ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

May 26-28, 2021

Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Germany

Deadline: October 31, 2020

8th Rhetoric in Society Conference

Organized by the Rhetoric Society of Europe in collaboration with the Institute for General Rhetoric and the Institute for Media Studies at Tübingen University

http://ris8.org/

We are very happy to announce that proposals are now invited for panels, papers, roundtables, and other forms of presentation to be delivered at Rhetoric in Society 8, which is the biannual conference organized by the Rhetoric Society of Europe. The conference is scheduled to take place from May 26th to 28th 2021 at Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen, Germany.

The incalculable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic obliges us to remain precautious. As the safety of our conference participants is of highest concern, we ought to point out that in an event of the pandemic extending into the late spring of 2021, the conference will be postponed. However, we remain optimistic and encourage you to submit your papers and panels and are looking forward to welcoming you in Tübingen.

We invite proposals for:

- Papers or panels which speak directly to the conference theme (explained below);

- Papers or panels which address general issues related to the theory, analysis & practice of rhetoric in society;

- Other kinds of presentations such as roundtables, world cafés or debates.

Rhetoric as Strategic Thinking

With its focus on ‘strategy’ and ‘strategic thinking,’ the Rhetoric in Society 8 conference discusses the ways we define rhetoric as a specific form of communication, argumentation, persuasion, or mediation. Strategic thinking as a complex cognitive activity involves the mental representation of a goal as well as an understanding of the ways and means to achieve this goal through communicative action. Rhetors are expected to imagine a number of possible scenarios before deciding on a specific strategy and even to adjust this strategy during a campaign or even during a single speech. As Quintilian famously put it in his Institutio oratoria (II, 13, 2, transl. Butler): “If the whole of rhetoric could be thus embodied in one compact code, it would be an easy task of little compass: but most rules are liable to be altered by the nature of the case, circumstances time and place, and by hard necessity itself. Consequently, the allimportant gift for an orator is a wise adaptability since he is called upon to meet the most varied emergencies.” The bellicose metaphor of the commander (strategos) is often used in ancient rhetorical theories to conceive of the orator’s ability to adjust a strategic plan to specific circumstances or specific audiences. Like the commander, Quintilian’s orator has to find answers “in the circumstances of the case.” (Institutio oratoria, II, 13, 5, transl. Butler)

The conference endeavors to discuss rhetoric as strategic thinking in order to both define and question a key characteristic of rhetorical communication. It does so by exploring different concepts from different disciplinary backgrounds, such as argumentation, strategic maneuvering, imagination and mental simulation, rhetorical agency, situational rhetoric, literature and linguistics, political theory, communication and media studies, organizational rhetoric/communication, public relations, philosophy of language and many more. We would also like to discuss the blurring boundaries between rhetoric and other forms of strategic communication such as manipulation, propaganda, or populism, to assess the strategies applied by human and non-human actors in scripted or artificial media environments, and to explore the conditions responsible for the success or failure of rhetorical strategies and tactics in societies that are increasingly coping with polarization, radicalization and deception.

General papers

We also invite proposals for papers and panels more generally concerned with the theory, practice or analysis of rhetoric. This may include, for example, historical scholarship, theoretical analysis and contemporary cultural or political critique; work grounded in political theory, philosophy, languages and linguistics, argumentation, literary studies, communication studies, composition, media studies, psychology, sociology, history, cultural studies and more. Papers might be comparative, national or international in focus, concerned with particular orators, ideologies or movements and focus on spoken, written or audio-visual communication.

Alternative presentations

We welcome proposals for forms of presentation other than panels and papers. This might include: roundtables addressing key rhetorical themes, works or phenomena; debates between contending positions; other, novel and effective ways of communicating research findings, claims and arguments.

How to submit a proposal

Please submit your paper proposals by September 31, 2020 to ris8@rhetorik.unituebingen.de

We will inform you about our decision in December 2020.

Please do not submit more than two proposals. Panel proposals should not comprise more than four individual papers.

Individual Paper Proposals

All individual paper proposals must be written in English and submitted to the Committee with the following information:

- Title

- Author name

- Email address

- Affiliation

- Abstract (300 words maximum)

Session Proposals

Session Organizers should submit session proposals written in English to the Committee with the following information:

- Session title

- Session abstract of 300 words maximum

- List of participants including chair, presenters and discussants (if applicable), their email addresses, and the names of the institutions that they are associated with

- The related paper abstracts (300 words maximum/ paper)

Ashley Riggs

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

This book demonstrates the central role played by the stylistic features of online news in constructing meaning and shaping cultural representations of people and places – in particular, France and Muslims/Islam. Taking the 2016 violent attack in Nice, France as a case study, Ashley Riggs analyses online news coverage of the attack from the UK, Spain, and Switzerland, three distinct linguistic and cultural spaces. An innovative mixed-methods approach, including content analysis and elements of translation criticism and comparative stylistics, is used to analyse this corpus, revealing the frequency and influence of stylistic devices found in online news and exploring how they help to shape reader interpretations.

Drawing conclusions about journalistic practices by place and interrogating the notions of 'European identity' and 'European journalism', Stylistic Deceptions in Online News reveals how stylistic features may vary according to both political leanings and national and regional contexts, and the influence these features have upon readers.

Table of contents

1. Introduction

2. Terrorism in “European” News: What Role for Translation Studies?

3. Comparing British, Spanish and Swiss Societies: Politics, Social Attitudes, Language and the News

4. Analysis of Stylistic Features in British, Spanish and French-Language Swiss News

5. Comparative Conclusions

6. Stylistic Features of News as a Catalyst for Change? Lessons for Journalism, Translation Studies and “Europe”

Reviews

“This book delves into media representations of Islamic terrorism in three Western societies (Britain, Spain and Switzerland) and analyses journalistic translation from a novel perspective. Combining cultural, linguistic and political approaches, the author demonstrates the important role played by the stylistic features of modality, alliteration and metaphor in the reproduction of stereotyped images of Muslims via news production and translation. A must-read for all those interested in journalistic translation, news media, and image studies.” – Roberto A. Valdeón, Professor of English, University of Oviedo, Spain

“This book analyses news reports on terrorist attacks in France in media from different countries, focussing on their stylistic features and the role of translation in re-presenting events and cultures. It reveals the significance of the journalists' stylistic choices in shaping the messages. This focus on style makes an original contribution to news translation research.” – Christina Schäffner, Emeritus Professor of Translation Studies, Aston University, UK

“Focusing on details of language use in the online media coverage of violence, Ashley Riggs convincingly shows how stylistic choice reverberates – and can foster – intercultural (mis-)understanding. In a nutshell: style matters, and so does this book.” – Daniel Perrin, Professor of Applied Linguistics, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland

“Weaving a rich tapestry of data and examples and adopting a broad definition of translation, Ashley Riggs's book challenges many of our core assumptions about stylistic choices and their influential role in shaping the messages conveyed by news articles and the readers' representations.” – María José Hernández Guerrero, Professor of Translation and Interpreting, University of Malaga, Spain

University of Washington

Academic Personnel: College of Arts and Sciences: SOCIAL SCIENCES DIVISION: Communication

Location: Seattle, WA

Open Date: Sep 17, 2020

Description

The Department of Communication seeks a tenure-track assistant professor of political communication. This position will utilize a strong grounding in theories of public opinion to establish and maintain a dynamic research agenda that illuminates the media’s role in attitude formation and opinion management in democratic societies and how these processes play out across lines of social and political difference.

This full-time position has an anticipated start date of September 16, 2021 and will have a nine-month service period. Tenure-track faculty in the department are expected to produce a significant line of research, teach undergraduate and graduate classes, work with graduate students at the master’s and doctoral levels, and engage in departmental, university, and disciplinary service.

The Department of Communication is founded on the principles of intellectual and cultural pluralism, equity, interdisciplinarity, innovation through collaboration, and public scholarship. The Department’s statement on difference and equity can be found at http://www.com.washington.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Difference-and-Equity-Statement.pdf.

Information about the faculty, departmental centers (Center for Journalism, Media and Democracy as well as the Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity), degree programs, and course offerings can be found at http://www.com.washington.edu.

Qualifications

Candidates must have a Ph.D., or foreign equivalent, in Communication or a related field by the start of the appointment.

Application Instructions

Candidates should submit the following: (1) a two-page letter of interest outlining the candidate’s research trajectory in political communication and explaining how that research meets the job criteria and complements/extends existing strengths in the department; (2) a separate two-page teaching statement that includes the candidate’s pedagogical philosophy and identifies existing and new courses the candidate is qualified to teach; (3) a two-page diversity statement that describes the candidate’s experiences with and commitments to difference, race, equity, and social justice in research, teaching, and/or service; (4) a curriculum vitae; (5) two article-length academic writing samples; and (6) the names and contact information of three referees. Application materials must be submitted online through

Interfolio. Priority will be given to applications received before October 18, 2020. Inquiries can be directed to the search committee chairs Patricia Moy (pmoy@uw.edu) and Matthew Powers (mjpowers@uw.edu).

June 21-23, 2021

Rome (IT)

Deadline: November 15, 2020

Conference Website: https://www.detect-project.eu/detect2021/

CONFIRMED KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

• Charlotte Brunsdon (University of Warwick)
• Theo D’haen (Leuven University and Leiden University)
• Janet McCabe (Birkbeck, University of London)
• Peppino Ortoleva (University of Turin)

More info abou​t the speakers: http://www.detect-project.eu/keynote-speakers/

Description

Among the different expressions of popular culture, no other genre more than crime – meant as a composite made up of many different variants or subgenres -- has proved able to travel and expand its reach into international markets and with audiences. Nor has any other genre been more adept at laying bare the conflicts and contradictions – social, political and historical – that characterise contemporary European societies. The Detecting Europe conference offers an open forum to explore and discuss how narratives of crime and investigation, as well as their production and reception, have helped define the major industrial, commercial, thematic and stylistic trends of European popular culture since 1989, fostering both the transnational circulation of its products and the appearance of new transcultural representations in line with the emergence

of new social identities. We welcome proposals that interrogate the notion of Europeanness as a critical category, and its viability for the study of contemporary popular culture, both in print and screen media. We wish to explore both the scope and limits of the interrelated notions of transnational identity and cosmopolitanism when applied to the works of European crime fiction, including print fiction, film, and TV.

A few general — but not exclusive — questions may be asked. Are we to conceive of cosmopolitanism and the process of European transculturation merely as unifying factors, fostering the generation of a shared and uniform transnational identity? Or should we better acknowledge the existence of a variety of European transcultural identities, expressed in different writing and audio-visual styles, characteristic narrative models, place-specific production cultures and distribution and consumption patterns? What is the impact of national media ecologies in shaping the idea of the European, and how the national translate the European when foreign products appear in its mediascape? Should hybridization and transculturation be assumed as markers and powerful drivers of cultural homologation? Or rather the opposite is true, namely that cultural hybridization entails a growing differentiation of narrative forms and styles, contents and formats, production and reception practices, thus contributing to the emergence of a post-national assemblage of multiple and possibly diverging cosmopolitan identities? We deem it important, at this particular time, that the notion of Europeanness and its eventual instantiations in contemporary crime narratives is approached having in mind the multiple crises that are currently affecting the continent and its population.

We invite proposals from multiple fields of cultural studies, including representation studies, industry and production studies, and reception and audience studies. Possible topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Main stylistic trends of the crime-genre works produced in Europe in the last 30 years.
• Debating/reframing Euronoir as a critical category for cultural studies.
• Hybridization and transculturation: toward homologation or increased cultural differentiation?
• Crime fiction and the European crisis: immigration, migrant labour, Brexit, and the rise of right-wing popularism.
• The restaging and critical analysis of Europe’s recent past in the work of crime writers, screenwriters and directors.
• Images of Europe and Europeans: investigating social change through the study of popular crime narratives.
• Restating vs challenging class, gender and ethnic stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination in the representation of crime.
• The multiple facets of European diversity: how have social, spatial and historical identities been expressed in the works of the European crime genre?
• Ecocriticism and environmental humanities in the era of widescale ecological crisis: eco-noir and the challenges to European environment policies.
• The profiled position of crime in fostering transnational cooperation in the European cultural and creative sectors.
• Relationships and discrepancies between national/local creative industries and transnational cultural policies in the production milieu of the European crime genre.
• Transnational production and distribution and the emergence of transcultural formats.
• The hopes and limits of European cohesiveness, as revealed in practices of co-production and distribution of crime novels, films and TV dramas across the continent.
• Crime narratives and the media discourse on organized trans-European crime.
• Fictional representations of legal and forensic practices in comparative perspective.
• Translation, dubbing, subtitling as strategies for cultural adaptation and appropriation.
• The imbrication of local, national and transnational identities in the reception of foreign crime stories, between old and fresh perspectives on proximate or distant neighbors.
• Transnational distribution and the role of audiences in shaping the circulation patterns of European crime narratives across the continent.
• Detecting transcultural identity and social change through the study of the audiences’ response to crime stories and trans/cross-media universes.
• Engagement and design of crime audiences in the age of digital markets and online distribution.
• Making sense of social change through the audience’s response to the representation of female, gay, lesbian and queer characters.
• Theorising transnational/transdisciplinary research for the study of European crime narratives in print and screen media.

Conference Chairs

Monica Dall’Asta (University of Bologna), Federico Pagello (University of Chieti-Pescara), Valentina Re (Link Campus University)

Organizing Committee

Luca Antoniazzi (University of Bologna), Sara Casoli (University of Bologna), Massimiliano Coviello (Link Campus University), Paola De Rosa (Link Campus University), Lorenzo Orlando (Link Campus University)

Advisory Board

Stefano Arduini (Link Campus University), Maurizio Ascari (University of Bologna), Jan Baetens (KU Leuven), Luca Barra (University of Bologna), Stefano Baschiera (Queen’s University Belfast), Giulia Carluccio (University of Turin), Silvana Colella (University of Macerata), Caius Dobrescu (University of Bucharest), Andrea Esser (University of Roehampton), Nicola Ferrigni (Link Campus University), Katarina Gregersdotter (Umeå University), Kim Toft Hansen (Aalborg University), Annette Hill (University of Lund), Dominique Jeannerod (Queen’s University Belfast), Sandor Kalai (University of Debrecen), Matthieu Letourneux (University Paris Nanterre), Natacha Levet (University of Limoges), Giacomo Manzoli (University of Bologna), Janet McCabe (Birkbeck University), Jacques Migozzi (University of Limoges), Andrew Pepper (Queen’s University Belfast), Marica Spalletta (Link Campus University)

Submissions guidelines

Submissions are welcome as individual papers (max. 20 minutes) and pre-constituted panels (3/4 papers).

Individual presenters are required to provide their name, email address, the title of the paper, an abstract (max. 300 words), references (max. 200 words), and a short bio (max. 150 words).

Submit your paper proposal here

Submit your panel proposal here (panel organizers are also asked to submit a panel title and a short description of the panel (max. 300 words).

Deadlines and practicalities

• Abstracts deadline: 15 November 2020
• Feedback: 15 December 2020
• Registration deadline: 31 January 2020

Regular conference fee: €120

Reduced conference fee (PhD students, Postdoctoral researchers): €90

Further information: info@detect-project.eu

At present, we are still planning to hold the conference in person at Link Campus University, taking all the necessary health and safety precautions required by Italian authorities. We will also be monitoring national and international guidelines for health and safety to communicate any changes in a timely manner.

(Fees include: coffee breaks, 2 light lunches, 1 light dinner, 1 welcome drink).

The conference is supported by CUC – Consulta Universitaria del Cinema, Italy

January 20–22, 2021

DAMSLab, University of Bologna

Deadline: October 30, 2020

International conference promoted by the Department of the Arts, Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, Universidad de Murcia and IULM University, Milan.

Open Arts is an international conference aimed at exploring new forms of circulation of the cultural heritage and the arts. These result on one side from the increasing interest of the film and media industry, and on the other from the employment of multimedia technologies and the Internet by artists, museum institutions and exhibition spaces. In this regard, specific attention is devoted to the strategies developed in response to the COVID crisis. For this first edition, we are looking for papers that offer a reflection on the new audiovisual forms of valorization, dissemination, and circulation of the cultural heritage and the visual and performing arts. Through their contributions, scholars, artists and media professionals will reflect on a range of audiovisual products and multimedia strategies, questioning both their content and their media dimension. The conference will be accompanied by a cycle of screenings and the publication of a volume.

Following a growing sensitivity towards the sustainability of cultural heritage, or the economic and social balance of the labor of all the subjects working to enhance artistic heritage, the visual and performing arts today – contrarily to the avant-gardes of the last century – have not sought legitimacy by distancing themselves from popular culture. On the contrary, between the search for sponsorship and the needs related to the support of tourism, arts education or art literacy, they remain closer than ever to the media industry in an attempt to reach a wider audience. Documentaries and biopics on contemporary art and artists, the cultural heritage, architecture and the performing arts, as well as new streaming services for artists’ films and videos, and the use of multimedia devices in museums: these are no longer seen as tools that invalidate the intellectual dimension of art, but as strategic components for its circulation and appreciation.

An increasingly diverse media scenario allows artists and cultural operators to experiment with new forms of research, knowledge, and uses of the arts without having to clash with the logic of mass entertainment. This promotes a democratization of art, which becomes an increasingly less elitist and more relevant area in public life. The recurring issues that emerge include the renewed position of the audience, the use of social media and interactive technological devices in exhibition spaces, and the opening of contemporary artistic practices to an increasingly widespread visual culture. For this first edition of the conference, particular attention will be paid to the various multimedia strategies developed by museum institutions and exhibition spaces during the emergency period of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, characterized by an acceleration of new forms of experience and knowledge in order to respect social distancing and domestic isolation.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Documentaries and biopics on art and artists
• Television programming about the arts
• The use of multimedia to access and promote the cultural heritage
• Streaming services for artists’ films and videos
• The use of social media by artists, museum institutions and exhibition spaces
• Collaborations between contemporary artists and the media industry
• Multimedia strategies developed by museum institutions and exhibition spaces, during the COVID-19 pandemic

Proposals should include:

• Name and affiliation of the proponent
• Title of the proposed paper
• Abstract (300 words maximum)
• A short biography of the proponent (150 words maximum)

We are seeking for speakers from different scholarly fields such as art history, film studies, media studies, visual studies, museum studies, architecture, and the performing arts. To propose a paper for a 20 minute talk, please send an abstract of no more than 300 words and a short bio of 150 words in a single PDF no later than 30 October 2020 to m.cucco@unibo.it and francesco.spampinato@unibo.it

Speakers will be notified by November 16th. Both on-line and in person presentations are allowed. Organizers will confirm that the possibility to physically attend the conference by November 30th.

Presentations can be in English or Italian.

Steering committee: Joaquin Cànovas Belchì (Universidad de Murcia), Giacomo Manzoli (University of Bologna), Anna Rosellini (University of Bologna), Vincenzo Trione (IULM University, Milan).

Organizing committee: José Javier Aliaga Cárceles (Universidad de Murcia), Marco Cucco (University of Bologna), Anna Luigia De Simone (IULM University, Milan), Francesco Spampinato (University of Bologna), with the collaboration of Giorgio Avezzù (University of Bologna), Elisa Mandelli (Link Campus University, Rome) and Edoardo Milan (University of Bologna).

Grisold, Andrea and Paschal Preston (Eds.)

Oxford Univ. Press, 2020

ABSTRACT

Despite the rediscovery of the inequality topic by economists and other social scientists in recent times, relatively little is known about how economic inequality is mediated to the wider public. That is precisely where this book steps in: it examines how mainstream news media discuss, respond to, and engage with such important trends. The book addresses significant ‘blind spots’ in the two disciplinary areas most related to this book—political economy and media/journalism studies. Firstly, key issues related to economic inequalities tend to be neglected in media and journalism studies field. Secondly, mainstream economics have paid relatively little attention to the evolving scope and role of mediated communication.

CONTENTS:

Front Matter

1 Introduction, Paschal Preston and Andrea Grisold

2 Trends in Economic Inequality and News Mediascape, Hendrik Theine and Daniel Grabner

3 Inequality, Mediatization, and Critical Takes on Making the News, Paschal Preston

4 Media and Economic Inequality, Andrea Grisold and Hendrik Theine

5 Social Semiotics and Journalistic Discourses on Economics and Inequality, Maria Rieder and Henry Silke

6 Media Coverage of Economic Inequality, Maria Rieder, Henry Silke, and Hendrik Theine

7 Meritocracy, Markets, Social Mobility, Andrea Grisold and Henry Silke

8 Stagnation, Social Tensions, Unfairness, Daniel Grabner, Andrea Grisold, and Hendrik Theine

9 Is This Feasible?, Andrea Grisold, Maria Rieder, and Hendrik Theine

10 News Media and Economic Inequality, Andrea Grisold and Paschal Preston

Appendix 1 Newspapers Selected for Empirical Study

Appendix 2 The Coding Scheme Developed and Applied

Notes

References

Index

KEYWORDS:

Economic inequality, media and inequality, redistribution policies, news media and economic affairs, wealth taxes, economic journalism, critical discourse analysis, significant silences, journalism and inequality, discourse and power, transdisciplinary research, meritocracy, mediated public sphere

For Further Information, see: https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780190053901.001.0001/oso-9780190053901

University of Texas at Austin (U.S.)

The Department of Communication Studies at the University of Texas at Austin invites applications for an open rank, full-time, tenure-track faculty member interested in teaching and research on topics broadly related to interpersonal communication. The appointment will begin in August, 2021. Applicants must have completed a Ph.D. at the time of the appointment.

We define interpersonal communication broadly and welcome a diversity of epistemological and methodological perspectives. We seek an applicant who complements our current interpersonal faculty but would be particularly interested in those whose research focuses on topics such as health disparities and health equity, intercultural or interracial communication, bias, marginalized identities (LGBTQ+, Latinx, Black, and/or Indigenous identities), conflict and negotiation (e.g., dispute resolution, crisis management, bullying), social influence, nonverbal communication, and/or technology and relationships (e.g., technologically-mediated communication, virtual relationships, artificial intelligence and interpersonal communication). In addition to teaching graduate seminars, the ability to teach large undergraduate lecture classes and web-based courses on interpersonal communication topics is preferred.

Interested applicants should submit a letter of interest, current curriculum vitae, links to or copies of three representative publications, evidence of teaching effectiveness, and the names of at least three individuals to contact for letters of recommendation. Three confidential letters of recommendation will be requested of finalists.

Applicants are also required to submit a separate diversity statement, addressing their commitment to inclusivity and support for diverse populations, along with information on their past contributions to this work and their future plans in these areas.

The Department of Communication Studies and the Moody College of Communication are committed to achieving diversity in its faculty, students, and curricula, and we welcome applicants who can help achieve these objectives. For more information, please see: https://moody.utexas.edu/…ity

The committee will begin considering candidates onOctober 15, 2020 and will review applications until the position is filled. Applications must be made via Interfolio's ByCommittee solution at https://apply.interfolio.com/…422

If you do not have a Dossier account with Interfolio, you will be prompted to create one prior to applying for the position. If you have questions about using Interfolio, please email help@interfolio.com or call (877) 997-8807. Please note that a final determination on filling this position will be contingent on funding availability.

Questions can be directed to the chair of the search committee, Professor RenéDailey, at rdailey@austin.utexas.edu.

The University of Texas at Austin is a tobacco-free campus; for more information visit http://www.utexas.edu/…ee/

Department of Communication Studies: https://commstudies.utexas.edu/

Moody College of Communication: http://moody.utexas.edu/

Austin is a major center of governmental, technological, financial, health-related, environmental, and social-movement activities, along with hosting one of the leading public research universities in the world. The city is regularly rated as one of the best places to live in the U.S.

The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. This institution does not offer benefits to domestic partners. This institution offers benefits to spouses (including a common-law spouse with whom you’ve filed a Declaration of Informal Marriage).

March 26-27, 2021

Bucharest, Romania

Deadline: September 30, 2020

ECREA’s Political Communication Section Interim Conference

The Political Communication Section of ECREA invites abstracts of papers for the next Interim Conference to be held in Bucharest, March 26th-27th , 2021. For self-explanatory reasons, the theme of the conference is “Communicating crisis: Political communication in the age of uncertainty”. The organizers call for proposals in all sub-fields of political communication research, but particularly invite conceptual, empirical, and methodological proposals reflecting on the ‘plague year’ we are living in, or comparable crisis events, and the role of media and/or communication therein. The conference will reflect both empirically, and conceptually and methodologically focused work.

This is a timely and rich topic, and not only due to the tragic circumstances around Covid 19. The last 20 years have brought or aggravated several challenges to humanity: rapid population increase, climate change, war and conflict, humanitarian catastrophes, economic crises, growing inequalities, population ageing, and the uncertain future of work among them. These ongoing crises are now the background of a pandemic of proportions unseen in at least a century. In such turbulent times, communication in general and political communication in particular play a significant role in helping the public at large as well as volatile groups in society in particular to understand unfolding events, and in developing constructive attitudes and resilient behaviors regarding the crisis. Perspectives can even be adjusted or corrected, e.g. in reorienting audiences to reliable information outlets and away from possibly “polluted information” from untrustworthy sources.

The digital information ecosystem comes with further challenges to effective communication in times of crisis. Among them, the large variety of sources of information, the partisan bias of media organizations and outlets, the relatively high incidence of “polluted information” (i.e., dis-, mis-, and mal-information), the potential of each message to go viral due to the constant use of social networking sites and instant messaging platforms, the rapid circulation of conspiracy theories, the high potential of exposure to contradictory information, the almost instant access to interpersonal communication which might fuel various rumors, and so on. All these trends contribute to making people more vulnerable to accept and to disseminate various pieces of ideologically-driven, highly polarized information. Against this backdrop, communication is no longer used as a strategy to keep people well informed, but as an engine responsible for generalized skepticism and emotionally-driven attitudes. Addressing (political) communication changes and challenges during crises is of high relevance not only for scholars, policy-makers, and journalists, but also for citizens, as co-creators of content within the communication flow.

Papers & panels

The conference will feature both presentations of individual research papers, and thematic panels.

Paper submissions will be grouped in sessions of 4-5 papers by the conference program chair. A limited number of slots will be available for coherent panels where one topic is addressed in four to five presentations, followed by responses. Preference will be given to panels with presenters from diverse backgrounds and affiliations.

Submission

• Paper submissions: Please send an MS Word (.doc, .docx) file including (a) the title of your paper and an abstract of no more than 400 words, and (b), on a separate page, the names and affiliations of the authors.
• Panel submissions: Please send an MS Word (doc., docx) file including (a) a rationale of no more than 300 word; (b) summaries for all the presentations in the panel (no more than 150 words for each summary); and (c) the names and affiliations of the chair, presenters, and respondents.
• Please note that all submission will undergo peer-review, and will be accepted or declined accordingly.
• Only one proposal per first author can be accepted.
• All submissions should be sent via email at: contact[at]comunicare[dot]ro.

Deadlines

• Please e-mail your abstract or panel proposal by September 30th 2020.
• Notifications of acceptance will be sent to authors by November 15th 2020.

Local host

Nicoleta Corbu (National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest, Romania), E-mail: nicoleta.corbu[at]comunicare[dot]ro

Section Management Team

• Andreas Schuck (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Chair)
• Melanie Magin (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway; Vice Chair)
• Václav Štětka (Loughborough University, United Kingdom; Vice Chair)

Thematic issue of Facta Universitatis

Deadline: October 31, 2020

We hereby invite all interested colleagues to submit research papers, review articles, discussion papers, and thematic essays for the thematic issue of the journal Facta Universitatis: Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology and History, Vol. 19, No 3, 2020.

This Call for Papers is aimed at bringing together a selected number of scholars and associates from the academic community who wish to participate in the project titled “#METOO MOVEMENT: PAST, PRESENT AND WHAT NEXT?”

#metoo movement has gained prominence in 2017 with Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse case, which triggered many celebrities to accept the hashtag and tweet about their experiences of sexual harassment. Ultimately, this spread to the general public and many women started to openly tweet and talk about harassment and abuse they endured during their lifetimes. The movement soon achieved international recognition and became a truly global movement of women talking about harassment and fighting the prejudice from the post-feminist argument of all battles being won.

However, the term was originally created by a Black woman Tarana Burke in 2006 who started to tweet using ‘me too’ words to warn about harassment and abuse. Thus, #metoo hashtag movement has both raised an important issue and created awareness of harassment women face in their everyday life whilst, at the same time, creating a bitter feeling because it feels as if the movement has been hijacked from Black women whose equality plight is intersectional and fundamentally tied to their race and not just gender.

While the importance of movement and its positive impact is unquestionable, the question is how do we continue from now on and how do we make sure that all voices get heard? How do we teach about #metoo movement? However, these questions are relevant to the West. In other parts of the world, #metoo had a different context and was experienced differently, which again raises an issue, what next?

Therefore, this special issue tackles some of the problems outlined above. The proposed structure of the special issue is divided into two sections, a) section on problematising #metoo movement and b) teaching about #metoo movement. An introductory article will outline a timeline of the movement, its impact and some issues and debates that arose, and then discuss these against articles in the special issue.

You are kindly invited to submit the final versions of your research paper (in electronic format) by October 31, 2020.

The research papers should be submitted in English, and it should not exceed 16 pages (A4 format, max. 40.000 characters with spaces, line spacing 1.5, font Times New Roman, font size 12).

The submitted papers will be subject to double-blind peer review. In order to ensure the authenticity, relevance and legibility, the submitted papers are also subject to the process of proof-reading and copy-editing by the editors and editorial staff.

For technical details and editorial requirements on preparing the paper for publication, please refer to Author Guidelines, available at http://casopisi.junis.ni.ac.rs/index.php/FUPhilSocPsyHist/about/submissions#authorGuidelines

Editor of the thematic issue: Dr Martina Topić, Leeds Beckett University, United Kingdom

Niš, February 14, 2020

ISSN 1820-8495 (Print)

ISSN 1820-8509 (Online)

Edited by Claudia Mellado

This book contests and challenges pre-established assumptions about a dominant type of journalism prevailing in different political, economic, and geographical contexts to posit the fluid, and dynamic nature of journalistic roles.

The book brings together scholars from Western and Eastern Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia, reporting findings based on data produce thematic chapters that address how journalistic cultures vary around the globe, specifically in relation to challenges that journalists face in performing their journalistic roles. The study measures, compares, and analyzes the materialization of the interventionist, the watchdog, the loyal-facilitator, the service, the infotainment, and the civic roles in more than 30,000 print news stories from 18 countries. It also draws from hundreds of surveys with journalists to explain the link between ideals and practices, and the conditions that shape this divide.

This book will be of great relevance to scholars and researchers working in the fields of journalism, journalism practices, philosophy of journalism, sociology of media, and comparative journalism research.

You can pre-order our book on this link: https://www.routledge.com/Beyond-Journalistic-Norms-Role-Performance-and-News-in-Comparative- Perspective/Mellado/p/book/9781138388499