ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Aplly here: https://werkenbij.vu.nl/ad/postdoc-worlding-public-cultures/17qvgj?fbclid=IwAR0el_-8flClsTWnVM6wfYw7fgJLOuD0QBYhXfhF57CB7iDpn__pZ2nZ4xs

Do you hold a PhD degree in the Humanities or Social Sciences? Do you have a keen interest in critical, interdisciplinary research methods and approaches? Are you interested in processes of institutional decolonization and transformation, including artists and activists’ ongoing efforts to decolonize museums? The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has a position for you!

Location: AMSTERDAM

FTE: 0.8

JOB DESCRIPTION

We are offering a 1,5 year postdoc position (0,8 fte) for an outstanding and highly motivated researcher who will be part of the Netherlands-subproject in the Trans-Atlantic Partnership funded project, Worlding Public Cultures: The Arts and Social Innovation. This Netherlands- subproject is jointly led by Prof. dr. Wayne Modest (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam/VU) and dr. Chiara de Cesari (Universiteit van Amsterdam/UvA). There will be two postdoc researchers in this subproject, one based at the VU and one based at the UvA, working on these topics from different perspectives. The subproject explores institutional change in relation to the conceptual framing of the overall project (see below). In looking at “worlding and/as decolonization,” it focuses on projects and processes of institutional decolonization and especially transformations in the Global South, including artists and activists’ ongoing efforts to decolonize museums. The project will address questions such as: where have these decolonizing practices emerged and thrived? Under what conditions have they emerged? How do they operate and who pushes them through? What are the conditions necessary for their success? What artistic, activist, and curatorial strategies are being mobilized to change institutions in response to the question of enduring colonial legacies?

The successful candidate will be embedded within the department of Art & Culture, History, and Antiquity (AHA), Faculty of Humanities, the interfaculty Research Institute for Culture, History and Heritage (CLUE+) and within national and international research networks and schools.

Your duties

Working together in an interdisciplinary team, the postdoc will:

• collect data on different projects aiming to decolonize museums and cultural institutions
• assist in organizing the Amsterdam Academy, multi-sited international workshop/conference that will take place over several days, that will include project partners, as well as diverse global participants including artists, academics and activists (expected to take place in November 2020) so as to help it address the project themes
• write up research findings in a fieldwork report
• complete and submit a significant body of writing for publication within the period of the appointment
• contribute to developing a published paper on best practices with respect to decolonial themes
• contribute to the Platform’s collaborative Book Series project
• contribute to the content of the project website

REQUIREMENTS

• a PhD degree in the Humanities or Social Sciences or the Arts
• outstanding research qualities and demonstrable research experience manifested in a high-quality PhD dissertation and publications
• keen interest in critical, interdisciplinary research methods and approaches
• excellent written and spoken English
• social media skills
• proven organizational, administrative and leadership skills
• ability and willingness to work in a team
• experience with work in the arts and culture is a plus

WHAT ARE WE OFFERING?

• The employment contract will be for 0,8 fte for a period of 1,5 year. The intended starting date is 1 September 2020 or as soon as possible thereafter. On a full-time basis the remuneration amounts to a minimum gross monthly salary of €3,389 (scale 10) and a maximum of €4,978 (scale 11), Dependent on relevant experience the job profile is Researcher 4 (scale 10) or Researcher 3 (scale 11).
• Additionally, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam offers excellent fringe benefits and various schemes and regulations to promote a good work/life balance, such as:
• a maximum of 41 days of annual leave based on full-time employment
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• solid pension scheme (ABP)
• contribution to commuting expenses
• optional model for designing a personalized benefits package

ABOUT VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT AMSTERDAM

The ambition of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is clear: to contribute to a better world through outstanding education and ground-breaking research. We strive to be a university where personal development and commitment to society play a leading role. A university where people from different disciplines and backgrounds collaborate to achieve innovations and to generate new knowledge. Our teaching and research encompass the entire spectrum of academic endeavour – from the humanities, the social sciences and the natural sciences through to the life sciences and the medical sciences.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is home to more than 26,000 students. We employ over 4,600 individuals. The VU campus is easily accessible and located in the heart of Amsterdam’s Zuidas district, a truly inspiring environment for teaching and research.

Diversity

We are an inclusive university community. Diversity is one of our most important values. We believe that engaging in international activities and welcoming students and staff from a wide variety of backgrounds enhances the quality of our education and research. We are always looking for people who can enrich our world with their own unique perspectives and experiences.

Faculty of Humanities

The Faculty of Humanities links a number of fields of study: Language, Literature and Communication, Art & Culture, History, Antiquities and Philosophy. Our teaching and research focus on current societal and scientific themes: from artificial intelligence to visual culture, from urbanization to the history of slavery, from ‘fake news’ in journalism to communication in organizations. We strive to ensure small group sizes. Innovative education and interdisciplinary research are our hallmarks.

Working at the Faculty of Humanities means making a real contribution to the quality of leading education and research in an inspiring and personal work and study climate. We employ more than 250 staff members, and we are home to around 1,300 students.

Project Description – Worlding Public Cultures: The Arts and Social Innovation

The Trans-Atlantic Partnership funded project Worlding Public Cultures: The Arts and Social Innovation (WPC-TAP) is a collaborative research project and transnational platform that facilitates multipronged dialogues concerning the global in the arts and culture. As such, it puts forward an understanding of the globalized world as historically constituted by open-ended processes involving lived interrelations and interconnections. Bringing together universities and museums across the Atlantic, from Canada to the UK, The Netherlands, and Germany, Worlding Public Cultures sees art, art history, and curating as world-making and activating practices that imagine the global otherwise. By conducting research on and for institutions of public culture, this project endeavors to foster social innovation. In particular, it aims to contribute towards building more resilient public cultures and institutions so as to best address contemporary challenges to pluralist democracies and open pathways towards decolonizing “universal” narratives and epistemologies.

APPLICATION

Are you interested in this position? Please apply via the application button and upload your curriculum vitae and cover letter until 28 June 2020.

Your application must consist of the following:

• a detailed letter of motivation, stating your motivation for applying, and why you are an excellent candidate for the role (no more than 750 words)
• a research proposal, detailing the countries, sites, institutions and movements in the Global South you propose to investigate as well as your research approach for how to tackle the project’s topics (no more than 1,000 words)
• a full academic CV, including a list of publications
• a summary of your PhD thesis (250-500 words)
• one relevant writing sample (totalling no more than 10,000 words)
• the names and contact details of two referees familiar with your academic record and research skills

Only complete applications received via the application button will be considered.

Shortlisted candidates may be requested to provide additional materials. Interviews are planned for 14 and 15 July, most likely digitally, for example via Zoom.

Applications received by e-mail will not be processed.

Vacancy questions

If you have any questions regarding this vacancy, you may contact:

Name: Prof. dr. Wayne Modest

Position: Professor of Material Culture and Critical heritage Studies

E-mail: w.a.h.modest@vu.nl

Special Issue Literary Journalism Studies

Deadline: August 15, 2020

Guest editors: Tobias Eberwein (Austrian Academy of Sciences) & Hendrik Michael (University of Bamberg)

Journalism’s ‘information paradigm’ has been under scrutiny not just since the digital transformations of our mediascape in the last decades. For almost half a century, Gaye Tuchman’s diagnosis of a ‘strategic ritual of objectivity’ has served as a foil against which many critiques of conventional news journalism can be projected, e. g. its lack of transparency and bias towards institutional sources and ideologies as well as the impersonal stance news journalism often assumes to report and comment on events and ideas in the here and now. The recent crisis of media trust and accountability may arise in parts from these deficits. At any rate, it is largely undisputed that journalism needs to reflect (and possibly: adapt) its professional identity and its modes of presentation if it wants to continue to fulfil its social function in the long run.

In this context, it is worthwhile to turn attention to alternative forms of journalism that rely much more on personal experience, in-depth research, the presentation of different perspectives, and an authentic journalistic voice to make news, but also overcome social boundaries and engage readers emotionally. One of these approaches can be found in the concept of Literary Journalism.

By combining aesthetic forms of literature with journalistic methods of research, Literary Journalism presents readers with a mix of discursive strategies and professional practices that differ substantially from standard reporting.

However, Literary Journalism – which is also known as narrative journalism, literary reportage, reportage literature, New Journalism, and the non-fiction novel, as well as literary non-fiction and creative non-fiction – is a deep-layered and arbitrary phenomenon. For over a decade the International Association of Literary Journalism Studies (IALJS) has helped to establish a shared foundation of knowledge and explored manifestations of journalistic narratives in various cultural contexts. What has become apparent in this ongoing scholarly debate is that different countries and cultures adopt different names for the phenomenon.

In Germany, for instance, the term Literary Journalism is not widespread. Instead of tapping into the vast research on the subject in recent decades, literary forms of journalism are often discussed with regard to the (mostly North-American) New Journalism of the 1960s and 1970s or to the tradition of the great reportage (e. g. Kisch and Roth). More generally, it can be stated that an overarching critical scientific discourse about the history, practices, forms, and functions of Literary Journalism that joins the global debate has not evolved in Germany yet.

Therefore, it is the aim of this special issue of Literary Journalism Studies to shed light on the phenomenon in the German-speaking world (i. e., essentially, in Germany, Austria, and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland) from all possible perspectives. How and when did the genre that is described as Literary Journalism come up in the German language? How did it evolve over the centuries? What are notable examples in the (digital) media landscapes of today? Do any continuities exist? These and further questions are expected to be answered on the basis of selected research articles.

Possible topics of contributions for the special issue “Literary Journalism in the German-speaking World” may include, but are not limited to:

• theoretical justifications of a German Sonderweg of Literary Journalism;
• the origins of Literary Journalism in the German-speaking World;
• historical phases of literary journalism from the Kaiserreich to the Federal Republic;
• the prototypes and pressures of professionalization in German-language Literary Journalism;
• the current structures (and notable media) of Literary Journalism in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland;
• German-language practitioners and projects of Literary Journalism in the era of digital news;
• the effects and consequences of Literary Journalism in the German-speaking World
• examples of literary reporting from the margins in German media;
• examples of media criticism in German-language Literary Journalism;
• ethical reflections of Literary Journalism in the German language;
• the role of Literary Journalism in journalistic training programs in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland;
• and many more.

Literary Journalism Studies (https://ialjs.org/publications/) is a peer-reviewed journal sponsored by the International Association for Literary Journalism Studies (IALJS). The journal is international in scope and seeks submissions on the theory, history, and pedagogy of Literary Journalism throughout the world. All disciplinary approaches are welcome. All manuscript authors

are obliged to participate in the double-blind peer review process. No fees or charges are required for manuscript processing and/or publishing materials in the journal.

Submission guidelines:

All submissions for the special issue of Literary Journalism Studies should be informed with an awareness of the existing scholarship. Interested authors are invited to submit an abstract of their paper (500 words max.), along with 4–5 keywords and an author bio of no more than 50 words, to the guest editors Tobias Eberwein (tobias.eberwein@oeaw.ac.at) and Hendrik Michael (hendrik.michael@uni-bamberg.de). The deadline for abstract submission is 15 August 2020.

Authors will be notified about the acceptance/rejection of their submission by 1 September 2020.

Full papers are due on 31 December 2020 and should be between 5,000 and 8,000 words in length, including notes. E-mail submission (as a Microsoft Word attachment) is mandatory. A cover page indicating the title of the paper, the author’s name, institutional affiliation, and contact information, along with an abstract (250 words), should accompany all submissions. The cover page should be sent as a separate attachment from the abstract and submission to facilitate distribution to readers. No identification should appear linking the author to the submission or abstract. All submissions must be in English Microsoft Word and follow the Chicago Manual of Style (Humanities endnote style) (http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html).

All submissions will be blind reviewed. The special issue is scheduled to be published in December 2021. Copyright reverts to the contributor after publication with the provision that if republished reference is made to initial publication in Literary Journalism Studies.

Important dates:

• Abstract submission: 15 August 2020
• Notification of acceptance/rejection: 1 September 2020
• Submission of full papers: 31 December 2020
• Publication of special issue: December 2021

Contact:

Any questions with regard to the special issue should be addressed to the guest editors:

Dr. Tobias Eberwein Dr. Hendrik Michael

Institute for Comparative Media and Institute for Communication Studies

Communication Studies (CMC) University of Bamberg

Austrian Academy of Sciences / An der Weberei 5 | 96045 Bamberg,

University of Klagenfurt GERMANY

Postgasse 7/4/1 | 1010 Vienna, AUSTRIA hendrik.michael@uni-bamberg.de

Deadline: July 30, 2020

We are looking for participants from the Global North and Global South to establish a truly international research team to assess how journalists across various countries address the current global crisis. The Covid-19 crisis constitutes not only an unprecedented global pandemic but journalists across societies can no longer just 'cover' a story and are emerging as key 'actors' who are now faced with a new challenge to communicate the complexities of an unprecedented global crisis magnitude to their local audiences. When reviewing recent international journalism scholarship regarding the way how globalized 'risks' are assessed, it is surprising that still today, globalization and emerging terrains of globalized crisis journalism are only on the periphery of journalism research.

A number of studies exist in contexts of climate change, however, most studies address this globalized issue through national contexts (e.g. from Brossard et al, 2004; Boykoff, 2008 to Comfort et al, 2020). Furthermore, research is based in Western countries and even if international studies are conducted, they mainly include the US and some European countries. Attempts have been made to address the need for a significant methodological revision of global crisis journalism research. Olausson and Berglez suggest a focus on three methodological shifts in globalized risk journalism research: a 'discursive shift' - to move away from mainly quantitative studies, an (2) interdisciplinary shift and an (3) international shift (Olausson & Berglez, 2014).

The Risk Journalism and Global Crisis Project (RJGCP) builds on these debates but will adopt a new conceptual approach to ‘risk journalism’ which understands journalists - wherever they are based - as cosmopolitan actors within horizons of interconnected risk publicness. We specifically build on Volkmer & Sharif's (2018) concept that suggests a 'reflexive' turn of journalism research and a move away from methodological nationalism towards transnational ‘methodological interdependence’ and a focus on the ‘epistemic sphere’ of risk 'reflexivity' among journalists.

Questions focus on how journalists construct a global crisis, such as the Covid-19 crisis; how they select information; how they engage with digital and data in a transnational spectrum in their day-to-day practice and develop their 'logic' regarding globalized risks and construct their stories.

Leading research questions of this international project are as follows, and project team members are asked to address these in their respective countries:

• how journalists conceptualize the Covid-19 crisis;
• how they identify 'stories', how they perceive 'issues' and construct a 'logic' when setting their agenda through assessing all types of globalized digital sources available;
• investigate the similarities and differences of their 'reflexive' practice;
• how journalists see themselves as cosmopolitan actors during a global crisis.

Methods and approaches will be discussed in project meetings to ensure that research is 'doable' for everyone.

Given the globalized crisis, it is time to build a unique international project across all world regions to investigate the new conceptual and empirical challenges to journalism in the current global crisis. There is no funding attached to this project, members could seek their own funding opportunities. Funding opportunities might arise in the future, once the project is established. Collective and comparative studies will be published in the form of articles, edited book collections, reports, and pre-conferences at international conferences and forums.

This project is led by Professor Ingrid Volkmer (University of Melbourne), Associate Professor Maria Know Lund (OsloMet University), Professor Saba Betawi (University of Technology Sydney), and Associate Professor Sara Chinnasamy (University of Technology Mara, Malaysia). If you are interested to join, please contact Professor Ingrid Volkmer: ivolkmer@unimelb.edu.au

We will close this call by July 30, 2020.

References

Brossard et al (2004) "Are issue-cycles culturally constructed? A comparison of French and American coverage of global climate change,' Mass Communication and Society, 7(3), 359-377.

Boykoff, M.T. (2008) 'Lost in translation? United States television news coverage of anthropogenic climate change, 1995-2004.' Climate Change, 86(1-2) 1-11.

Comfort, B. et al, 2020 'Who is heard in Climate Change Journalism? Sourcing patterns in climate change news in China, India, Singapore and Thailand, Climate Change, 158 (3-4) 327-343.

Volkmer, I. & Sharif, K (2018) Risk Journalism - Between Transnational Politics and Climate Change. New York: Palgrave.

University Bergen

Apply here: https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/189010/phd-position-in-media-studies?fbclid=IwAR12s2Yu7eCqv3cN9VLwjebOnZwWiTL_kKOy-nMfsPCSW3JdIpIlG_Wzd40

There is a vacancy for a PhD position at the Department of Information Science and Media Studies in the field of media studies. The position is a fixed-term period of 4 years and 25% of the time will be dedicated to teaching, supervision and administrative duties at the Department.

This is an open call, and we invite you to relate to one or more of our four relevant research groups:

• Research Group for Media Use and Audience Studies: Research on how people use media - as audiences, users and citizens, and how they relate to each other and to society through media.
• Research Group for Rhetoric, Democracy and Public Culture: Research on communication as a tool for argumentation, assurance, and for the expressions of identity and identification – as individuals, in organizations and in society.
• Journalism Studies Group: A broad approach to the role of journalism, news and the social media in the public sphere.
• Media Aesthetics: Focus on media aesthetic expressions, broadly oriented towards contemporary and historical genres, media technology and forms of interaction.

For more information about the research groups and the Department, see the website of the department: https://www.uib.no/infomedia . Do feel free to contact the leader of relevant research group(s).

Project proposal:

A research proposal of 5-8 pages must accompany the application. The proposal should present the topic, the research problem(s) and choice of theory and methods. The proposal should also include a progress plan for the different parts of the project. Admittance to the PhD programme will be based on the research proposal.

Qualifications and personal qualities:

• The applicant must hold a master's degree or the equivalent in media studies, journalism or equivalent
• The degree has to be completed by the application deadline
• The requirements are generally a grade B or better on the Master thesis and for the Master degree in total
• As an applicant you should be able to work independently, have a considerable work capacity as well as an enthusiasm for research
• Profiency in both written and oral English
• Shortlisted candidates will be invited to the department for an interview.

About the PhD position:

The duration of the PhD position is 4 years, of which 25 per cent of the time comprises obligatory duties associated with research, teaching and dissemination of results. The employment period for the successful candidate may be reduced if he or she previously has been employed in a PhD position.

About the PhD training: As a PhD research fellow, you will take part in the PhD programme at the Faculty of Social Sciences, UiB. The programme corresponds to a period of three years and leads to the PhD degree. To be eligible for admission you must normally have an educational background corresponding to a master’s degree with a scope of 120 ECTS credits, which builds on a bachelor’s degree with a scope of 180 ECTS credits (normally 2 + 3 years), or an integrated master’s degree with a scope of 300 ECTS credits (5 years). Master’s degrees must normally include an independent work of a minimum of 30 ECTS credits. It is expected that the topic of the master’s degree is connected to the academic field to which you are seeking admission.

We can offer:

• Salary at pay grade 54 upon appointment (Code 1017) on the government salary scale (equivalent to NOK 479.600 per year). Further promotions are made according to length of service in the position
• A good and professionally challenging working environment
• Enrolment in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• Good welfare benefits

Your application must include:

• A cover letter including a brief account of your research interests and motivation for applying for the position
• Preferred research group affiliation
• The names and contact information for two reference persons. One of them must be the main advisor for the master's thesis or equivalent thesis
• Project proposal
• CV
• Transcripts and diplomas showing completion of the bachelor's and master's degrees.
• Relevant certificates/references
• A list of academic publications
• Academic publications that you want to submit for assessment (including your master’s thesis or equivalent)

If you have a master's degree from an institution outside of the Nordic countries, or a 2-year discipline- based master's degree (or the equivalent) in a subject area other than the one associated with the application, you may later in the application process be asked to submit an overview of the syllabus for the degree you have completed

General information:

Closing date: August 20, 2020. The application has to be marked: 20/6145.

Detailed information about the position can be obtained by contacting: Head of Department, professor Leif Ove Larsen, phone 55 58 41 16, e-mail: leif.larsen@uib.no.

Practical questions about the application process should be directed to senior executive officer Bodil Hægland, e-mail: bodil.hagland@uib.no or phone +47 55 58 90 53Ring: +47 55 58 90 53.

Appointed research fellows will be admitted to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Social Sciences. Questions about the programme may be directed to Adviser-PhD: Hanne.Gravermoen@uib.no.

Applications submitted without a project description or applications sent as e-mails will not be considered. Only submitted documents will be subjected to an expert assessment.

The state labour force shall reflect the diversity of Norwegian society to the greatest extent possible. People with immigrant backgrounds and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply for the position.

The University of Bergen applies the principle of public access to information when recruiting staff for academic positions.

Information about applicants may be made public even if the applicant has asked not to be named on the list of persons who have applied. The applicant must be notified if the request to be omitted is not met.

The successful applicant must comply with the guidelines that apply to the position at all times.

For further information about the recruitment process, click here.

European Journal of Women´s Studies

Deadline: March 1, 2021

Editors: Ayse Gül Altinay and Andrea Petö

The world is going through a historic moment of transformation. How do feminist and queer activists respond to, imagine, enable and complicate the ongoing process of personal and collective transformation? This special issue brings together analyses of how the famous feminist dictum “the personal is political” is finding new expression in this era of pandemic, climatic, economic and political crises, particularly in the European context. Some questions we would like to address are the following:

• How do activists conceptualise and put into action the connections between personal and collective transformation, personal and collective care, personal and collective well-being?

• What are some of the new forms in which “healing” and “justice” are coming together in contemporary activism?

• What new theories and conceptualisations of violence are emerging from new forms of transformative activism?

• How are embodied and contemplative practices being woven into activist communities and their politics?

• What new political methods for reconciliation, healing, justice and transformation are emerging from the embodied integration of personal and collective trauma work?

• How do these new connections and methods help groups and individual activists imagine a different future for their communities and beyond?

• What are some of the ways in which feminist and queer activists are incorporating different forms of storytelling into their organising? How are old myths, tales and stories reworked to provide a new lens for contemporary challenges and future imaginaries?

• What are some of the new connections being established between secular forms of activism and religious, spiritual or conservative uses old myths and tales?

• How is creativity (through art, body movement and other forms) mobilised for imaginative social change and political activism?

• How do activists reflect on the past as a resource and inspiration for ‘future imaginings’?
• What are the new ways feminist and queer pedagogies can contribute to and initiate political transformation and empowerment?

All articles will be subject to the usual review process.

Articles should be prepared according to the guidelines for submission on the inside back cover of the print journal or at https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ejw

Articles should be submitted online to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ejw by 1st March 2021

Informal queries to Hazel Johnstone, managing editor of EJWS [Email: ejws@lse.ac.uk].

Special collection in The Economic and Labour Relations Review

Abstract submission deadline: 15 August 2020

Full paper submission deadline: 15 January 2021

Guest Editor: Bingqing Xia (East China Normal University)

A number of important topics, themes and concepts frequently recur in studies of digital labour, such as exploitation, precariousness (Standing 2011), ‘the gig economy’ (Graham 2019), and unpaid labour, including those of digital ‘users’ (Terranova 2004) and audiences. Concepts of immaterial, affective and emotional labour have been widely prevalent (Hardt and Negri 2000, 2005). This first generation of critical research has drawn, often valuably so, on a variety of Marxist, post-structuralist and Weberian sources to question prevailing neo-liberal and centrist models centred on values of efficiency and the supposed empowerment of workers and users. Some debates in East Asia follow this tendency to explore labour issues in the digital economy, such as platform workers (Chen and Kimura 2019, Chen 2018, Steinberg 2019, Shibata 2019) and workers in the technology assembly factories (Pun 2005, Qiu 2016, Sacchetto and Andrijasevic, 2015).

While these topics, themes and concepts have been beneficial in establishing a basis for critique, there is a danger that, at least in the form they have been applied, they may become rather familiar and in some cases potentially even a little stale. If so, this suggests a need to renew critique of digital labour, as the digital realm stabilizes around a set of key global players and platforms and as labour activists continue to face serious obstacles to success in an era of authoritarian populism. With its broad scale in the valorization of digital work, here, we concentrate our arguments on the professional workers in the information and communication technologies (ICT) related industries. Some digital labour debates in East Asia suggest certain issues that may contribute to renewal. For example, some authors have examined how creative labour in digital domains, such as creative labour in the ‘platform capitalism’ (Stevens 2019, Luthje 2019) and digital entrepreneurs (Leung and Cossu 2019), offers the bottom-up potential of innovation. It is important to address a renewed critique that moves beyond the rigid theoretical binaries that have long characterized digital labour debates on exploitation and labour agency.

We don’t yet know the socio-economic consequences of COVID-19, but it may well make worse the quality of working life of some platform worker, such as ride-hailing and food delivery workers, who often lack adequate access to employment-insurance benefits or sick leave. COVID-19 may change current digital labour debates in East Asia, including how to reform labour markets, welfare systems and government policies to ensure greater dignity of digital working lives. It is necessary to identify agency supporting digital labourers’ own rights that may lead to an alternative of capitalism.

We call for papers that seek to move beyond the theoretical and conceptual vocabulary that has dominated the first two decades of critical research on digital labour. We have particular interests in research exploring the agency beyond the paradigm on exploitation in East Asia, such as the socio-cultural dynamics of digital labour, reproduction of global inequality through digital work and possible responses, agency originating from inequalities of gender, race and ethnicity. We also welcome papers addressing how COVID-19 may change the current digital labour debates in East Asia.

The print version of the resulting journal issue will be published in Volume 32(3) of The Economic and Labour Relations Review, September 2021, although individual articles may be published earlier as accepted.

In line with ELRR policy of recognising the particular difficulties faced by women and First Nations/minority scholars during COVID-19 isolation, the journal will be looking for balanced representation in the published collection, and will continue to consider relevant high-quality submissions for publication in subsequent issues in cases where authors were prevented by COVID-19 related circumstances from meeting the relevant deadlines

Among the issues that might be explored are the following, many of which have certainly been present in earlier research, but often in an unconsolidated or under-developed way. This list is only indicative, and we would welcome fresh ideas from any area of critical research, and from any critical perspective.

• Changes in digital labour regulation and policy
• Immigrant digital labour markets and justice for migrant digital workers
• Agency initiated from inequalities of gender, race and ethnicity that may lead to an alternative to or form of capitalism
• Questions of working dignity in digital domains
• Maker culture and digital entrepreneurship
• Socio-cultural dynamics of digital labour
• Crises of digital work
• Alternative approaches to contesting digital work
• Theories of subjectivity and agency in relation to digital labour that build on or go beyond the Marxist paradigm
• Reproduction of social/global inequality through digital work and possible responses

Papers that draw on empirical research and theoretical overviews are equally welcome. We particularly welcome articles that engage with the topic of digital labour in East Asia. Submitting authors should review the scope statement of The Economic and Labour Relations Review, which can be found at https://journals.sagepub.com/home/elr.

Process

Before submitting papers, authors should send an abstract of up to 500 words setting out their topic, and an outline of their argument and theoretical/methodological basis to the Guest Editor and Journal Editors-in-Chief listed below. We would encourage anyone thinking of submitting an abstract to contact the special issue Guest Editor via the following email address: bqxia@comm.ecnu.edu.cn

In consultation with the Editor-in-Chief and Executive Editors, the Guest Editor will select the articles that potentially best fit the special issue, based on peer review. Invitations will then be sent out to submit a full paper. An online workshop will be arranged in order to guide the development of the papers selected. Articles will be double-blind peer reviewed upon completion and subject to regular Editorial Board oversight .

Timeline:

• 15 August 2020: abstract submissions
• 15 September 2020: invitations to submit a full paper sent
• Online workshop: a date to be determined in October 2020
• 15 January 2021: first full paper submissions deadline
• 15 March 2021: reviews and decisions returned to authors
• 31 May 2021: deadline for final versions
• From 30 June 2021 onwards: articles published Online First
• 1 September 2021: Publication of collection in Volume 32(3)

(Note: ELRR articles are published online ahead of print at any time of the year, following completion of the processes of review, revision, further review, acceptance, copy-editing and page proof finalisation).

Papers should be submitted through Sagetrack https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/elrr. The journal’s formatting requirements can be found at https://us.sagepub.com/…/the-economic-and-la…/journal202205….

Editors

Bingqing Xia (East China Normal University, Shanghai) bqxia@comm.ecnu.edu.cn

Anne Junor (University of New South Wales, Australia) a.junor@unsw.edu.au

Al Rainnie (University of South Australia) al.f.rainnie@gmail.com

L'Atalante

Deadline: September 1, 2020

We are pleased to announce the call for papers of the next issue of L’Atalante, under the title of “Ludonarratives: Narrative complexity in video games”, which is open to contributions. Executive Issue Editors: Víctor Navarro Remesal and Marta Martín Núñez.

The deadline for article proposals for the “Notebook” section is September the 1st 2020. The issue will be published in January 2021. Contributions in English and Spanish are welcome. You can find the detailed information here.

We sincerely hope that this information may be of your interest. Please feel free to share this call among your contacts. Thank you in advance.

L’Atalante. Revista de estudios cinematográficos

http://www.revistaatalante.com | info@revistaatalante.com

Arts and Humanities Citation Index® and Current Arts and Humanities®, Clarivate Analytics / SCOPUS, Elsevier

Ludonarratives: Narrative complexity in video games

In recent years, narratives in video games have grown increasingly complex, evolving from serving merely as a context designed to present the rules and mechanics of the game towards the development of much deeper and more complicated structures, plots and characters, and the exploration of new thematic perspectives. Narrative complexity is already a central part of the gaming experience in games like Telling Lies (Sam Barlow, 2019), Life is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment, 2015), What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow, 2017), and VR experiences like The Invisible Hours (Tequila Works, 2017). Having moved past the debate between narratology and ludology (Frasca, 2003; Aarseth, 2019), there is a consensus among researchers that video games should be analysed as cultural artefacts that can harbour a complex narrative development as part of their design. In this sense, academics like Brenda Laurel (1986, 1991), Janet Murray (1997), Mary Laure Ryan (2001, 2004, 2006), Henry Jenkins (2004), Susana Tosca (2004), Clara Fernández-Vara (2009), or more recently Hartmut Koenitz et al. (2015), have developed a theoretical pathway that examines the specific features of narratives in interactive digital media, including ludofictional worlds (Planells, 2015), specific forms of seriality (Cuadrado, 2016), and complex entertainment structures (Pérez-Latorre, 2015).

The Notebook section of this issue of L'Atalante proposes to explore ways of understanding audiovisual narratives from the perspective of the narrative design of video games. This narrative design, partly due to the breaks in linearity in digital environments, ties in with contemporary trends in narrative complexity like the mindgame film, which favour ambiguity and obstructed communication (Loriguillo-López, 2019). However, the requirements of the gameplay experience and the agency of players mean that narrative systems cannot operate in the same way as they do in media like cinema, and that specific research is needed to analyse it. In particular, we are interested in approaches that address the narrative complexity that arises both in the layers of structured (scripted) narratives and in emergent narratives (resulting from the gameplay experience), which may be the product of the classical mode of storytelling (Propp, 1928; Campbell, 1949; Greimas, 1987), or of the ruptures introduced by the post-classical mode of narration (Elsaesser & Buckland, 2002; Thanouli, 2009; Mittel, 2015).

Issues that submissions could address include:

• The elements of classical storytelling in the video game medium
• Non-linear narrative structures and choice design
• Ethical video game design and its narrative implications
• Construction of characters in dialogue with their role as avatars and player identification or interpretation
• Relationships between game design and narrative design
• Emergent narratives arising out of the gameplay experience
• Environmental storytelling and the capacity of art-based narrative evocation
• Ludonarrative analysis from the perspective of the textual materiality of popular games
• The spatial-temporal construction of the game world and its narrative effects
• The influence of the changes and tensions in post-classical cinematic narration—like spatial or temporal fragmentation, time loops, split personalities, the presence of tormented amnesiac characters or unreliable narrators—on the narrative layer of video games
• Fictional structures of the video game as part of transmedia and media mix projects.

Health communication researchers and other scholars are invited to submit their work to the Journal of Nursing Regulation (JNR), the official journal of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN). JNR is an interdisciplinary, quarterly, peer-reviewed, scholarly and professional journal. It publishes original research articles that advance the science of nursing regulation along with various types of analyses, book reviews, case studies, criticisms, and literature reviews that enhance international communication and collaboration among nurse regulators, academics, clinicians, and policy makers.

Nursing regulation is the governmental oversight of the nursing profession. The goals of the rules and laws are to protect the public’s health and welfare by assuring that nurses practice safely and competently within their scopes. Because regulation influences everything from nursing curricula to the uses of technologies in clinical settings, the journal welcomes submissions that address a variety of topics, provided the relationships to nursing regulation are made explicit. Examples include, but are not limited to, content analyses of health care regulation changes announced in newspapers during the COVID-19 pandemic, ethnographic studies of nurses who have been disciplined for substance abuse violations, and rhetorical analyses of patient safety chapters in nursing textbooks.

JNR welcomes contributions from global scholars who examine nursing and health care regulation from all theoretical perspectives and who use all forms of inquiry. Original research papers, analyses, criticisms, and literature reviews should fall between 5,000 and 8,000 words. Case studies should be 1,500 to 3,000 words, and book reviews should be 600 to 800 words. All submissions must adhere to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th Edition (APA Style). Manuscripts must be submitted without author identifying information for blind peer review and must be accompanied by separate “Author Details” documents. In addition, manuscripts must not have not been published previously and must not be under consideration elsewhere. Please review JNR’s full “Guide for Authors” before submitting your manuscripts: https://www.journalofnursingregulation.com/content/authorinfo.

Please send submissions to:

Sherri L. Ter Molen, PhD

Acquisitions Editor, Journal of Nursing Regulation

Associate, Nursing Regulation, National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN)

jnr@ncsbn.org

Journal of Nursing Regulation

www.journalofnursingregulation.com

East European Film Bulletin

Deadline: August 1, 2020

Papers due: October 15, 2020

In the early 1980s, two moments of underground film — the so-called Parallel Cinema — emerge in St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) and Moscow. For the first time radical young filmmakers, painters and artists produce amateur films, mainly in 16mm, outside of Goskino’s state monopoly. While the Moscow school’s approach to film is shaped by the influence of conceptualist art, the Leningrad school, associated with “Necrorealism,” explores an expressionist and absurd cinema, circling around death, decay and horror.

As part of its Russia focus 2020, the East European Film Bulletin is preparing a special issue on Soviet Parallel Cinema (parallelnoe kino), an experimental film movement in the Soviet Union in the 1980s. We are looking for contributions on underground films and video art by, among others, Igor and Gleb Aleinikov, Evgeny Iufit, Evgeny Kondratiev (Debil), Boris Yukhananov, Andrej Myortvy, Konstantin Mitenev, Igor Bezrukov, Alexander Doulerain, Vladimir Zakharov, Oleg Kotelnikov etc.

We are particularly interested in essays that examine films and video art in relation to politics, art, early avant-garde film, literature, philosophy, punk culture and transnational relations.

Proposals of 250 words should be sent to editors@eefb.org by Saturday, August 1, 2020.

Stylistic guidelines for essays published in our journal can be found here: https://eefb.org/contribute/

October 29- 31, 2020

Prague, Czech republic

Deadline: June 30, 2020

5th conference of Centre for the Study of Popular Culture

with the support of National museum of Czech Republic, Faculty of Arts of Charles University and the German Historical Institute Warsaw

Mainstream media representations of celebrities remain problematic, as excited discussions regarding the recent funeral of singer Karel Gott have demonstrated. The appraisal of his long-term career has been divided into two extreme positions: uncritical admiration for the idol who spread joy under different political regimes on one hand and condemnation of his kitschy art associated with his selling out under these regimes on the other. What the overall debate has confirmed, is that stars and celebrities of popular culture can become symbols of any given period.

The focus of the conference is on mainstream culture, which can be defined as the most popular, widespread, most accessible and understandable cultural expressions across society. Following Gramsci’s and Hall’s approaches, it is the mainstream that is considered the essential sphere where ideological hegemony is negotiated.

The aims of the conference are twofold : firstly, in its role of capturing the ‘spirit of the time’ (Zeitgeist), the conference plans to examine mainstream culture as a vital source of knowledge for unveiling social values and (attempted) changes and secondly to critically explore Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) as a specific phenomenon thereof. Recently, CEE has featured in public debates due to its common hostile responses to EU migration and asylum policies, the ridiculing of climate change movements, the promoting of “traditional” family values and attempts to introduce illiberal democracy. While some social sciences and humanities have paid extensive attention to these issues, culturally oriented research has dealt with the distinctive features of Central and Eastern Europe to a much smaller degree.

To address this shortfall the conference would like to ask the question whether popular culture in CEE manifests any specific values and beliefs inherent in these respective societies. What exactly are they? Do these values and beliefs come from any particular long-term regional legacies? How do local and regional CEE mainstream media productions interact with cultural imports from wider world (or globalizing) cultures? What kind of impacts can be identified?

This conference is explicitly opening up the discussion and inclusion of all research perspectives on mainstream cultural production. Since the CEE is a regional label rather than a geographical notion, the delimitation of the examined area is not strictly given. Comparative studies and papers from other regions focusing on the mainstream in the (semi)peripheral global variations or in relation particularly to the CEE region are positively encouraged. Equally, there are no limits on the historical period of research interest as long as it is clearly related to the establishment and/or functioning and forms of mainstream culture in the region. An ideal contribution should include a comparative element running across the researched area.

Nevertheless we would also like to invite case study analyses of particular local popular works, genres, media (their content, production and reception), key authors and producers (both contemporary and past) that contributed to the dissemination of values, beliefs and practices through negotiation of ideological hegemony. Inter- and transdisciplinary as well as varied conceptual frameworks and methodological approaches from different academic fields and traditions are also very welcome.

The conference will be divided into four streams. Possible questions for each include but are not limited to the following:

I. Spaces of the Mainstream/ Mainstream Spaces

• Are there any common values and beliefs that dominate CEE mainstream cultural production?
• Are there any cultural productions that appear across the CEE region?
• What role have regional developments played in the convergence/divergence of mainstream cultural production in CEE?
• What celebrities and cult products does CEE share? What makes them specifically international?
• In what ways is the formation of the CEE cultural mainstream different from global production and is it similar to the productions in other culturally peripheral regions?
• Does popular culture play a particular role in CEE?

II. Mainstream Values and Beliefs

• What values are constant in the mainstream production of individual CEE societies?
• How are they re/negotiated under different political conditions?
• What values change and emerge in response to social and political changes?
• What mythologies disseminated through popular culture are indispensable to particular communities and political regimes?
• What changes have occurred since the EU accession, the collapse of state socialism, its accession, or the accession and collapse of other forms of dictatorship?
• How do CEE societies negotiate meaning-systems offered by the dominant media?
• How do different national communities define themselves in relation to the West and East (North and South), neighbouring nations and minorities in mainstream culture?

III. Mainstream Production

• Which media genres are favoured and which are overlooked in the mainstream culture of any given time and society? How do different media and genres encourage the spreading of specific ideologies?
• Which folk culture exists outside mainstream media? What practices are essential (or specific) for CEE societies (leisure activities, hobbies, sports) and what meanings are they associated with?
• What is the role of parody and irony? How do they undermine/confirm shared values and beliefs?
• How do international co-productions affect encoded values and meanings?

IV. Transferring the Mainstream

• What is the influence of globalized culture and what changes came along with the rise of the Internet and especially social networks?
• How did global values and beliefs spread, how do they continue spreading and what is their local reception? Does the reception of global culture have local specifics?
• What specific values and beliefs do local versions of global formats communicate?
• How global is the contemporary mainstream culture – in particular for the younger generation?
• How can digital humanities help us research popular culture?

Conference deadlines

• Submission of panel proposals: June 30, 2020.
• Submission of paper abstracts: June 30, 2020.
• Notification on acceptance: July 10, 2020.
• Conference registration opens June 30, 2020.

Guidelines for Abstracts

Abstracts should be submitted by email to the contact below and should include:

Author, name and affiliation with full contact details.

Abstracts should not exceed 300 words.

Submission of Panel Proposal

In addition to the regular submission of paper abstracts we also welcome the submission of panel proposals. A maximum of five papers in English can be submitted in a panel proposal. If three or more papers of the proposed panel pass the review process, the panel will be accepted.

Panel proposals should be sent by email and should include:

Panel title, name of the proposing organisation / individual, name and full contact details of the contact person, name and affiliation of panel chair, panel abstract (between 200 and 300 words) as well as title, author, author affiliation, and the name of each paper to be presented in the panel.

Paper/panel submissions will be subject to peer review.

Submissions and contact email

All submissions must be made exclusively via email to mainstream.cee@gmail.com

The organizers intend to put together a themed monograph, in which selected papers will be published as full-length chapters.

Conference Fee

• 20 € Early Bird (until July 30, 2020)
• 30 € Main Registration (until August 30, 2020)
• 50 € Late Registration (until September 30, 2020)

Organizing team

• Jiří Andrs
• Ondřej Daniel

• Tomáš Kavka
• Jakub Machek
• Zdeněk Nebřenský
• Blanka Nyklová
• Karel Šima
• Ondřej Štěpánek

Contacts:

http://en.cspk.eu/

Email: mainstream.cee@gmail.com