differences and/or similarities of exposure to print, broadcast, cable, online, telecommunications, social media
• Ethnic/racial characteristics, differences and/or similarities of uses of print, broadcast, cable, online, telecommunications, social media
• Ethnic/racial characteristics, differences and/or similarities in opinions about or critiques of print, broadcast, cable, online, telecommunications, social media 
• Ethnic/racial characteristics, differences and/or similarities in meaning-making of print, broadcast, cable, online, telecommunications, social media.

Effects of mass media:

• Ethnic/racial characteristics, differences/similarities regarding how print, broadcast, and online media are correlated with or influence political, ideological, social, economic, cultural, consumerist: 

- knowledge

- attitudes

- opinions

- behaviours.

Social Scientific/Critical Orientations in Non-Media Communication

Intercultural:

• Cross-cultural communication 
• Identity politics 
• Power 
• Discourse 
• Hybridity
• Diaspora relations
• Peace communication
• Immigration/migration
• Marginalization
• Stereotypes
• Discrimination
• Empowering/disempowering practices. Interpersonal
• Negotiation of identity
• Intersecting forms of identity and oppression
• Diversity in communication

Organizational:

• Communicative organizing of race and ethnicity
• Normative power of organized Whiteness
• Communicating diversity in the workplace
• Structured division of labor and organizational discourse
• Marginalization.

Advocacy/Resistance:

• Social justice
• Social change
• Rights
•  Language politics
• Discourse
•  Deconstruction of negative stereotypes
• Multicultural contribution in regional development
• Civic engagement.

Production studies

• Audience studies
• Internet studies
• Environmental communication
• Health communication
• Rhetorical approaches.

Intersectional/Comparative Studies in Communication

Intercultural:

• Cross-cultural communication
• Identity politics
• Power
• Discourse
• Hybridity
• Diaspora relations.

Comparative:

• Cultural
• Regional 
• Religious
• National Identity
• Politics 
• Diasporas

Deadlines: First weeks of December 2020, February 2021, April 2021 and June 2021

The European Journal of Communication has the following books available for review. We publish review essays (usually of two books on a similar topic, ca. 2000-2500 words long) and book reviews (ca. 1000-1500 words long).

If interested in reviewing any of these books, please email the Book Review Editor: Vera Slavtcheva-Petkova – Vera.Slavtcheva-Petkova@liverpool.ac.uk.

Please provide your name, title and institutional affiliation as well as the date by which you can send us your review. Our next deadlines are the first weeks of December 2020, February 2021, April 2021 and June 2021.

Review Essays (of 2 books):

1. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030333454 - French Perspectives on Media, Participation and Audiences. Editor: Ségur, Céline & https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783319756370 - The Future of Audiences: A Foresight Analysis of Interfaces and Engagement. Editors: Das, Ranjana, Ytre-Arne, Brita
2. https://www.routledge.com/Transgressing-Feminist-Theory-and-Discourse-Advancing-Conversations-across/Dunn-Manning/p/book/9780815381716 - Transgressing Feminist Theory and Discourse: Advancing Conversations across Disciplines. Editors: Jennifer C. Dunn and Jimmie Manning & https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030282424 - #MeToo, Weinstein and Feminism. Author: Boyle, Karen
3. https://www.routledge.com/Communicating-Populism-Comparing-Actor-Perceptions-Media-Coverage-and/Reinemann-Stanyer-Aalberg-Esser-de-Vreese/p/book/9781138392724+&cd=1&hl=bg&ct=clnk&gl=uk -Communicating Populism: Comparing Actor Perceptions, Media Coverage, and Effects on Citizens in Europe. Editors: Carsten Reinemann, James Stanyer, Toril Aalberg, Frank Esser, and Claes H. de Vreese & https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cultural-backlash/3C7CB32722C7BB8B19A0FC005CAFD02B - Cultural Backlash: Trump, Brexit, and Authoritarian Populism. Authors: Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart.
4. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030193805 - The Civil Power of the News. Author: Harrison, Jackie & https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9789811332920 - The Networked Citizen: Power, Politics, and Resistance in the Internet Age. Author: Navarria, Giovanni
5. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030256692 - Post-Truth and the Mediation of Reality: New Conjunctures. Editors: Overell, Rosemary, Nicholls, Brett & https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783319977126 - A Political Theory of Post-Truth. Authors: Kalpokas, Ignas
6. https://lup.be/products/100766 - European Muslims and New Media. Editors: Merve Kayıkcı and Leen d’Haenens & https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/america-islam-9781784539092/ - America & Islam Soundbites, Suicide Bombs and the Road to Donald Trump. Author: Lawrence Pintak
7. https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/online-political-hate-speech-in-europe-9781788113656.html - Online Political Hate Speech in Europe: The Rise of New Extremisms. Author: Giovanni Ziccardi & https://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9781509536153 – Is Free Speech Racist? Author: Gavan Titley

Book Reviews:

1. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030276928 - Thirty Years of Political Campaigning in Central and Eastern Europe. Editors: Eibl, Otto, Gregor, Milos
2. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030264796 - Letters to the Editor: Comparative and Historical Perspectives. Editors: Cavanagh, Allison, Steel, John
3. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783319968599 - A Post-Nationalist History of Television in Ireland. Authors: Brennan, Edward
4. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137499721 - The Media, the Public and the Great Financial Crisis. Authors: Berry, Mike
5. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783319983813 - Media and the Cold War in the 1980s: Between Star Wars and Glasnost. Editors: Bastiansen, Henrik G., Klimke, Martin A., Werenskjold, Rolf
6. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030256579 - Screen Media for Arab and European Children: Policy and Production Encounters in the Multiplatform Era. Authors: Sakr, Naomi, Steemers, Jeanette
7. Hartmut Wessler, Habermas and the Media. Polity. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Habermas+and+the+Media-p-9780745651330
8. Arjen van Dalen, Helle Svensson, Antonis Kalogeropolous, Erik Erik Albæk, and Claes H. de Vreese, Economic News: Informing the Inattentive Audience - https://www.routledge.com/Economic-News-Informing-The-Inattentive-Audience/Dalen-Svensson-Kalogeropoulos-Albaek-Vreese/p/book/9780367583668
9. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/action-at-a-distance-john-durham-peters/1134986660 - Action at a Distance (In Search of Media). Authors: John Durham Peters, Florian Sprenger, and Christina Vagt
10. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498591379/Social-Media-and-Politics-in-Turkey-A-Journey-through-Citizen-Journalism-Political-Trolling-and-Fake-News - Social Media and Politics in Turkey: A Journey through Citizen Journalism, Political Trolling and Fake News. Author: Erkan Saka
11. https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/from-sit-ins-to-revolutions-9781501336959/ - From Sit-Ins to #revolutions: Media and the Changing Nature of Protests. Editors: Olivia Guntarik and Victoria Grieve-Williams
12. https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/variations-on-media-thinking - Variations on Media Thinking. Author: Siegfried Zielinski
13. https://www.routledge.com/A-Crisis-of-Civility-Political-Discourse-and-Its-Discontents/Boatright-Shaffer-Sobieraj-Young/p/book/9781138484450 - A Crisis of Civility? Political Discourse and Its Discontents. Editors: Robert G. Boatright, Timothy J. Shaffer, Sarah Sobieraj, Dannagal Goldthwaite Young
14. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793609656/Identity-Discourses-about-Spain-and-Catalonia-in-News-Media-Understanding-Modern-Secessionism - Identity Discourses about Spain and Catalonia in News Media: Understanding Modern Secessionism. Author: Clara Juarez Miro
15. https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/Political+Communication:+A+New+Introduction+for+Crisis+Times-p-9781509529001 - Political Communication: A New Introduction for Crisis Times. Author: Aeron Davis
16. https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-Media-World-of-ISIS-by-Michael-Krona-editor-Rosemary-Pennington-editor/9780253045911 - The Media World of ISIS. Editors: Michael Krona and Rosemary Pennington
17. https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/Instagram:+Visual+Social+Media+Cultures-p-9781509534395 - Instagram: Visual Social Media Cultures. Authors: Tama Leaver, Tim Highfield, Crystal Abidin
18. https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/Are+Filter+Bubbles+Real%3F-p-9781509536443 – Are Filter Bubbles Real? Author: Axel Bruns
19. https://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9781509537402 - A Sleepwalker's Guide to Social Media. Author: Tony D. Sampson
20. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/parenting-for-a-digital-future-9780190874704?q=Parenting%20for%20a%20Digital%20future&lang=en&cc=gb - Parenting for a Digital Future: How Hopes and Fears About Technology Shape Children's Lives. Authors: Sonia Livingstone and Alicia Blum-Ross
21. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/visual-and-multimodal-communication-9780190845230?cc=nl&lang=en& - Visual and Multimodal Communication: Applying the Relevance Principle. Author:Charles Forceville
22. https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691207674/prototype-nation - Prototype Nation: China and the Contested Promise of Innovation. Author: Silvia M. Lindtner
23. https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/cultural-analytics - Cultural Analytics. Author: Lev Manovich
24. https://www.routledge.com/British-Media-and-the-Rwandan-Genocide/Clarke/p/book/9781138937321 - The British Media and the Rwandan Genocide. Author: John Nathaniel Clarke
25. https://www.routledge.com/Deep-Mediatization/Hepp/p/book/9781138024991 - Deep Mediatization. Author: Andreas Hepp

Flow Volume 27 Special Issue

Deadline: September 13, 2020

Over the past several months, social media platform TikTok has seen an enormous surge in users and popularity while simultaneously becoming the focus of concerns over national and digital security risks. While its users remain skewed to the teenage demographic, the app has disrupted a number of media industries and sparked cultural controversy. In the music industry, going viral on TikTok has become a prerequisite for singles hoping to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 and in television, the app has entered the streaming wars. Chinese parent company ByteDance named Kevin Mayer, formerly in charge of streaming at Disney, as CEO of TikTok in June, and Netflix recently refined its quarterly new subscribers forecast in part due to what it perceives as TikTok’s astounding growth. But TikTok is only the latest new media application to affect legacy media industries. TikTok’s rise is replicating changes ushered in to user-generated and professional video content by platforms like YouTube, Vine, and Snapchat. And as a social networking platform, TikTok offers a new avenue for grassroots activism, community formation, and builds seemingly overnight fame for its breakout stars. However, it also exists within a contested digital space, in which concerns have been raised over cultural appropriation, privacy, online toxicity, and racism.

This inaugural issue of Flow’s twenty-seventh volume, “TikTok as a Cultural Forum,” asks media scholars to consider the rise of TikTok from cultural, industrial, technological, digital, political, historical, and national lenses. This special issue raises the question of what makes TikTok unique in its rapid ascent to cultural ubiquity and aims to assess the cultural and industrial impacts of TikTok’s rise. How might the proliferation of TikTok force scholars to rethink the significance of digital identities through lenses of race, gender, and sexual orientation? In what ways does the white co-optation of choreography and language by Black creators find historical precedent in legacies of cultural appropriation, disputes over authorial credit, and discrepancies in how cultural production and audiences are valued within the media industries? How might we discuss the connections between teen and young adult mental health, TikTok community formation, and social distancing during a global health pandemic? What are the responsibilities and practices of platforms like TikTok to stand against being a host of online toxicity, white supremacy, and other extremist groups in online spaces? How is TikTok activism different from past forms of online advocacy and community organizing? How and to what extent are established media brands rethinking digital content strategies to incorporate or compete against TikTok? Possible topics include, but are by no means limited to:

• Trailblazing texts, sounds, dances, and figures on TikTok
• Digital identities, influencer branding, celebrity, and professionalization
• Authorship, “Sounds,” and Choreography
• TikTok Challenges and Trends
• Race, Gender, and LGBTQ constructs on TikTok
• Algorithms, Filters, and Technology
• TikTok activism, social change, and political communication
• The music industry, artist promotion, and viral singles
• Policy and discourses of digital security in global/national regulation of TikTok
• Terms of Service and Copyright on Platforms
• Generational divides
• TikTok and comedy
• Historical comparisons of Tiktok to other media forms

To be considered for this timely issue, please submit a completed short essay of 1200-1500 words, along with at least three images (.gif or .png) or embeddable video/audio links. We will be able to embed TikTok videos into the column, so please feel free to be creative! Send your column, media files or links, and a short bio, to Maggie Steinhauer and Nathan Rossi at flowjournaleditors@gmail.com by Sunday, September 13th, 2020. The

Special Issue will be published at flowjournal.org on Tuesday, October 6, 2020.

University of Westminster - School of Media and Communication

https://www.jobs.ac.uk/…nic

Location: Harrow

Salary: £50,162 (inc. LWA) starting salary

Hours: Full Time

Contract Type: Permanent

Placed On: 1st September 2020

Closes: 21st September 2020

Job Ref: 50058912

This post is full time and permanent, working 35 hours per week

Do you have a vision for how tomorrow’s media companies will grow and thrive?

Can you teach and support international postgraduates to manage creative projects, develop media businesses and build their careers in the media and creative industries?

The University of Westminster is looking for an industry practitioner with experience of teaching or training to join our team of senior lecturers delivering a suite of three highly successful Masters programmes in media management and media business.

We are seeking candidates with professional experience in the media or creative industries and a degree in business or a relevant discipline (e.g. media and communications or social sciences). A strong network of industry contacts will be an especial advantage as providing work experience opportunities for international students is an important dimension of the role. We are particularly interested in candidates with experience or deep knowledge of any or all of the following: content and format development and production, media project management, digital production and distribution, financial, statistical or data analysis and Theories of media management or of business.

In the short term the successful candidate will support the course leaders in teaching, assessing and administering the programmes as deputy course leader. In the medium-term the post is likely to provide the opportunity to take on a course leadership role. The post also provides the opportunity for short teaching visits to China because, although delivery in 2020-21 will take place in the UK (Harrow Campus) and online, one of the programmes is usually taught partly in Beijing. While the courses are primarily concerned with media management and practice, Westminster plays a leading role in media research through the internationally-rated Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI). Familiarity with business or academic research is not essential but would be an advantage as staff are encouraged to pursue research interests and play an active role in relevant media management and economics research networks.

The University of Westminster is committed to supporting diversity and equal opportunities in our dealings with job applicants, students, staff and the public. We are fully committed to creating a stimulating and supportive learning and working environment based on mutual respect and trust.

For further information and to apply for this post, please click apply and you will be redirected to our website.

Closing date: midnight on 21 September 2020

Interviews are likely to be held on: week beginning 12 October 2020

Administrative contact (for queries only): Recruitment@westminster.ac.uk

Please note: We are unable to accept applications by email. All applications must be made online. CVs in isolation or incomplete application forms will not be accepted.

We are fortunate to receive a large number of applications for our vacancies. Regrettably, we are not able to provide feedback to those job applicants who are not shortlisted, as it simply would not be manageable to do so.

Embracing diversity and promoting equality.

Recerca. Revista de pensament i Anàlisi

Submission deadline: February 15, 2021

Publication: April 2022

Editors: Emma Gómez Nicolau (Universitat Jaume I) and Arantxa Grau Muñoz (Universitat de València)

Perceptions and uses of the body correspond to both cultural parameters and historical contingencies. However, many of these endeavours to socially contextualise the body are premised on the understanding of the body as a natural fact. The body-organism is presented from the legitimating position of biological facts––anatomical, endocrinological, immunological, and so on––until it becomes a self-evident entity. Our interpretations and perceptions of the body, but also our image of its composition, are mediated by the biomedical sciences as legitimate devices for producing scientific knowledge about the body.

The feminist perspective on biomedical sciences has helped to uncover how this technological device invades the social construction of the body by denoting “sex” as the fundamental criterion to explain corporeal differentiation. “Sex” is described as an attribute of the body- organism that corresponds to biological and chemical principles, any variations in which are regarded as an anomaly and/or a pathology. Sex has become a technological device designed to explain and justify corporeal differentiation by highlighting differences (organs, hormones, etc.) and ignoring similarities. This process serves as a normative matrix in the decodification of these bodies. Male and female bodies must necessarily match the bimorphism determined by the biomedical sciences, anatomy loses its descriptive purpose to become a prescriptive science, and it reaches beyond the field of biomedical intervention to invade the sphere of social identity.

This edition of Recerca. Revista de Pensament i Análisi provides a space to explore approaches from sociology, philosophy, ethics and other related disciplines that analyse experiences and processes of this western hegemonic definition of the gendered body and how it affects social experiences and identities. We are especially interested in analysis of the processes of the diverse corporeal itineraries that resist, subvert and destabilise the hegemonic biomedical paradigm, and of the processes of corporeal decodification that contravene the hegemonic definitions of the gendered body.

We propose the following topics:

• Biomedical definitions of the body and biomedical practices in producing gender.

• Identity and biomedical interventions on the body: hormone treatment, surgery and other body modification techniques.

• The “hormonal factor”: hypervisibility, risks and attributions of hormones in configuring health and identities.

• The gendered body in health/illness processes.
• Bodies and fluids: gender signs and foundations for sexual bimorphism.

No payment from authors is expected. Further information regarding Recerca and the instructions for submitting original manuscripts can be consulted at https://www.e-revistes.uji.es/…dex

Please, write enicolau@uji.es if you require any additional explanation.

University of London

Postdoctoral Research Fellow - Permanent with funding for 24 months

Project: ProDem - Protests and Democracy: How Movement Parties, Social Movements, and Active Citizens are Reshaping Europe

Department: Sociology, City, University of London

Closing Date: 20 September 2020 

The Department of Sociology at City, University of London seeks to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to work alongside Dr Dan Mercea, Co-Principal Investigator on the project “ProDem - Protests and Democracy: How Movement Parties, Social Movements, and Active Citizens are Reshaping Europe”. The project aims to comparatively assess the medium and long-term effects of the triple interaction between citizens, social movements, and movement parties in 6 European countries. The position, available for two years, is funded through an award by the Volkswagen Stiftung.

Responsibilities

The key responsibilities of the role will involve assisting the principal investigator in designing a cross-national survey to be commissioned to an external pollster.

The appointed candidate will be involved in writing up the research findings together with the principal investigator and other project members, and reporting them in conference proceedings and presentations and in high-ranked academic journals.

Person Specification

The successful candidate will have, or be about to be awarded, a PhD in political science, sociology, communication studies or a related social science discipline, have a good command of advanced statistical analysis and survey design as well as an interest in civic or political participation, social movements, political parties, digital or broadcasting media, and a developing publication record.

They will be able to demonstrate knowledge of advanced statistical analysis and survey design skills, as well as a developing publication record and the ability to conduct literature reviews and relevant background research.

Full details of the responsibilities of the role and person specification can be found in the attached job description.

Additional Information: https://www.jobs.ac.uk/…ths

Deadline: October 1, 2020

Submissions for the new issue of the Interações Journal published by Instituto Superior Miguel are now open. The journal welcomes original articles that present research results and/or theoretical reflection in the different fields of Social and Human Sciences, namely Communication and Media Studies.

From an interdisciplinary editorial perspective, Interações' primary objective is to foster the reflection and diffusion of knowledge in the areas of Social and Human Sciences. The journal accepts articles of scientific investigation, reviews and critical essays, in Portuguese, English and Spanish.

Interações is ruled by the double-blind review standard, ensuring the anonymity of reviewers and authors throughout the review process. No payment from authors will be expected.

• Deadline for submission of articles: October 1
• Notification of acceptance: November 17
• Publication: December 2019

Any questions should be addressed through the email: interacoes@ismt.pt

The articles must be submitted through the website: https://www.interacoes-ismt.com/

Guidelines and other instructions for authors can be found on the journal's website: http://www.interacoes-ismt.com/…sta

June 10-13, 2021

University of Hong Kong

Deadline: December 15, 2020

We are now calling for submissions for Art Machines 2: International Symposium on Machine Learning and Art 2021, which will take place between 10th –13th June 2021 at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong. "Art Machines 2," will bring together Academics, Artists, and Professionals in the field of Computational Media Art in a four-day symposium on the topic of Machine Learning and Art.

After the success of "Art Machines" in 2019, this much-anticipated follow-up symposium will provide the opportunity for in depth assessment of the impact of artificial intelligence on the making of computational art and media, and an exploration of the conditions of existence, range and futures of computationally based art and media. Media art does not exist in a vacuum and critical concern of the conference will be both to understand and practice ways in which media art can intervene, both critically and constructively, in the ongoing construction of social reality by machine learning algorithms. The conference will comprise academic key notes, plenary panel presentations and discussions, scholarly and art practice paper presentations, an art exhibition and student-led workshops.

Open Call Topics

* Sound Art

* Immersive Media

* Digital Cinema

* Bio Art

* Software Art

* Digital Animation

* Digital Photography

* Robotics

* Gaming

* Digital Poetics

* Digital Humanities

* Creative Coding

* Digital Fabrication

* Physical Computing

* Digital Preservation

* Curatorial Practice

* Brain-Computer Interface

* Pedagogy

* Aesthetics

* Ethics

* Politics

* Philosophy

* Other Topics Pertaining to AI, Machine Learning and Art

Open Call Formats

1. Research Papers

2. Scholarly Abstracts

3. Artistic Project Abstracts

4. Art Projects for Exhibition

Submission deadline: 15th December 2020 (23:59 HK local time)

To learn more about the Symposium, please visit our website: https://www.cityu.edu.hk/…s2/

For details on the submission requirements, please click https://www.cityu.edu.hk/…pes

For enquiries, please contact us via email at smpapers@cityu.edu.hk

You are also welcome to follow us on these channels:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/…es2

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/…es2