ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Populism (Special Issue) 

Deadline: April 7, 2024

Guest Editors: Feeza Vasudeva and Dayei Oh 

The relationship between religion and populism has been a topic of growing interest in recent years, as populist movements with religious supporters and institutions have gained prominence around the world. The connections between Donald Trump and Evangelical Christianity in the United States, Viktor Orbán and Christianity in Hungary, and Narendra Modi and Hindu nationalists in India, are only a few examples.

At the same time, new forms of media and hybrid media environments (cf. Chadwick, 2013; Hoover, 2020) have emerged and transformed public discourse, influencing the production, reception, and circulation of populist concepts. The logic of ‘media populism’ (Mazzoleni, 2003) identifies that populist actors reach for new audiences through mediatising 'personalisation, emotionalization, and anti-establishment attitude’ (Mudde, 2007). Scholarly attention has been paid to the distinctive rhetorical style and communicative strategies of mediatized populism, such as playing up the intimacy and closeness of populist politicians to portray them as the representatives of the people against the establishment. However, not enough attention has been given to mediatized religious populism.

This call for papers seeks to explore the intersection of religion, populism, and hybrid media, focusing on the many ways these associations interact and shape one another. We welcome conceptual, methodological, and empirical research works. Possible topic areas include (but are not limited to):

• Populism and Religion
  
• Religious Nationalism and Xenophobia
  
• Mediatized religious populism
  
• Religion, Populism, and Conspiracy Theories
  
• New Religions, Cults, and Populism
  
• Atheism and Populism
  
• Transnational Nationalism(s) and Populism(s)
  
• Populisms in Datafied Society
  
• New Religious Constellations
  
• Translocal and Hybrid Movements
  
• Emotion and Affectivity
  
• Epistemic contestations in Religious Populism
  
• Institutionalized Populisms
  
• Interfaith Dialogues and Religious Populism
  

 We welcome submissions from various disciplines, including media studies, sociology, religious studies, political science, and communication studies. We encourage interdisciplinary approaches and transnational studies that examine these phenomena across different geographical contexts.

The special issue will invite individual submissions based on approved abstracts. To submit an abstract for consideration, please email an MS Word document of no more than 500 words with author information to feeza.vasudeva@helsinki.fi and cc: dayei.oh@helsinki.fi using the subject header, “Religious Populism in Hybrid Media Special issue.” The deadline for receiving abstracts is Sunday 7th April 2024. Invited manuscripts of no more than 10,000 words (inclusive) must be submitted by Sunday 25th August 2024 to the journal submission page to receive a double-blind peer review. No payment from the authors will be required.

August 18-25, 2024

Jönköping University Sweden

Deadline: May 17, 2024

About the Course

Democracy depends on engaged citizens. And yet, the most powerful discourses surrounding engagement are strategically designed to drive commercial markets. As a counterpoint to this horizon, the main purpose of this PhD residential course is to understand theories and methods of media engagement not as a metric but as a marker of power relations.

This 7.5 credit course offers an international platform for PhD researchers to write, present and receive feedback on work in progress from global experts on theories and methods for media engagement. The course will cover key concepts for engagement, including political and public spheres, digital media and AI related technologies, social movements and mobilisation, transmedia engagement, and cultural citizenship and popular culture.

Key Highlights: Mentoring and networking with world leading scholars and international doctoral researchers; slow thinking, with time to write thesis chapters and peer reviewed journal articles; residential setting of Gränna Campus, overlooking the great lake of Vättern, with easy access to local food and crafts, clear water swimming, nature walks and mountain views; social events, including trips to the historical island of Visingsö.

Teaching Team: course leader Annette Hill (co author with Dahlgren of Media Engagement Routledge 2023), and Peter Dahlgren (author of Media and Political Engagement 2009), Renira Rampazzo Gambarato (co-author of Theory, Strategy, and Development in Transmedia Storytelling 2020), and Joke Hermes (author of Cultural Citizenship and Popular Culture 2023).

Website and application: for information on the course, application process, fees, and key dates see https://ju.se/mediaengagement. Contact Annette Hill (Annette.hill@ju.se)  

June 7, 2024

Coventry University (UK)

Deadline (EXTENDED): April 14, 2024

The Local and Community Media Network of MeCCSA is calling for contributions to a one-day symposium looking at the future of local and community media archives. 

While digitisation might be perceived to be making some aspects of local media more readily available, the consolidation of outlets has led to the disposal and destruction of many of the records relating to its outputs, production and significance. This may include, but is not limited to, the destruction of analogue formats of media, photographic collections and business records archives. In some places, organisations are stepping in to preserve collections; this includes community groups who seek to salvage what they consider to be the collective memory of a place. All collectors find themselves faced with the myriad challenges which are associated with preservation and recognition for items relating to an often-undervalued aspect of media.  

This symposium will bring together academics, publishers, archival practitioners and community representatives to explore the issues and possible solutions in relation to preserving local media archives across the range of formats, including newspapers, radio, local television and film archives, and alternative publications. The event will be held at the university library (Frederick Lanchester building). It will include the chance to visit the Lanchester Innovation Archive based in the library which documents the life and work of legendary motor designer and inventor Frederick Lanchester. 

Themes for exploration might include: 

• Locating local media archives 
  
• The physicality of archives – including preservation and accessibility 
  
• The good and the bad of digitisation 
  
• The place of local media archives in the memory of localities 
  
• Community usage and involvement with local media archives   
  
• Archives and well-being 
  
• Oral history and local archives  
  
• Practical approaches to dealing with local media archives 
  
• Creative responses to local media archives 

The organisers welcome submissions for academic papers, panels, workshops and posters.  Abstracts outlining your contribution should be limited to 350 words and should be sent to r.matthews@coventry.ac.uk by the extended deadline of April 14, 2024. It is expected that a publication will result from the event. 

A fee of £40 will be charged to cover conference costs. A limited number of bursaries will be available to help support attendance by post-graduate students. Please indicate on your abstract if you would like to be considered for an award. 

October 14-16, 2024

Rome, Italy

Deadline: April 12, 2024

We are pleased to announce a workshop hosted by the German Historical Institute in Rome dedicated to exploring the rich and complex landscape of European film production, distribution and exhibition during the period of European Fascism from 1933 to 1945. Please submit your abstract (max 300 words), brief biography and contact details using this form by the submission deadline of 12 April 2024: https://forms.gle/yWuE94xQmLizSS199

CALL FOR PAPERS

A perennial problem in the history of cinema, “Film Europe” has remained a constant theme since the 1920s, both in practical, economic and political terms, and as a response to the cultural challenges of what “European cinema” is or should be. A decisive moment in the history of “Film Europe” as an idea and organizational effort was the establishment of the International Film Chamber (Internationale Filmkammer, IFK). Launched in 1935 to bolster a European film bloc to combat the international dominance of American films, the IFK resurfaced in 1941 under German and Italian control and swiftly became a tool for the expansion of these national industries. Membership included representatives of the film and commercial branches of various European and international countries. The IFK warrants further examination given that it served as a consultative body for European film industries and led discussions on production, exhibition, and distribution. Questions around the circulation of Nazi cinema are likewise intricately linked to the IFK: given the growing dominance of the German film industry and market at this time, IFK negotiations often revolved around the dissemination of German productions and questions of film import into the Reich. Our findings will therefore also provide the foundations for a large-scale future research project entitled “Nazi Film in Transit”.

We invite scholars from around the world to reevaluate the history and legacy of the IFK, its vision of “Film Europe” and its significance for the export and import of Nazi cinema. Our goal is to provide a platform for scholars to share research to develop our understanding of this period in European film history, as well as its significance for the pre- and post-war film industries and their socio-political contexts. We welcome comparative research into the activities and aspirations of various member states of the IFK, as well as into the international networks of film production and distribution that it facilitated. Our focus encompasses the national cinemas and film industries of the following countries in the 1930s and 40s: Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Yugoslavia; as well as the political, economic, or cultural histories of Film Europe in a broader perspective.

Focusing on the period 1933-45, submission topics might include (but are not limited to):

• Transnational collaborations and exchanges within the European film industry
  
• Censorship, regulation, and state intervention
  
• Experiences of filmmakers, actors, and technicians
  
• Film distribution and exhibition networks
  
• Propaganda and ideology in European cinema
  
• National cinemas and transnational influences
  
• Technological innovations and production constraints
  
• Star and celebrity culture

We plan to publish a selection of papers in a special issue of a leading academic journal or edited volume.

References

Kasten, J., Lang, F. & Stiasny, P. (eds) (2021), Ufa international. Ein deutscher Filmkonzern mit globalen Ambitionen. Edition Text+Kritik.

Maltby, R. & Higson, A. (eds) (1999), Film Europe and Film America : cinema, commerce and cultural exchange,1920-1939 (1999). University of Exeter Press.

Martin, B.G. (2011 rev.), ‘European Cinema for Europe!’ The International Film Chamber, 1935–42. In: Vande Winkel, R.., Welch, D. (eds), Cinema and the Swastika. Palgrave Macmillan.

Martin, B.G (2016), The Nazi-Fascist New Order for European Culture (2016). Harvard University Press.

Skopal, P. & Vande Winkel, R. (eds) (2021). Film Professionals in Nazi-Occupied Europe. Mediation Between the National-Socialist Cultural “New Order” and Local Structures, Springer.

Vande Winkel, R. & Welch, D. (eds) (2011 rev.). Cinema and the Swastika : the international expansion of Third Reich cinema, Palgrave Macmillan.

Practicalities

The workshop will be hosted by the German Historical Institute in Rome.

Registration is free and includes lunches, refreshments and a closing dinner. A research trip to the Cinecittà studios–visited by members of the International Film Chamber during their meeting in Rome in 1942–is also planned. Participants must cover their own costs of travel and accommodation; rooms at a nearby hotel will be available for a reduced price of 135 EUR per night (double-rooms only). We aim to offer a contribution toward travel and accommodation costs of scholars with limited or no institutional funding.

Organizing committee

• Emily Dreyfus (Film University Babelsberg, Germany)
  
• Maria Fritsche (NTNU, Norway)
  
• Benjamin Martin (Uppsala University, Sweden)
  
• Fabian Schmidt (Film University Babelsberg, Germany)
  
• Roel Vande Winkel (KU Leuven - LUCA School of Arts, Belgium)
  

This conference is sponsored and co-hosted by

• The German Historical Institute in Rome
  
• NOS-HS Workshop Series “Cinema, War and Citizenship at the Periphery. Cinemas and their audiences in the Nordic countries, 1935-1950”
  
• The Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam (ZZF)
  

Annals of the Fondazione Luigi Einaudi

Deadline: April 24, 2024

Editors:

Prof. Veronica Barassi (veronica.barassi@unisg.ch)

Dr. Philip Di Salvo (philip.disalvo@unisg.ch)

School of Humanities and Social Sciences

University of St. Gallen

Generative artificial intelligence tools and large language models are gaining a prominent space in our society. Probably for the first time in history, humans have now to relate and interact with technological systems capable of producing and generating new content and knowledge mimicking humans’ imagination, speech, and behaviors in ways that was not possible before. This new state of things brings inevitably profound consequences and potential sea changes for numerous social, scientific, and cultural fields raising epistemological, ethical, political economical and philosophical questions about the epistemologies of AI and the processes of knowledge production of these systems. The race for AI innovation is being framed with reference to the ‘superintelligence’ of our machines, their processing power, their ability to learn and generate knowledge. In public debate, AI technologies are admired for their powers, and feared for their threats. Yet, we are increasingly confronted with the fact that these machines make errors and mistakes, they are fallible and inaccurate, and they are often culturally biased. From Generative AI technologies that ‘hallucinate’ and invent facts to predictive policing technologies that lead to wrongful arrests, our world is quickly coming to terms with the fact that the AI we are building is not only astonishing and incredibly powerful, but often unable to understand the complexity of our human experience and our cultural worlds. Research has shown that AI errors and their problematic outcomes can’t be considered as mere coding glitches, but as the direct expression of the structural inequalities of our societies and they confront us with critical questions about our supposed anthropocentric position as knowledge-creators.

The aim of this special issue is to gather scholars coming from different fields of the social sciences and humanities to investigate how artificial intelligence systems are challenging epistemological assumptions in various societal areas and how the failures of such systems are impacting on knowledge creation and diffusion in their areas of interest. Overall, the special issue aims at overcoming dominant and hyped takes and narratives around AI and its supposed (super)powers, and critically reflect on how we can identify and learn how to coexist with the limitations of AI driven knowledge production.

Possible topics include, but are not restricted to:

• Impacts of AI Errors and Failures: Exploring the ways in which AI failures, inaccuracies and errors in AI impact human understanding, decision-making, and interpersonal relationships.
  
• Cultural Limitations of AI Knowledge: Investigating how AI systems intersect with cultural norms, values, and belief systems, and assessing the limits to cultural diversity and inclusivity of these technologies.
  
• Fake News and DeepFakes: Generative AI, democracy, disinformation, and the public sphere
  
• Social Construction of AI Truth: Investigating how AI systems construct and perpetuate particular truths, shaping public perceptions and influencing social narratives.
  
• Bias and Discrimination in AI: Analyzing how inherent biases in training data, algorithms, and decision-making processes contribute to perpetuating social inequalities and reinforcing existing power structures.
  

Submission procedure

We invite interested scholars to submit an abstract (300 words, 3 to 5 keywords) by 24th of April, 2024 to editors@annalsfondazioneluigieinaudi.it, veronica.barassi@unisg.ch; philip.disalvo@unisg.ch.

The issue’s editors will review the abstracts and send notifications of acceptance or rejection by the 8th of June, 2024.

The special issue will include up to 8 contributions among those received through the call for papers. Final papers (about 8000 words) will be due on 8th of December 2024. Please note that acceptance of abstracts does not necessarily imply acceptance of the paper for the special issue. For further information (including the aim and scope of the Journal), please refer to the Journal’s website.

Amelia Johns, Ariadna Matamoros-Fernández, Emma Baulch

We would like to let you know about our new book, out now with Polity Digital Media and Society Series. WhatsApp: From a one-to-one Messaging App to a Global Communication Platform traces the story of WhatsApp’s technical, social and commercial development. It charts the rise of WhatsApp through the 2010s, as chat apps became a primary mode of communication for many people across the world. In this context WhatsApp quickly outpaced rival messaging apps and developed into a default communication app for users around the world, particularly in the Global South. But after Meta’s purchase of WhatsApp in 2014, we argue that WhatsApp took another step in its evolution, as it was transformed from a simple, ‘gimmickless’ app into a global communication platform, with its business and broadcasting functions elevating WhatsApp above its former chat app status. We argue that understanding this development can shed light on the trajectory of Meta’s industrial development, and how digital economies and social media landscapes are evolving with the rise of ‘superapps’.

The book’s chapters chart this evolution across multiple dimensions, exploring how WhatsApp’s unique characteristics mediate new kinds of social and commercial transactions; how they pose new opportunities and challenges for platform regulation, civic participation and democracy; and how they give rise to new kinds of digital literacy as WhatsApp becomes integrated into everyday digital cultures across the globe.

Please see the table of contents: 

• Introduction
  
• Chapter One: Why WhatsApp Matters
  
• Chapter Two: Platform Biography
  
• Chapter Three: Everyday Uses of WhatsApp
  
• Chapter Four: WhatsApp Publics: Activism, News, Disorder
  
• Chapter Five: WhatsApp Business Model
  
• Chapter Six: WhatsApp Futures
  

The book is available for purchase at this link - https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=whatsapp-from-a-one-to-one-messaging-app-to-a-global-communication-platform--9781509550524

 - and I encourage you to recommend it to your universities and institutions. As the book has been written to be accessible to undergraduate students, we also recommend that key chapters be used in your course readings lists.

PLUS Salzburg

Planned start of employment: 1st October 2024

Expected duration of employment: limited to 6 years, can become permanent position upon fulfilment of individual qualification requirements

Extent of employment: 40 hours

Working hours: by agreement

Areas of responsibility:

Own scientific research and teaching, scientific support in research and teaching, as well as participation in administrative tasks in the field of media structure and platform research. Independent teaching of 4 semester hours per academic year.

The area of responsibility includes dealing with media structure research, in particular Austrian, European and global communication policy and internet governance (traditional mass media, digital platforms, alternative commons-based media and platforms) in a historical and geopolitical context. Candidates should have experience in the application and management of larger third-party funded projects, preferably EU research projects.

Employment requirements: completed doctoral studies in communication science and at least partially published doctoral thesis, at least one year of scientific experience abroad, relevant teaching experience; academic reputation, proven in particular by relevant publications and lectures, multilingualism in teaching and research (English and German required, other languages desirable).

Desirable additional qualifications:

Experience in university operations; clear vision of own future research profile; experience in organizing scientific conferences, digital skills in data management and with data visualization.

Desired personal qualities:

Enthusiasm for the subject area of media structures, democracy, media and platform policy and economics; experience in supervising students and junior academic staff; good communication and teamwork skills; ability to work under pressure and flexibly; enjoy imparting knowledge; strong interpersonal skills, especially in student support; ability to work in a goal-oriented, effective and solution-oriented manner.

In addition to a detailed curriculum vitae and a list of relevant publications (including the at least partially published doctoral thesis), the application documents should include the following:

a) Outline of academic and research achievements;

b) Description of experience and activities in teaching (including the supervision of junior researchers);

c) Concept for plans in research and teaching and for the contribution to knowledge

d) Concept for knowledge transfer and science management;

e) Presentation of social and other competencies.

September 23, 2024

Ljubljana (Slovenia)

Deadline: April 29, 2024

Dear ECREA,

we (RUSINFORM, https://www.rusinform.uni-passau.de/en/) are announcing a call for papers for the ECREA pre-conference "The Informational Influence of Autocracies Abroad", which will take place in Ljubljana on 23 September, before the main ECREA conference (https://ecrea2024ljubljana.eu/). You can find more information on our website: https://www.rusinform.uni-passau.de/en/ecrea24preconf/ 

Our pre-conference will examine the external propaganda of authoritarian regimes around the world, including Russia, China, Iran and Turkey, analysing the creators, content, strategies and audiences. It aims to juxtapose historical and contemporary techniques.

Proposals of 300-500 words, excluding references, should be submitted to serge.poliakoff@uni-passau.de with the subject line "ECREA 2024 Pre-Conference". All proposals should be in English. The deadline for submission of proposals is 3 April 2024. 

Submitted proposals will be notified of acceptance/rejection by 29 April 2024. There is no pre-conference fee. This is an offline event, so all accepted presenters will be required to present in person.

Best regards, 

Julia Kling

 August 30, 2024 - October 25, 2024

Jönköping University, Sweden/online

Call for applications to the PhD course Streaming media, contemporary society, and cultural memory at Jönköping University, Sweden. The course can be attended fully online via Zoom or in person at the university. 

The course is free of charge for PhD students from any country and it is held in English. 

The course has 7,5 ECTS and it starts on August 30, 2024, and finishes on October 25, 2024, with deadline of the final assignment in November 2024. In total, there will be seven seminars. This is the schedule: 

The course is taught by Professor in Media and Communication Studies Renira Gambarato and Associate Professor in History Johannes Heuman. 

Applications are due on May 31, 2024. You can find the course syllabus here: https://ju.se/en/research/doctoral-programmes/doctoral-programmes-at-the-school-of-education-and-communication/doctoral-courses.html and you can apply here: https://oas.ju.se/apply/admission/apply?type=DoctoralStudies  

Course description 

The Streaming media, contemporary society, and cultural memory is a seminar-based course about the ongoing transition to streaming media that has a large impact on contemporary culture and society. This course will analyze and discuss different approaches to streaming media narratives and its infrastructure. The focus will be on: 

• the technological and cultural development of streaming services such as HBO Max and Netflix 

• contemporary media theories in relation to streaming media 

• how memories of the past and societal issues, such as sexism and inequality, are represented and communicated through streaming media platforms 

The course is entirely based on different streaming series such as Squid Game, Black Mirror, Chernobyl, The Handmaid's Tale, and The Crown. 

If you have any questions about the course, please contact: 

Renira Gambarato: renira.gambarato@ju.se   

Johannes Heuman: johannes.heuman@sh.se  

The young scholar network of ECREA, YECREA, is calling for early-career communication researchers across Europe to apply for 10 vacant positions as YECREA representatives.

Deadline for applications: 15th March 2024

The vacant positions are in the following Sections Sections/TWG/Networks:

• Audience and Reception Studies
  
• Communication and Democracy
  
• Communication History
  
• Communication, Law and Policy
  
• Diaspora, Migration and the Media
  
• Ethics of Mediated Suffering
  
• Health Communication
  
• Political Communication
  
• TV Studies
  
• Visual Cultures
  

The young scholar (YECREA) representative in each Section/TWG/Network assists the managing team (consisting of a chair and two vice-chairs) in organising panels, symposia and/or conferences, and promoting the specific research area. Furthermore, the YECREA representative works to inform early-career scholars about events in the field and takes part in organising events, such as pre-conference workshops or meetings.

The ‘young’ in young scholar is not a measure of age, but of career progression. Thus, all scholars in non-tenure positions (e.g. PhDs and postdocs) are welcome to apply. It should be noted that the position as YECREA representatives is not paid. We encourage applications from those who are able to commit to the role for at least one year.

Applications should be no more than 500 words and contain the following information:

• A heading with your name and the specific position you are applying for
  
• Details on your current university, position and progression
  
• A brief description of your research
  
• A brief statement on your work’s connection to the specific section, TWG or network
  
• A brief statement on your aspirations for improving early-career research/experiences
  

Applications and questions should be sent to: yecreanetwork@gmail.com  

More information can be found here: http://yecrea.eu/2024/02/15/call-for-yecrea-representative-10-vacant-position/

YECREA Management Team

Sandra Banjac (chair), University of Groningen 

Phoebe Maares (vice-chair), University of Vienna 

Antonio Cuartero (vice-chair), University of Malaga

Birte Leonhardt (communications officer), University of Vienna

Email: yecreanetwork@gmail.com

Twitter: @yecrea_eu

Facebook: YECREA