ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

July 1-2, 2019

Florence, Italy

Deadline for abstracts: March 15, 2019

July 1-2, 2019

A selection of papers presented at the symposium will be published in a special issue of the journal Information, Communication & Society (iCS).

This two-day symposium held under the auspices of the journal ‘Information, Communication & Society’ (iCS) considers the shifting terrain of contemporary democratic politics. Over the course of this decade, a wave of popular discontent swept across much of the world, stoked by the financial crisis, the ensuing austerity and deep disenchantment with political institutions in both liberal democracies and autocracies. Social movements channelled and articulated aspirations for greater democratic accountability and participation, more equitable economic policies, greater concern for social welfare and climate change. Against a secular decline in party membership, voter turnout and institutional trust, movements have rekindled a participatory imaginary challenging the status quo of many democratic countries.

Criticized for a supposed inability to enact the political and social change they advocated, social movements were harbingers of a new political vehicle, the movement party. The rise and electoral success of party movements—from Podemos in Spain, to Cinque Stelle in Italy, Jobbik in Hungary, Momentum in the UK or La Republique en Marche in France—captured aspirations for progressive change as well as anger and anxieties about globalisation, migration and the socio-economic and cultural upheaval that such processes have wrought. Occupying the breadth of the ideological spectrum—from the far right to the radical left—these movements put forward a radical criticism of political or media institutions, advocating participatory as well as populist reformulations of notions of citizenship, civic practices and organisational structures. Against the odds, they have scaled up, endured and have the potential to become entrenched despite the initially limited resources available to them. Notwithstanding their ideological differences, digital media appear to have provided important opportunities for the emergence of techno-populist ‘connective’ movements and parties in media systems largely unfavourable to them, thereby posing renewed challenges to incumbents.

Considering the above, the symposium will grapple with such questions as: what does the rising prominence of social and/or party movements mean for democracy? What are the consequences of their rise for representative democracy? What explains their presence on both the left and the right of the political spectrum? How does their digital media use bear on their organisational structures and cultures or their relationship with the media?

The symposium invites scholars and other informed observers to present papers discussing how over the last decade, social movements, party movements and other collective actors emerging in the fractured contemporary media landscape have produced knowledge, learn and develop new or overhaul existing participatory cultures and techno-populist identities; congeal competitive political agendas that challenge established political positions; rekindle trust and even faith in political leadership and democratic governance; (re)shaped (un)conventional citizenship norms, practices and action repertoires, harnessing affordances of self-publication technologies, data analytics and news media values to maximize their visibility, appeal and reach while also at times critiquing the dominant commercial logics of media and social media companies.

Building on these considerations, we encourage submissions that address but are not limited to the following aims:

• Discuss media strategies and/or tactics of social and/or party movements and individual activists, how they relate to ongoing transformation of media systems, shifting media diets and practices that are increasingly dominated by the use of digital and social media;
  
• Map the use of digital technologies in social and/or party movements, the extent to which it inflects on organisational networks, structures and cultures and whether these depart from late-modern and pre-crisis models of political organisation;
  
• Consider how support for social and/or party movements is articulated publicly in squares, on social platforms, through partisan outlets, in mainstream media or combinations thereof and potential reasons for them;
  
• Investigate the language use of social and/or party movements—and responses to it by institutions and various section of the public—particularly as it challenges deliberative norms or if it is associated with disruptive communication techniques such as click-baiting, trolling, spoofing, making use of disinformation or misinformation;
  
• Reflect on the conversion of some movements into parties, the tensions emerging between the grassroots and the leadership once social and/or party movements enter institutions and the extent to which digital media may mitigate or exacerbate such conflicts;
  
• Investigate knowledge transfer and learning processes that transform movements, their support base, organization or goals and the role of digital media in such processes;
  
• Propose ethical methodological innovations especially through the deployment of trace data gathering tools that can facilitate access to and rapport with hard-to-reach, research-apprehensive movement actors like far-right movement parties;
  
• Develop innovative qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods techniques to explore the use of digital media within social and/ or party movements;
  
• Reflect on the bearing of (digital) media and communication strategies and tactics on the electoral success of social and/or party movements in local, national or European elections;
  
• Explore contrasts in the popular mobilization and/or electoral success of populist party movements on the right and the left while contemplating the contribution that digital and social media made to it
  

We invite 500-word abstracts outlining empirical, theoretical or policy-oriented papers that address these or cognate topics. The abstract should point to study conclusions. It should be accompanied by a 100-word biography of the presenter(s) together with contact details.

Abstracts/biographies/contact details should be emailed to Dan Mercea (dan.mercea.1@city.ac.uk).

All papers presented at the symposium will receive comments from a discussant. Following the symposium, paper authors will be invited to submit their manuscripts for publication in a special issue of the journal Information, Communication & Society.

More info: http://cosmos.sns.it/news/call-for-papers-social-movements-and-parties-in-a-fractured-media-landscape/.

August 4-17, 2019

University of Oxford

Deadline: April 20, 2019

Early Decision Deadline: March 19, 2019

This year’s Media Policy Summer Institute will be held from August 4-17, 2019.

For the past twenty years, the Media Policy Summer Institute has brought together top early career scholars (including advanced PhD students, post-docs and lecturers), media lawyers and regulators, human rights activists, and policymakers from countries around the world to discuss the effects of technology, media, and policy from a global and multidisciplinary perspective. Participants have the opportunity to take part in an intensive and interdisciplinary two-week program in Oxford that blends expert instruction with participatory activity, group work, and discussion.

For more details on the application process see our website or contact us at: medialaw@ox.ac.uk.

July 22-27, 2019, Zeppelin University

Friedrichshafen, Lake Constance, Germany

The forthcoming Summer Institute will discuss the opportunities and challenges to the idea of “publics” brought forth by new communication and media technologies. It builds on Raymond Williams’ idea of a “long revolution” of culture in the course of economic and political changes and expands it to the digitalization of “public spheres”, in which these interactions become visible. Using online resources, such as social network sites, citizens can participate in public discourse and make their voices heard on political issues, thus making the public sphere more diverse. Easily accessible media technologies, such as weblogs and podcasts, enable and empower their users to produce media content, which might subvert hegemonic ideas and challenge asymmetrical power relations. Nevertheless, changes in communication technologies also bear challenges to public spheres: For example, in the course of the fragmentation of the public sphere and the segmentation of its audiences, the practices and norms of public communication become particularistic as well. Online, especially through social network sites, non-democratic ideologies equally get the opportunity to reach a wider audience through malevolent hackers or automated bots. Questions of public control and media regulation arise, as hate speech and fake news become part of the digital vernacular language.

The Summer Institute will provide a sustained opportunity for critical reflection on the cultural, technological and political trajectories of digitalization that might enable or endanger publics and public spheres. Working at the intersection of Cultural Studies and Media and Communication Studies, we will analyze recent changes in interpersonal and mediated communication and their implications for future societies and media cultures.

The Institute will provide an intense and rewarding academic experience for postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers who will have the opportunity to spend the week attending a variety of seminars and lectures. Five keynote speakers and a faculty staff of leading Cultural Studies scholars from around the world will provide further comprehensive insights to the cultural and political consequences of the digitalization of the public sphere.

The key speakers represent the global perspective on the subject and include Tanja Thomas (University of Tübingen), Margie Borschke (Macquari University Sidney); Adam Haupt (University of Cape Town), Rolien Hoyng (The Chinese University of Hong Kong), Eric Maigret (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle) and Tanja Thomas (University of Tübingen).

The faculty members are representatives of European and German Cultural Studies and include Janneke Adema (Coventry University), Ursula Ganz-Blättler (University of St. Gallen), Udo Göttlich (Zeppelin University), Martin R. Herbers (Zeppelin University), Lothar Mikos (Filmuniversität Babelsberg), Giulia Pelillo-Hestermeyer (University of Heidelberg), Aljoša Pužar (University of Ljubljana), Gilbert B. Rodman (University of Minnesota), Helene Strauss (University of the Free State, Bloemfontein), Jeffrey Wimmer (University of Augsburg), Carsten Winter (Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media), Rainer Winter (University of Klagenfurt), Matthias Wieser (University of Klagenfurt), and Sebastian Rauter-Nestler (University of Klagenfurt).

The overall participatory and informal character of the Summer Institute will give voice to the participants by offering a forum which addresses issues related to their own work specifically on the topic of “the future of publics” as well as issues of general interest. In addition, social activities from receptions and meals to informal gatherings will provide opportunities for participants, lecturers and organizers to intermingle and stimulate further conversation. The Summer Institute takes place at Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Set against the beautiful backdrop of Lake Constance and the German, Austrian and Swiss Alps, participants will further enjoy a varied social program.

Please find further information on participation, fees, accommodation and the travel process on our website: http://www.zu.de/acssi2019

June 7, 2019

University of Manchester

Deadline: March 17, 2019

This conference calls for papers on the subject “identity in times of change”. The crisis of 2008 has unleashed a wave of social changes over the last decade, as well as exacerbating existing problems. The economic crash precipitated a wave of social crises, protest movements and political instability. The ephemeral hope of the Arab Spring in the Middle East turned to sectarianism and unforeseen wars. The rise of refugee mobility has engendered new political discourse.The last ten years have seen the impact of austerity and displacement; Occupy, Yellow Vest and Me Too; the rise of populism and the decline of neoliberal economics. Alongside this, escalating climate change and ominous predictions of future disaster have created a sense of constant crisis.

Amid the chaos, we are interested in how these macro level phenomena have impacted on the way people see themselves and each other. We want to take this opportunity to understand how identities are shaped, negotiated and perceived within new social realities. We also want to explore how new identities and identity claims can be used to create new social realities, or alter existing social relations.

We would like this conference to be an opportunity to share methodological approaches to identity research, and consider new ways forward. Both theoretical work on identity and empirical case studies are welcomed and encouraged.

This conference invites papers that focus on various aspects of the following thematic areas:

• Queer rights/identities.
• Methodological considerations in identity research
• Diasporic identities
• Post-immigration crisis
• National or nationalist identities
• Activist identities
• Intersectional identities

More here

IMPORTANT DATES

• Submission deadline: March 17, 2019
• Acceptance notification: March 20, 2019
• Conference: June 7, 2019

10th Annual Small Cinemas Conference,

September 25-27, 2019

Lisbon

Deadline (extended): March 18, 2019

The 10th Annual Small Cinemas Conference will take place at ICS-ULisboa in Lisbon, Portugal, between 25 and 27 September 2019. On the topic of ‘Small Cinemas, Small Spaces’, the conference will be centered on issues of scale and spatiality in film, with the aim to explore the geographies of small cinemas. The call for papers is open for individual presentations of maximum 20 minutes, as well as for pre-constituted panels with a maximum of three presentations each. Proposals should be submitted via email to smallcinemas@ics.ulisboa.pt by Monday 18 March 2019, and include a title, an abstract of maximum 250 words, and a short bio note. The conference’s languages will be English and Portuguese.

‘Small Cinemas, Small Spaces’ aims to discuss matters of space in the cinemas of small nations, with regards to representation, the materiality and marketing of film locations, and film production, viewing and exhibition practices in peripheral film cultures. The event also wishes to bring together scholars exploring notions of space and scale in film, by considering what can be the small spaces of cinema, from early cinematic attractions to the recent dissemination of individual screens and broadcasting digital platforms.

Topics for discussion may include, but are not limited to:

• the geographies of film: how space and time are articulated in small cinemas
• representations of space in peripheral or marginal cinemas
• spaces and scales of film production, e.g. costume and set design in small cinemas
• film locations in small nation cinemas
• exhibition venues and viewing practices in small nations
• audiences’ experiences of minor cinemas
• small spaces for film exhibition
• the emergence of film societies as alternatives to the ‘large’ mainstream
• smartphones, tablets or other devices as cinematic spaces
• cinema and scale in Youtube and other digital platforms
• making films for small spaces

More information about confirmed keynote speakers, see  here.

For any questions, please write to the conference organizers at smallcinemas@ics.ulisboa.pt.

Registration fee will be a maximum of €50, which includes lunch and coffee breaks.

Loughborough University

Deadline: April 3, 2019

Job reference REQ190207

Location: Loughborough

Package: Specialist and Supporting Academic

Grade 6, £30,395 to £36,261 per annum, at a starting salary to be confirmed on offer of appointment. Subject to annual pay award.

Job description

School of Social Sciences, Loughborough University

Full-time fixed-term position for 24 months

The Department of Social Sciences is seeking to appoint a Research Associate to work with Dr Vaclav Stetka (PI) and Professor Sabina Mihelj (Co-I) on a new ESRC-funded research project "The Illiberal Turn? News Consumption, Political Polarization, and Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe". Combining survey data, digital tracking of media consumption, as well as media diaries and qualitative interviews, the project will carry out a systematic study of news consumption and political polarization in Poland, Czechia, Hungary and Serbia, at a key point in time when the region is witnessing the rise of populist leaders, resurgence of illiberal nationalism, and a shift towards authoritarian forms of government.

The primary responsibilities of the Research Associate involve quantitative data collection, analysis and management. The researcher will participate in designing of a representative population survey and carry out analyses of the data, including the use of advanced statistical methods. The successful candidate will also assist in gathering of secondary data relevant for the understanding of political and media systems of the countries studied by the project, co-author some of the publications, contribute to impact activities, and lead on website and social media development. Proficiency in one of the local languages (Czech, Polish, Hungarian, Serbian) is an advantage.

The successful applicant for the this post will be an experienced researcher with postgraduate training in sociology, media/communication studies, political science or another related discipline (PhD, or very close to completion), and with an experience in quantitative social science methodologies, particularly surveys, as well as in quantitative data analysis, including advanced statistical techniques.

Informal enquiries should be made by email to Dr Vaclav Stetka, V.Stetka@lboro.ac.uk

Closing date: 3 April 2019

Interviews (including presentation) will be held on: 16 April 2019

Please follow this link for further details.

Ekhprasis (Vol. 22, Issue 2/2019)

Deadline (extended): March 25, 2019

Issue editors: Fátima Chinita and Liviu Lutas

From times immemorial people have been telling stories to one another; humanity at large as well as entire civilizations have been built open this storytelling impetus. First orally, later through other media and art forms, stories have spread among cultures, eras, and generations engaging an ever-growing dissemination. Technical and technological developments have helped in this enterprise, across a vast array of long-lasting and canonical art forms as well as more popular and recent ones.

Film is precisely at that intersection, which makes it a privileged form for media confluences at the service of narrative spreading.

But how does this dialogue between film and other media and/or art forms operate? How are stories conveyed form the former to the latter(s), and vice versa? To what purpose and through what means?

What, if anything, changes in that transposition, and what remains the same? How does creativity work at this border-crossing and exactly what does it entail? How can film and other media be contained in or influence one another, not just in fictional-oriented works, but also, in keeping up with the times, in more factual and self-representative artistic outputs?

Volume 22, issue 2/2019 of Ekphrasis looks for novel and creative approaches on film and mediality at large, be it dual-, multi-, -inter or transmediality. We aim to contribute to the reflection on media collaboration from the perspective of the content, i.e. the subject of the films and other art works, i.e., its narrative aspects, whether fictional or not. This, of course, is highly influenced by the nature of the media/arts involved.

Therefore, we will prioritize submissions that are solidly grounded on theoretical work already published on this field and that combine the argument on content with the requirements made by the different media/arts involved.

Suggested Topics: (not limited to this sample)

• Intertextuality, intermediality, intramediality.
• Mediation, remediation, transmediation.
• Art forms as qualified media.
• Phenomena of hybridization.
• Transfer among media.
• Narrative adaptation, appropriation.
• Cinematic ekphrasis.
• Allusion, quotation, pastiche, parody, motifs.
• Remakes, sequels, prequels, spin-offs, reboots.
• Transmedia storytelling projects.
• Cinematic worlds and other media.
• Impossible worlds, characters, and narrative structures across media.
• Medium specificity and collaboration among media/arts.
• Palimpsest, embedding, layering.
• Narrative genres in-between or across media.
• Alternate realities, reworking facts and fiction.
• Myths, legends, fairytales and post-celluloid adaptation.

Deadline for abstracts of between 700 and 1000 words: MARCH 25, 2019.

Acceptance notice: April 15th 2019.

Final submission is due AUGUST 30th 2019.

Date of publication: DECEMBER 30th 2019.

Both proposals and final texts should be in English and should follow the style sheet available on our website.

The final submission should include: a 5,000-8,000-word article, including a 150-word abstract, 5-7 keywords, a list of references (only the cited works) and a 150-word author's bio. Proposals and final submissions should be formatted as

Word documents and sent to: chinita.estc@gmail.com and liviu.lutas@lnu.se

The articles should be original material not published in any other media before.

More here

The Nineteenth IALIC Conference: Translating Cultures. The Culture of Translating

November 21-23, 2019

University Of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

Deadline (extended): March 24, 2019

The 2019 Conference of the International Association for Languages and Intercultural Communication (IALIC) will be held at the Universitat de València (Spain), 20-22 November, 2019, with the aim of providing a forum for research in the field. The conference theme, Translating Cultures, Cultures in Translation, emerges principally from the idea that it is people who co-construct their culture(s) through intercultural communication and everyday encounters. Cultures are therefore not static, but are always on the move; nor are cultures homogenous, rather they are diverse and multifaceted. In other words, cultures are always ‘in translation’ or moving from one location to another; similarly, cultural frameworks are always permeable and subject to change under the mutual contact that takes place between individuals.

This conference will therefore explore the relationship between cultures and translation understood not only as encounter, co-construction, negotiation change and movement, but also as a means of explicating and interpreting the world. Intercultural interactions take place both in ordinary circumstances such as school, the workplace or everyday life, and also in exceptional situations such as those brought about by forced or voluntary displacements. In these circumstances, cultural difference can be signified by the language used in relation to gender, sexuality, age, food, dress, social mores or other characteristics which become salient in these interactions. In this, structural agents of power and change, such as educational institutions, governmental and other administrative agencies, as well as political regimes and agendas – forces which can be both productive of and resistant to diversity, difference and individual agency ­– will also be subject to scrutiny. In these circumstances, the conflicting demands of intercultural exchange and intercultural difference can lead not only to the flaring up of clashes and misunderstandings, but also to the silencing of individuals’ voices and the denial of their identities. Thus intercultural communication, dialogue, negotiation and mediation are all necessary in order to overcome and resolve confrontational situations that might give rise to intolerance and injustice of all persuasions.

The conference will also engage with the diversity of cultural narratives and texts – fictional and non-fictional, poetic and prosaic, imaginary and autobiographical, visual and performative – through which (inter)cultural encounters can be critically engaged with, reflected upon and interpreted. In so doing, we will explore the different formats and platforms which can be used for communication, including images, performance, media, film, performing arts and music. As people shape and reshape their own culture(s), novel theoretical, methodological and pedagogical approaches to intercultural communication arise. This forum therefore seeks to embrace not only the reassuringly conventional, but also new forms of intercultural expression that are emerging.

Topics

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Cultural interactions worldwide relating (inter alia) to education, workplace, leisure and the arts.
  
• Hegemonic relations in cultures and languages.
  
• Cultural and linguistic impact of migration movements on both migrants and the host societies.
  
• Forced and voluntary displacements: multicultural and multilingual situations.
  
• Negotiating difference: tolerance and intolerance.
  
• Facing and overcoming cultural and linguistic clashes.
  
• Teaching to cope with cultural and linguistic differences.
  
• Culture and language in diasporic situations.
  
• Generation gap: changes in linguistic and social interactions.
  
• Cultural narratives: fictional and non-fictional, imaginary and autobiographical.
  
• Cultural representations: moods, modes and media.
  

Plenary Speakers

John Corbett – University of Sao Paulo (Brazil).

Sandra López Rocha – University of Waterloo (Canada).

Isabel Moreno López – Goucher College (USA).

Roberto Valdeón – Universidad de Oviedo (Spain).

Conference Presentation Types

Paper presentations (20 minutes + 10 minutes for discussion).

Roundtable sessions (90 minutes).

PhD candidates’ presentations (15 minutes + 15 minutes for discussion).

Presentation of Abstracts

We invite submission of proposals by 28 February, 2019.

For paper presentations: Abstract (300 words + five key references).

For roundtable sessions: We welcome proposals for roundtables of three / four Panellists will give a short introductory statement of 10-15 minutes and the rest of the session will consist of discussion and debate. To submit a proposal for a roundtable, please send a 100 word abstract summarising the topic and its importance, together with a 100 word abstracts of each speaker (including their names and affiliations), plus details of the roundtable organiser, chair (if different from the organiser), and participants.

For PhD candidates’ presentations: Abstract (300 words + five key references); special sessions will be allocated for these presentations in which there will be two respondents assigned by the scientific committee.

In all cases, please include names and institutional affiliations as you would like them to appear on the name badges and on the conference programme.

The official language of the conference is English.

Abstracts should be submitted by email as an attached word document (a template can be found on our webpage) to maria.j.coperias@uv.es and juan.j.martinez@uv.es.

Abstracts will be reviewed by the conference scientific committee.

Scholarships

Three scholarships will be offered to ‘early career’ researchers or doctoral students, particularly those coming from the Global South, consisting of the conference fees and accommodation for maximum 4 days in budget hotel or university halls of residence. Please see relevant documents on the conference website.

Important Dates

• Presentation of abstracts: deadline: March 24, 2019.
• Notification of acceptance: 31st March.
  
• Registration: Early registration finishes 15th October; registrations will be accepted up to 12th November.

Steering Committee

María José Coperías-Aguilar (Universitat de València – IALIC).

Juan José Martínez-Sierra (Universitat de València – CiTrans).

Website: http://ialic2019.uv.es/

May 31-June 2, 2019

University of Bucharest

Deadline: March 15, 2019

Open to senior and junior scholars of political research from social sciences and humanities, as well as to scholars from trans- and interdisciplinary areas relevant for political research.

The official languages of the event are English and French. The primary working language is English and we expect most abstracts, papers, presentations and discussions to be in this language. Pre-organized panels or round tables in French may be also accepted.

A red trail of public actions fuelled by self-aggrandizing visions, often in the detriment of evidence-based arguments, seems to haunt the current political climate, especially in regions where democratic values were long-established or where during the last decades they appeared to have a chance to flourish. From emotionally-burdened and highly costly political gambles such as the Brexit, the Catalan independence or the recent referendums on the definition of family in national constitutions in Central and Eastern Europe to the seemingly never-ending Donald Trump disruptive outbursts and the barely disguised disregards of international norms by populist leaders or authoritarian governments of countries as diverse as Russia, Italy, Syria, the Philippines and Brazil, or to the open political attacks on academic freedom in Turkey and Hungary targeting particularly social sciences, value-driven narratives both echo and amplify the apparent deterioration of the quality of public discourse and of the liberal democracy institutions worldwide.

At discipline level, perhaps still limited by the sometimes insufficiently understood complexity of the concept of value-free science, we seem to have not tackled comprehensively the nexus values-politics for a long time. Not that we have neglected research on values in political research. Political theory, for instance, has a long and robust tradition of investigating the normative dimensions of political phenomena. Global, regional, national and local surveys on values, beliefs and attitudes are the bread and butter of many political researchers and provide data that, over the last decades, has generated vivid debates and a significant part of publications in comparative politics and political methodology. Research on corruption, integrity and public accountability is also present often beyond the borders of scholarly outlets. At the same time, with rapid technological advancements such as social media, artificial intelligence, 3D printing and gene editing, ethics has become an increasingly visible aspect in the study of international affairs, conflicts, international political economy and public policies. However, across the entire spectrum of political science as both discipline and profession, the dialogue on the multifaceted presence of values in politics and contemporary political research is still limited to marginal or formal issues.

Furthermore, with distrust in politicians continuing to remain pervasively high across the world and since political science still faces significant challenges in communicating its social and scientific worth to the larger public, questions on the relevance of studying political phenomena and even whether politics itself got any value are increasingly present in the public space. Under these circumstances, the topic of values in politics forces us to rethink the merits of our own work in a larger context, which addresses both the long-run survival of our discipline and the moral obligations of scholars as citizens, as well as the limits of acting as engaged spectators.

Aiming to explore such scholarly and policy puzzles from various conceptual, empirical and methodological perspectives, while addressing timely case-studies, we invite scholars across different disciplines to submit papers, panels or round table proposals, especially (but not exclusively) around the following core topics:

• Ethics and political theory;
• Ethics and international affairs;
• Ethics and public policy;
• Ethics and human rights;
• Values, beliefs and attitudes in contemporary societies;
• Populism, social movements and electoral behaviour in the age of social media;
• Democracy and its critics;
• Contemporary political ideologies;
• Identity politics;
• The politics of entitlement;
• Transitional justice;
• Comparative perspectives on civic education and global solidarity;
• Methodological opportunities and challenges in approaching the study of values in political research;
• Ethics of contemporary political research.

The best papers may be considered for publication within special journal issues or collective volumes with partner publishers.

More here

July 15-19, 2019

University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

Deadline: March 31, 2019

In ancient Greece, a central part of social life took place at the agora. At this physical venue, citizens did not only trade all kinds of commodities, but also deliberated about important societal issues and politics. Therefore, the agora can be considered as the birthplace of democracy. Today, social media seem to bring this ancient Greek idea into a digital world: Services such as YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram enable citizens not only to publish political thoughts or initiatives in the form of videos, pictures, or status entries but also to have civically relevant interactions with other citizens at large scale. While this might be seen as a potentially enriching tool for democratic societies, nowadays, it also has to be discussed in the light of less desirable observations such as uncivilized exchanges (“hate speech”), the spread of misinformation (“fake news”), the presence of manipulative entities (“social bots”), or communication in ideologically homogeneous spheres (“filter bubbles” or “echo chambers”).

Empirical evidence in the field of computer-mediated political communication has grown in the last decades. Still, it remains a pressing need for researchers to systematically identify the circumstances under which politically relevant communication over network technologies can become beneficial versus detrimental for individuals and societies. What are the boundary conditions under which social media serve as marketplaces wherein citizens can contribute to deliberation and rational exchanges of arguments? Which factors influence whether this can lead to better informed (political) decisions? Which kind of citizens benefit most or least when using social media in political contexts? What are long-term consequences of political discourses via social networking platforms? How can computational methods be used to understand the mechanisms within these platforms better and to improve the conditions for the user? What are ethical implications of political deliberation online and how can we come to a well-grounded normative stance? Answering these questions clearly demands a multi-disciplinary approach combining communication studies, psychology, computer science, social media analytics, ethics, and political science. This Summer School, hosted by the Forschungsverbund “Digitale Gesellschaft NRW” and organized by the University of Duisburg-Essen and University of Bonn, intends to bring these disciplines together and to offer a fruitful setting for senior and junior scholars to jointly work on current questions of political communication in computer-mediated contexts.

The Summer School is open for a total of 40 PhD candidates with different disciplinary backgrounds who study civically relevant communication through contemporary technologies. PhD participants are offered (a) extensive training in discussing current research problems following keynote presentations and in small-group workshops, (b) the opportunity to network with other PhD students and leading scholars, and (c) an environment to present their current work in the form of a poster exposition.

Application

To apply, PhD students are asked to submit an abstract of 600 words of their own research. Accepted abstracts will be presented in a high-density session including a short presentation and a poster. Please submit your application online here.

Call for Participation here

More information here