ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

June 6-7, 2024

Tilburg (the Netherlands)

Deadline (EXTENDED): February 9, 2024

Organizers:

• Niels Niessen, Tilburg University, the Netherlands
  
• Nuno Atalaia, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
  
• Rianne Riemens, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
  

Keynote speaker: Prof. Tiziana Terranova

This conference brings together critiques of how Big Tech invades all domains of public and private life, transforming those domains in the process. The conference explores how the humanities can contribute to a better understanding of this development. At the same time, we are interested in how humanities research changes in relation to this development.While critiquing Big Tech, it is important to acknowledge that for many, platforms like Instagram, Tumblr, and X (Twitter) are places of consciousness building and activism. It is also safe to say that without these platforms, movements like MeToo, Trans Liberation, and Black Lives Matter would not have happened the way they did. Yet while these platforms help liberate personal and collective life in some respects, ultimately they are not designed for emancipation, but to maximize user engagement. The conference examines the ways in which Big Tech interpellates people as users, through its technologies and its discourses. We will also discuss potential forms of resistance against this interpellation.

In proposing a humanities perspective on Big Tech, we tackle what we perceive as a crisis of the human form in the age of large-scale platforms, personalized AI, and the algorithmic condition.

Theorists including Patricia Ticineto Clough (The User Unconscious), Nick Couldry & Ulises Mejias (Costs of Connection), and McKenzie Wark (Capitalism Is Dead) have argued that Big Tech threatens the very integrity and sovereignty of individual and collective human existence. At the same time, the existence of both humans and non-humans is threatened by climate change and the continuous appropriation of the environment for the benefits of Big Tech and economic growth (as argues for example Mél Hogan in “Big Data Ecologies”). What does it mean to practice the Humanities in algorithmic societies facing political and ecological crises? How to understand the human subject and its relation to technology and the environment in light of these conditions? How to critique Big Tech’s understanding of the human subject, its extractive economic model and continuous infrastructural and spatial expansion, and its visions of the future? How to work towards alternatives?

The conference somewhat changes up the traditional conference format, creating more space for conversation and workshops. We ask for short 10-minute individual presentations. During the workshops hosted by the conference organizers, participants are invited to critically engage with the methodological, epistemic, and ecological implications of studying Big Tech. If you are interested in participating in the conference, please fill out this form. (https://cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/form/view/H-8AnSFOUBAa5xr17f4MLwF-QTa5AQXpQB-Olfw1Vys/).

We ask you to briefly describe (1) the topic of your presentation and ideally also your object of focus (if your paper is mostly theoretical, still provide an example of an object you connect to); (2) your intervention (the argument you plan to develop, or how you envision your contribution); (3) a brief reflection on methodology and how your contribution speaks to the changing humanities. In addition, please indicate your preference for the workshop you would like to attend on day 2 of the conference (How to design a user?; How to study big data ecologies?; How to de-Google Learning?). Finally, we ask participants to ideally participate in the full conference. On the evening before the conference (June 5) we will have an informal dinner (paid for by the organization) in the center of Tilburg. The conference itself will take place in De Nieuwe Vorst theater, also in the Tilburg city center.

To apply, please fill out the form on https://cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/form/view/H-8AnSFOUBAa5xr17f4MLwF-QTa5AQXpQB-Olfw1Vys/ 

For questions, please email bigtechconference@protonmail.com

Deadline for submission: 9 February. We will send out conference invitations by the end of February.

A special issue of Societies (ISSN 2075-4698).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: May 30, 2024     

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Cristina Miguel

Prof. Dr. Elisenda Piera

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The rapid advance of artificial intelligence (AI) in society demands innovative research perspectives to examine how people effectively engage with AI and the potential benefits and drawbacks of its use.  Despite a growing number of people engaging in intimate relationships with robots, chatbots, and virtual assistants, there is still little knowledge about human–AI intimacy practices. AI companions aim to create a safe and non-judgmental space for individuals to share their feelings and thoughts. These types of AI technologies can show care for humans by actively listening to their concerns and using empathetic language to support them. Thus, they may help to fight loneliness and contribute to a sense of connection and well-being. On the other hand, detractors claim that AI companions are detrimental to users’ ability to form real-life relationships and involve privacy risks. The amount of users’ data that AI companions need to collect to learn about individuals’ behaviour may compromise users’ privacy. Therefore, some questions arise: How is AI transforming the ways we understand and experience intimacy?; Are new forms of intimacy emerging?; How are AI technologies being adapted for cultural differences in building intimate relations?; Which cultural and social continuities and discontinuities are related to AI companions’ adoption?; Are there experiences of distrust and disconnection in relation to AI companions?; How are artificial intimacy experiences being narrated?

The main objective of this Special Issue, "Artificial Intimacies: Exploring New Forms of Connection and Disconnection with AI Technologies”, is to understand the emerging phenomenon of artificial intimacy. This Special Issue aims to achieve a holistic understanding of how AI companion robots and apps operate and how they are adopted for different types of intimate relationships (e.g., friendship, romantic, sexual), as well as to map the social imaginaries and moral panics around these new intimate technologies driven by AI.

For this Special Issue, we welcome empirical research articles, literature reviews, or conceptual papers that analyse and assess how artificial intimacies are understood and experienced in society. Potential topics for submissions to this Special Issue on artificial intimacy may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• AI companion robots and apps (sexual, caregivers, friendship, romantic, etc.).
  
• Social and ethical implications of the use of AI companions.
  
• Political economy of AI companion apps.
  
• Intimate relationships with virtual assistants.
  
• Age, race, gender, or class and AI companions.
  
• Artificial intimacy imaginaries and fiction.

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as conceptual papers are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Societies is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

• AI companions
  
• artificial intelligence
  
• artificial intimacy
  
• companion apps
  
• intimacy
  
• sex robots
  
• social robots
  

June 25-27, 2024

University of Windsor (Ontario, Canada)

Deadline to submit abstract for paper: January 12, 2024 (3:00 pm EST)

Submit abstracts here: https://uwindsor.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d0DLSwygYnXvKEm

Symposium & Workshop Synopsis

Crowd funding and personal donation platforms raise a constellation of issues that have garnered relatively little attention. Donation platforms such as GoFundMe or KickStarter operate multi-million-dollar businesses. This reality, alongside the several multimedia tactics that are deployed to seduce potential donors may not be transparent to them. In addition, personal donors’ data can be highly sensitive information when it relates to political affiliations, religious beliefs, or is connected to oppressed minority groups at the local level or through foreign governments or organizations. And yet, organizations that initiate and benefit from donation campaigns may not be subject to the personal data protection laws when such laws apply to commercial activities only. When leaked or made accessible to government authorities or employers, personal donations can lead to drastic measures including law enforcement freezing of bank accounts, or loss of employment. As such, personal donations raise fundamental human rights issues, the regulation of which deserves particular attention and scrutiny. More broadly, the political, economic, and cultural impact of crowd funding and personal donation platforms invites a deeper critical and interdisciplinary engagement.

The Symposium aims to bring together scholars from diverse disciplines, including law, communication and media studies, sociology, anthropology, economics, business, and political science, to reflect on the multifaceted dynamics of crowd funding and personal donation platforms and practices shaped by an evolving ecosystem of platforms, devices, data collection practices, political climates, social norms, fundraiser needs, donor motivations, and regulatory frameworks. Zones of inquiry include the following:

• What incites personal donors to give, and what are their perceptions with respect to ventures, causes, political movements calling for fundraising?
  
• What is the personal donor in law? (i.e. the nature of the transactions performed, privacy and personal data implications, legal protections against deception and fraud, tax treatment incentives, among other considerations).  
  
• When does a personal donor become an investor?
  
• How are communication, social media, digital platforms (GoFundMe, Kickstarter, etc..) impacting personal donations both from the perspective of fundraisers and personal donors?
  
• What are the social dynamics and cultural factors that influence the success of crowdfunding campaigns?
  
• What types of industries (creative, cultural, educational, healthcare etc.) or causes (humanitarian, emergency relief, political, etc.)  resort to personal donations and what are considerations specific to each of those industries or causes?
  
• What are the opportunities and pitfalls for inventors and start-up companies resorting to crowdfunding and online donation platforms to subsidize the development of their new technology or product?
  
• What are the narratives, tools, methods deployed by fundraisers? When are such narratives justifiable and laudable, and when are they deceptive, misleading, or fraudulent?
  
• What is the level of accountability and transparency to which fundraisers, digital donation platforms and other intermediaries are or should be subject to?
  
• Is there a need for greater protection of donors’ good will and more generally of the public?
  
• How do governments support some fundraisers (e.g. tax breaks, interests in charity reliance, etc.) and ban others? (e.g. security surveillance, banking and finance regulation, criminal sanctions)
  
• What should the extent of state control be over eligible causes for tax purposes and proscribed ones?  
  
• What are the human rights implications (e.g. potential discrimination, constraints on right of association, liberty) of such government regulations?
  

The Symposium and Workshop’s main goal is to further develop a research agenda in this area of study through the benefits of an interdisciplinary approach, gathering researchers across different disciplines and with different perspectives to address these challenging and critical questions.

The selected participants will be invited to contribute to a book project / collection of essays to be published in a leading academic journal/press.

July 10-11, 2024

Gorizia, Italy

Deadline: January 31, 2024

Dear colleagues,

We are thrilled to announce that the keynote speakers of the conference “Work and Play: Studying the Labour of And Around Acting in Contemporary European Cinema” will be Dr Christopher Holliday (King’s College London) and Prof. Catherine O’Rawe (University of Bristol).

Proposals are invited until January 31st, 2024 (CET). Please note that the dates of the conference, have been anticipated to July 10-11, 2024.

We are pleased to share that the conference will be held in Gorizia in conjunction with the opening of the 43rd Premio Sergio Amidei (International Award for Best Screenplay): conference presenters will receive accreditation to attend the event.

More details in the CFP below.

WORK AND PLAY: STUDYING THE LABOUR OF AND AROUND ACTING IN CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN CINEMA 

Conference organizer: Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici e del Patrimonio Culturale

Università degli Studi di Udine, Italy

Conference dates: 10-11 July 2024

Conference venue: Centro Polifunzionale Gorizia Campus 

Scholarship addressing actors and actresses has traditionally focused on theories and issues of stardom. The centrality of the star as a prominent signifier in film texts, as well as a major asset in the production and commercialisation of film products, has been variously and fruitfully investigated by star and celebrity studies. Stars’ performances and personas have been analysed as the epitome of their actual or perceived national identities, as the expression of their coeval cultural and political context, as well as marketing mainstays for their respective national film industries (e.g., Gundle 1995; Leahy 2003; Reich 2004; Spicer 2022). Less explored has instead been the labour of and around acting. This conference, which originates from the research project funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research titled F-ACTOR. Forms of Contemporary Media Professional Acting. Training, Recruitment and Management, Social Discourses in Italy (2000-2020), therefore wishes to study labour issues in connection not just to stardom, but to screen acting in Europe. In the Old Continent, the ‘fluidity of identities’ (Bergfelder 2005: 329) that characterises the region from a cultural and geo-political standpoint is echoed in the transnationality of many film actors, such as the French Juliette Binoche (Vincendeau 2015), the Italian Ksenia Rappoport (Faleschini Lerner 2012), or the Spanish Daniel Brühl (Vidal 2016). Transnationality is regarded as one the distinctive features of Europe’s predominant mode of film production (Jäckel 2003), as it relies to a great extent on international co-productions, funded through bi- and multi-lateral agreements, supranational schemes like Creative Europe and Eurimages, as well as dedicated film festivals’ initiatives (Iordanova 2015). How does the relationship between film actors, (trans)national identity, policy framework, and production system play out in labour practices and individual decision-making within Europe? If, as Richard Dyer (1986) observes quoting Marx, the star image is an example of ‘“congealed labour”, something that is used with further labour (scripting, acting, directing, managing, filming, editing) to produce another commodity, a film, what are the material and symbolic conditions in which such labour is performed, and by whom? How is the labour of and around screen acting performed within the framework of European cinema produced over the last two decades? How are digital technologies impacting on acting and acting-related practices and labour within Europe? What part, if any, does transnationality play in shaping the values and practices of actors and non-acting professionals in European film industries? This conference aims to explore the multiple forms of labour that constitute, inform, and surround contemporary screen acting. In this sense, we are not only interested in the labour of contemporary European screen actors, and how it intersects with individual traits such as gender and age. We also wish to examine the varied forms of labour that prepare, accompany, manage, circulate, manipulate, consume, and evaluate the screen actor’s performance against the backdrop of an increasingly globalized and corporatized European film industry. 

The conference invites proposals for presentations that explore symbolic, social, organizational, economic and/or juridical dimensions of labour performed by and around screen actors in the context of contemporary European film industries (ca 2000-present time). The list of possible topics includes, but is not limited to:

●      The labour of acting across national and trans-national production cultures;

●      Intersectional approaches to screen acting;

●      Actors and promotional labour: (self-)branding, transmedia persona, digital intimacy;

●      Actors and the law: labour rights, welfare, contracts;

●      Labour organizations, unions, and industry associations;

●      The labour around acting: coaches, casting directors, talent agents, PR professionals;

●      Training actors: schools and institutions, professions, methods;

●      Making up actors: make-up and hairstyling artists, fashion stylists, image consultants;

●      Voice acting: dubbing professions, cultures and practices across Europe;

●      Acting and digital technologies;

●      Acting and film criticism;

●      Actors and the economy of prestige: Festivals, awards, accolades;

●      Actors and fandom.

We invite proposals for individual papers and pre-constituted panels. All proposals should be written in English. Abstracts for 20-minutes individual papers should be of 300 words (max). Panel proposals should include a 300-word (max) description of the panel, including a title, plus a 200-word (max) description of each individual paper (min 3, max 4 papers of 20 minutes each per panel). All proposals should include also a 100-word bio of the presenter(s), 5 keywords descriptive of the proposal, and 3 to 5 key bibliographic references.

The conference will be held in-person.

For more information and resources about F-ACTOR. Forms of Contemporary Media Professional Acting. Training, Recruitment and Management, Social Discourses in Italy (2000-2020), please visit https://italianperformers.it/en/

Proposals should be submitted to workandplayuniud@gmail.com no later than 11:59PM (CET) on January 31st, 2024.

Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by March 31st, 2024.

For any questions, do not hesitate to contact the conference organizing committee: workandplayuniud@gmail.com 

Keynote bios:

Christopher Holliday, Lecturer in Liberal Arts and Visual Cultures Education at King’s College London. Dr Holliday’s research is concerned with digital technologies and forms of computer animation in contemporary visual culture. He has published extensively on computer-animated film, digital visual effects, Deepfakes, and digital de-aging. He is the author of The Computer-Animated Film: Industry, Style and Genre (EUP, 2018) and co-editor of the anthologies Fantasy/Animation: Connections Between Media, Mediums and Genres (Routledge, 2018) and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: New Perspectives on Production, Reception, Legacy (Bloomsbury, 2021), as well as the creator and curator of www.fantasy-animation.org.  

Catherine O'Rawe, Professor of Italian Film and Culture at the University of Bristol. Prof. O’Rawe’s principal research interest lies in Italian cinema, which she has investigated with particular attention to stardom, performance, and audiences. Her latest book, The Non-Professional Actor. Italian Neorealist Cinema and Beyond (Bloomsbury, 2023) addresses the casting, performance, and labour of non-professional actors, particularly children, their cultural and economic value to Italian Neorealist cinema. She is also the author of Stars and Masculinities in Contemporary Italian Cinema (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), and co-author of Italian Cinema Audiences: Histories and Memories of Cinema-going in Post-war Italy (Bloomsbury, 2020).

Chris Miles

Palgrave Macmillan

Chris Miles, Principal Academic in Marketing & Communication at Bournemouth University, has just published The Marketing of Service-Dominant Logic: A Rhetorical Approach, with Palgrave Macmillan.

Service-Dominant logic can be described as a mind-set for a unified understanding of the purpose and nature of organizations, markets and society. A concept that was first introduced by Vargo and Lusch in 2004, S-D logic has generated not just a vast host of journal articles and books but has established an expanding sphere of influence across marketing scholarship. In this book, Chris Miles uses a rhetorical approach to investigate the ‘marketing’ of Service-Dominant logic, asking how the formulation and presentation of the logic aids in its persuasive promotion. In doing so, the book explores the lexicon choices, metaphors, symbols, and persuasive gambits that have resonated so strongly with marketing academia, with the aim of understanding how these elements work together in a compelling narrative that delivers the logic’s core value proposition of transcendence. Chris Miles investigates how these rhetorical strategies have evolved as the S-D logic framework has developed, examining the revisions to its foundational premises and axioms and the introduction of new perspectives such as systems theory. It is the first book-length rhetorical analysis of a single strand of marketing discourse and as such, it serves as a showcase for the methodology, the insights it can provide, and its value for marketing scholarship.

Book details:

DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-46510-9

Hardcover ISBN

978-3-031-46509-3

Published: 01 December 2023

Softcover ISBN

978-3-031-46512-3

Due: 15 December 2024

eBook ISBN

978-3-031-46510-9

Published: 30 November 2023

Number of Pages

IX, 259

May 2nd (full day) & 3rd (half day), 2024

AAU, Copenhagen (TBC)

Deadline: January 26, 2024

Considering the recent climate developments and resulting socio-economic disparities, questions that address media and communication from a broader sustainability perspective have become increasingly urgent. Yet, they reside far too often at the periphery of media and communication research and practice. SMiD 2024 seeks to raise awareness and address these issues, fostering a critical discussion on the role of media and communication in relation to the notion of sustainability. We understand sustainability as defined by the United Nations Brundtland Commission in 1987, as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. We address the topic in its broadest possible sense, ranging from environmental, economic, and political Issues to social well-being. Contributions are invited through both the open call and the themed call.

SMiD 2024 – Open call (on site)

At SMiD’s 2024 biennial meeting, we wish to address questions regarding the relationship of media and communication and sustainability in times of crises. We welcome a diverse range of submissions in the broader field of media and communication studies, from traditional papers to alternative and innovative formats such as roundtables, discussion papers, interviews, posters, workshops, and working group meetings. SMiD’s open call is open to all researchers and practitioners with connections to the media and communication research and/or practice environment in Denmark and/or having the wish to connect to the community. If your work is not related to the overall conference theme, you are still welcome to present. If applicable, please try to reflect on the following question: How can media and communication research and practice contribute towards a sustainable society?

Suggestions for contributions should be between 400-500 words (including references). For panels, the submission should consist of a panel rationale (max 300 words) and abstracts for all papers (max 150 words each). Please submit no later than January 26th, 2024 via e-mail smid@foreningen-smid.dk, indicating that you are answering the open call.

SMiD 2024 – Themed call (hybrid and on site, in collaboration with MedieKultur)

The themed call focusses more specifically on the socio-ecological consequences of digital media and communication, a topic that is becoming increasingly urgent considering recent climate developments. Digital society is built on a pertinent paradox: while a robust information infrastructure is undeniably crucial for modern democracies, the very fabric of contemporary media and digital communication stand as one of the most prominent contributors to the global carbon footprint and associated social inequalities (Kannengießer & McCurdy, 2021; Vestberg, 2014). In fact, already in 2011, digital communication was estimated to produce as much CO2 emissions as the aviation industry and the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence threatens to augment this carbon footprint exponentially in the coming years (Saenko, 2023). Within the themed call we wish to address this paradox in more detail and examine the role of (digital) media and communication within the broader theme of socio-ecological sustainability. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• News media: e.g., climate reporting and climate framing, sustainable news production, resilience journalism, news media, and political power.
  
• The ”good” life and datafied living: e.g., balancing personal lifestyle choices and their environmental consequences, navigating environmental data and environmental practices.
  
• Everyday practices and sustainability: e.g., upcycling practices, civil movements, and reimagining everyday practices for a sustainable future.
  
• Organisational practices: e.g., authenticity vs. greenwashing, communication, AI, and digital sustainability.
  
• Sustainable communication: e.g., new ways of explaining the impacts media habits induce on the climate and environment, communicating these challenges,
  
• Politics and governance: e.g., communication practices of political parties, issues in climate governance, political and institutional decision-making.
  

For the themed call, we invite on-going research as well as more experimental forms such as academic essays and/or other formats. The themed call builds the basis for a special issue to be published in MedieKultur in fall 2025 following the official editorial guidelines, including a double-blind peer-review process. SmiD’s themed call is open to media and communication scholars, from PhD candidates to professors, and practitioners in the field.

Suggestions for contributions should be between 400-500 words (excluding references). Please submit no later than January 26th, 2024, via e-mail smid@foreningen-smid.dk, indicating that you are answering the themed call.

Overall timeline

Deadline for contributions: January 26th, 2024

Notice of acceptance: No later than February 23rd, 2024

Deadline for conference registration: March 15th, 2024

Download full call as PDF

References

Kannengießer, S., & McCurdy, P. (2021). Mediatization and the Absence of the Environment. Communication Theory, 31(4), 911–931. https://doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtaa009

Maxwell, R. (2014). Media Industries and the Ecological Crisis. Media Industries Journal, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.3998/mij.15031809.0001.207

Saenko, K. (2023, May 23). Is generative AI bad for the environment? A computer scientist explains the carbon footprint of ChatGPT and its cousins. The Conversation. http://theconversation.com/is-generative-ai-bad-for-the-environment-a-computer-scientist-explains-the-carbon-footprint-of-chatgpt-and-its-cousins-204096

Vestberg, R. M., Raundalen, J. & Lager, N. (Ed.). (2014). Media and the Ecological Crisis. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315885650

“Under Strong Interest” by McFarland’s Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy series (Call for Book Chapters )

Deadline: June 30, 2024

Editors’ Introduction

Science fiction cinema is about a new idea or novum (Suvin) and the impact of technology on our lives, and although it often looks into the future, it is also about the present, reflecting the problems of our time (Schlobin). These visions and phantasmas and their realism bring science fiction into intense interaction with other genres, from comedy to horror, from fantasy to thriller. As in every major genre, science fiction has a great power in visualizing social structure (Cornea). The forms of interaction between people, or between people and other things, are also of a social nature, and class relations are in one way or another at the center of every situation in which science fiction depicts possibilities (Roberts).

In the 19th century, the phenomenon of class conflict, which manifested itself in all aspects of life with industrialization, capitalism, and modernization (Dahrendorf) also finds its place in the stories of science fiction as a genre that examines the search for the novum, or the effects of the new on our lives. Science fiction, as a genre primarily oriented towards the future, inevitably depicts ideal or uncomfortable situations related to social life in the stories it describes. Like every social structure, the societies that are the subject of science fiction narratives are at the center of various production and sharing relations. Thus, it becomes necessary to consider the individual within his/her social relations. Although Marxist theory has conducted the most intense debates on this subject, since the 19th century, different views within and against Marxism (Freeden) have addressed social relations and thus class conflicts with new dimensions. Class conflicts, hegemony relations, the production of consent, imperialism, the influence of the ideological apparatuses of the state, the changing structure of classes and identity debates reveal a wide network of theoretical relations in this regard. In this respect, the book aims to bring together theoretical perspectives that evaluate the way science fiction imagines societies in a multidimensional way. 

Social classes, their changing structures, stratification and its consequences and class relations are widely discussed topics in the literature. In this book, we intend to continue this debate in a different context. Contributors to the book are expected to present chapters with different theoretical perspectives centered on class conflict.

The chapters will be written in an argumentative rather than a descriptive style, so that each chapter will come up with its own unique results/findings. The purpose of this book is not to describe class conflict in SF films, but rather to discuss class struggle from a wide spectrum of theoretical arguments.

The edited volume is planned to be published within the "Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy" series of McFarland books. McFarland, an international and influential publishing company, that has a strong reputation and influence in this field for many years.

Each chapter will consist of comprehensive essays of at least 5,000 - 6,000 words, including footnotes and references.

The chapters will be written in MLA 9 format.

Please select one of the proposed chapters below send an abstract of at least 300 words (with five references that will guide the chapter) and a short author biography (150 words) to scificinemanadclassstruggle@gmail.com

The editors have framed the chapters as follows, but we welcome proposals that are creative and address different topics in this context.

Preface

Editors’ Introduction: Class Conflict in Science Fiction Film 

Cenk Tan & Mikail Boz

Part I: Social Stratification

1) The Platform 1-2, 2019-2024, Dir. Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia

2) In Time, 2011, Dir. Andrew Niccol

Part II: Otherness / Identity

3) Matrix Resurrections, 2021, Dir. Lana Wachowski

4) Blade Runner 2049, 2017, Dir. Denis Villeneuve

Part III: Resistance to Oppression

5) Snowpiercer, 2013, Dir. Bong Joon Ho

6) Cloud Atlas, 2012, Dir. Tom Tykwer, Lana & Lilly Wachowski

Part IV: Migration & Refugees

7) Children of Men, 2006, Dir. Alfonso Cuarón

8) Dune, 2021-2024, Dir. Denis Villeneuve

Part V: The Society of the Spectacle

9) Ready Player One, 2018, Dir. Steven Spielberg

10) The Stepford Wives, 2004, Dir. Frank Oz

Part VI:  The Quest for Hope & Equality

11) Interstellar, 2014, Dir. Christopher Nolan

12) Mad Max Fury Road, 2015, Dir. George Miller

Key Dates:

• Deadline for abstract submission: 30 June 2024
  
• Deadline for chapter submission: 30 September 2024
  
• Anticipated publication date: Spring 2025
  

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have further questions.

Editors:

Cenk Tan & Mikail Boz

scificinemanadclassstruggle@gmail.com

References

Cornea, Christine. Science Fiction Cinema Between Fantasy and Reality. Edinburg University Press, 2007.

Dahrendorf, Ralf. Class and Class Conflict in Industrial Society. Stanford University Press, 1959.

Freeden, Michael. Ideology and Political Theory. Oxford University Press, 2006.

Roberts, Adam. Science Fiction. Routledge, 2006.

Schlobin, Roger C. “Definitions of Science Fiction and Fantasy.” The Science Fiction Reference Book, edited by Marshall B. Tymn, Starmont House., 1981, pp. 496–511.

Suvin, Darko. Metamorphoses of Science Fiction. Yale University Press, 1979.

University of Westminster

The University of Westminster’s Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI) is pleased to announce this year’s Quintin Hogg Trust (QHT) PhD Studentships for UK and International applicants to commence in the 2024/25 academic year. 

Full information about the studentships, entry requirements and the application procedure can be found here: https://www.westminster.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research-degrees/studentships/quintin-hogg-trust-phd-studentships-at-the-university-of-the-westminster-0

HOW TO APPLY

To apply please select the “MPhil/PhD Media Studies” programme, and make sure you indicate on your application form that you wish to be considered for a QHT studentship.

Applications must be submitted by 5pm on Friday 2 February 2024.

Interviews will take place in the week beginning 11 March 2024.

ABOUT CAMRI

The Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI) in the School of Media and Communication is a world-leading centre in the study of media and communication, renowned for its critical and international research, which has consistently been ranked highly according to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) and the QS World University Rankings. In REF 2021 83% of CAMRI's overall research was judged to be ‘world-leading’ and ‘internationally excellent’.

CAMRI welcomes applications which explore the political, economic, social and cultural significance of the media across the globe. CAMRI research is focused on four key themes: Communication, Technology and Society; Cultural Identities and Social Change; Global Media; and Policy and Political Economy.

CONTACTS

Please contact Dr Alessandro D’Arma, Director of the CAMRI Doctoral Programme, who can advise you and put you in touch with prospective supervisors.

Email: darmaa@westminster.ac.uk

Alternatively, you can contact a prospective supervisor directly. Please consult the CAMRI’s website for details of our core research themes and the research expertise of academic staff.

Link: https://www.camri.ac.uk

December 12, 2023, at 09h00 UTC

https://iamcr.org/phd-webinars/de-westernizing

IAMCR is pleased to present the IAMCR Presidential PhD Research Webinar on “De-Westernizing Global Media Studies: Bridging Disciplinary, National, and Regional Divides for a More Inclusive and Decolonized Future” co-convened by Karl Patrick R. Mendoza and Samuel I. Cabbuag. 

This PhD webinar will investigate how media studies can progress towards a more inclusive and decolonised future by promoting the incorporation of diverse perspectives and theories from various disciplinary, national, and regional contexts. It will investigate how the historical dominance of Western perspectives and theories in shaping the discipline has led to a dearth of diversity and inclusion.

The webinar will examine potential strategies for de-Westernizing global media studies, such as promoting the incorporation of non-Western perspectives and theories and reconsidering the role of Western theories and approaches in shaping the field. In addition, it will investigate how to create more equitable and inclusive collaborations across disciplinary, national, and regional boundaries, as well as the challenges and opportunities associated with such collaborations.

Duration: 3 hours 

Location: The meeting will take place on Zoom. Attendees will receive their personal invitation at least 24 hours before the webinar begins.

The research group 'Diversidad Audiovisual / Audiovisual Diversity' of Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) publishes the report 'Availability and prominence of Spanish works in subscription video-on-demand services – 2023 edition'. This report analyzes the Spanish films and series offered through the services Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Disney+ and AppleTV+.

The study provides hitherto unknown data of great interest for the audiovisual sector. In a context of strong inter-company competition and new regulatory obligations for these agents in the European Union, it sheds light on questions such as how many Spanish works make up the different catalogs, what are the main characteristics of these works and what prominence is given to them by each service. 

The work has been developed by Luis A. Albornoz, Mª Trinidad García Leiva and Pedro Gallo, has the support of the University Institute of Spanish Cinema of the UC3M and is part of the research project 'Diversity and subscription video-on-demand services' (PID2019-109639RB-I00), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the State Research Agency (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/).

The full study, in Spanish and English, is available here.