ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Revista Latinoamericana

Deadline: January 30, 2023

Volume 21 N° 3 (September-December de 2023)

Opening for receipt of articles: May 2022 Closing of receipt of articles: January 30, 2023

Editorial Committee for the monograph: Mahia Saracostti (Universidad de la Frontera, Universidad de Valparaíso, Unesco Chair on Childhood and Youth Wellbeing, Education and Society, Chile), Katitza Marinkovic (The University of Melbourne, Australia), Rocío López (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia), Dominique Sweneey (University of Melbourne, Australia).

Map monographic theme

All children and adolescents (CA) have the right to be heard, express their points of view, and considered in decision-making processes that affect their lives (ONU, 1989). These rights cannot be excluded from the field of scientific research and knowledge creation (Aguirre et al., 2021). Moreover, recent evidence has shown that in the context of Covid-19, research that actively engages with children and adolescents has acquired greater relevance (Cuevas-Parra, 2020) and this will continue in subsequent periods.

Participatory research with CA is an umbrella term that encompasses children’s participation in decision-making related to the research process. The active participation of children and adolescents in scientific research as co-researchers has evolved significantly in recent decades (Saracostti et al., 2015) which has shown a movement in the focus of social science research and research processes involving children and adolescents. This shift reflects a change of focus in social science research, from viewing children and adolescents as subjects-objects of studies, to acknowledging them as subjects capable of participating in the co-construction of knowledge (James & Prout, 2010).

In turn, this approach to intergenerational research between adult researchers and children can enable the construction of more democratic knowledge about their lives and the recognition of children and adolescents as agents of change and capable researchers (Marinkovic et al., 2022). Additionally, Liebel (2007) argued that research carried out with children and adolescents can generate significant and helpful knowledge to learn about their ways of thinking, opinions, and points of view. The specialized literature in this topic shows that CA are willing and able to participate in the different stages of research and that research benefits from their incorporation in the various stages (Davis, 2000; Davis et al., 2003; Jones, 2004; Kirby, 1999; Mannay, 2017; Shier, 2015). Additionally, adult researchers’ commitment to actively involve CA as co-researchers transforms both the process and outcomes of the research. In this way, the experience of being a young coresearcher itself holds the potential to become a significant learning tool for children and adolescents (Reimer & McLean, 2015).

Lundy and McEvoy (2011) attributed importance to CA actively participating in research question formulation, method suitability, data collection instrument design or application, analysis, and interpretation of results and/or dissemination materials and methodology design. To achieve this, flexible and creative methodologies are becoming increasingly popular in social research with children (Mannay, 2017; Tisdall et al., 2010). The scientific literature on the topic shows a variety of strategies for involving children in the research process, including focus groups, research capacity-building training sessions or workshops, photography, and filming.

Many participation strategies use a variety of data collection methods where children and adolescents are the subjects and we seek here to better differentiate between children's participation as subjects in studies that use participatory methods (e.g., focus groups to collect data) and children's participation within participatory research processes (e.g., focus groups used to involve children in decision making related to the research process). It is necessary to consider that participatory research with CA poses important ethical challenges for adult researchers, particularly in relation power-sharing during the process of knowledge co-construction (Rodríguez-Pascual, 2007).

Adult researchers require addressing these considerations to actively involve children in the research process and avoid tokenistic participation. Lundy, McEvoy and Byrne (2011) pointed out that this approach to doing research with CA implies a deep ethical commitment on the part of adult researchers to carefully design methodologies that make it possible to co-construct valid knowledge with CA about their views and experiences. In this context, participatory researchers have developed strategies and techniques to balance power dynamics in the research setting and facilitate children's freedom expression. For example, actively involving children in research from the outset of a project can help negotiate with them how they want to participate in the production of knowledge (if they wish to do so). This monograph will be guided by three central questions: (1) What methodological strategies have been used to involve children and adolescents in research processes as co-researchers in different contexts of Latin America and the world? (2) What are the implicit or explicit ethical considerations in participatory research studies conducted with child and adolescent co - researchers? (3) What are children and adolescents’ own views and experiences of being coresearchers?

In this monograph, we are concerned with providing space for the main results arising from research in which children and adolescents have participated as co-researchers, including thematic findings and an analysis of the methodological strategies and/or ethical dimensions at play. Articles from any country or region of the world will be accepted. Articles should follow the Guidelines of the authors of the journal (https://revistaumanizales.cinde.org.co/)

Special edition of the Journal of Social Sciences

Deadline (extended): August 31, 2022

We are currently seeking contributions for a forthcoming Special Issue entitled “The Politics of New Media Practices,” which will be published in the Journal of Social Sciences. In an expanding media verse that is increasingly intertwined with the world of politics, we are seeking to explore the ramifications and broader impacts of new media practices in the political realm, while the existence and operation of a broad range of social media outlets has, itself, become highly politicized in recent years.

We welcome theoretical, empirical, or professional contributions of the highest standard on any of the following topics: polarization; hate speech; fake news; populism; sensationalism and clickbait; activism and new media practices; moderation policies and free speech issues; algorithms policy making approaches (such as net neutrality and regulation of social media).

Ph.D. candidates with original empirical research are also strongly encouraged to submit an abstract.

The submission deadline has been extended to August 31, 2022.

Guest Editors

• Dr. Vasiliki Tsagkroni
• Dr. Michael Nevradakis

Manuscript Submission Information

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

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

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs), however, discounts and waivers may be requested from the publisher. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

• polarization
• hate speech
• fake news
• populism
• sensationalism and clickbait
• activism and new media practices
• moderation policies and free speech issues
• algorithms policy making approaches

Special Issue Editors

• Dr. Vasiliki Tsagkroni E-Mail Website (Guest Editor)

Comparative Politics, Institute of Political Science, Leiden University, 2311 EZ Leiden, The Netherlands

Interests: comparative politics; discourse analysis; political communication; political radicalism; political science; populism; radicalisation

• Dr. Michael Nevradakis E-Mail Website (Guest Editor)

Faculty of Communication, Hellenic American University, Nashua, NH 03063, USA

Interests: communication and journalism; Social media and the public sphere; media policy and regulation; political communication; alternative media

October 14, 2022

Zoom

Deadline: June 30, 2022

Online workshop before the 9th European Communication Conference

The pandemic has put lots of restraints on audience research making it harder to conduct and pushing scholars to adjust their research methodology to suitable ways of data collection. With the Audience and Reception Studies pre-conference workshop we will look at how audience research has changed, increasingly shifting to a digital methodology, and what are the methodological challenges faced by researchers given Covid restrictions.

Join us to discuss your experiences of how to do audience research during these times, to share your thoughts of what is methodologically “feasible” and what is not, to address your concerns on how audience research is changing or your ideas about new innovative tools and methods that can be used.

You can review the specific methodology used in your current project and how this adapts to the (post) Covid era, or discuss the difficulties you are facing in applying your methods of data collection, or address wider matters of interest regarding methodology (e.g. how is qualitative research taking place during the pandemic? Are we increasingly moving to quantitative methods of audience research? What are the losses and what are the gains of such changes? and more).

Rather than the usual format, this online event will consist of workshops made up of 15-20-minute methodological reflections designed to generate debate and discussion.

The workshop will take place online on Friday, 14 October 2022.

Fill in the registration form no later than 30 June 2022 and give us an indication of the method/topic you would like to present or discuss.

No attendance fee required.

More detailed program to follow soon after the registration is closed.

For questions regarding the workshop, please email

• Alessandro Nani, Tallinn University, alessandro.nani@tlu.ee
• Vivi Theodoropoulou, vivitheodoropoulou@gmail.com
• Jelena Kleut, University of Novi Sad, jelena.kleut@ff.uns.ac.rs

October 12, 2022 (9am-1pm GMT)

Online

Deadline: July 8, 2022

In the digital age, school-age children are increasingly digital consumers, highly exposed to different digital media – particularly mobile media -, and living immersed in a sea of data and information. If leveraged in an appropriate and meaningful way, digital technology can be a game changer for children from low income households, for children with special needs, as well as for young migrants and other vulnerable or at risk groups – opening new doors to engage in social, political and economic dynamics. However, if access is kept restricted, if children’s digital rights cannot be guaranteed or when media and information literacy (MIL) competencies are not promoted effectively, digital technology can lead to the amplification of existing divides. This can make it difficult for younger generations to enjoy the empowering potential that might flow from their interactions with technologies.

Children engage with digital technologies through imitation, gradually refining their practices making these infrastructures central vehicles of expression, learning and living. Screens become much more than mirrors of reality; they are reality; they become sources of experiences and the center of growth for a generation profoundly linked to hybrid spaces with both digital and materials layers.

In this scenario, terms such as algorithms, attention economy, produsage, metaverse, digital citizenship and participation are more than buzzwords used in socio-political and economic discourses. They are key aspects and mediators of everyday life. Considering their impact, it is essential that these key terms are considered from multiple perspectives and through the lens of different stakeholders, including the government, academia, industry and civil society. Therefore, with our event we aim to promote the establishment of such dialogues in order to join forces to prevent negative impacts, to promote the positive growth and engagement of younger generations with digital technologies, and to develop new pedagogies and transferable knowledge (Fedorov, Levitskaya & Camarero, 2016; Nupairoj, 2016).

We invite all students, researchers, practitioners, youth workers, NGO members and others (ECREA and non-ECREA members) with expertise and/or interest in the topics of this pre-conference to participate and engage in roundtable discussions and participant-led sessions.

The envisioned outcome of our event is to create a:

• List of recommendations or key takeaways from the roundtable and participant-lead sessions;
• Short online publication based on the papers from the attendee-lead sessions or a short aftermovie;
• A strengthened community in which participants have gained fresh ideas, in a collaborative and creative way.

Format

This pre-conference intends to be a participant-led event. It will engage participants in an interactive and fruitful dialogue about how government, academia, industry and civil society – four major actors in the innovation system – can collaborate to promote a positive digital future for the young generations, as well as to showcase good practices. Its final goal is to highlight learnings that can contribute to the positive development of the activities carried out in each of these sectors, towards a healthy growth in the algorithmic conundrum.

We start with one roundtable that will gather academics, teachers and trainers, NGO members, decision-makers and professionals of the tertiary sector focused on the major issues related to the theme of the pre-conference. We invite all participants to submit questions they wish to see addressed during this roundtable.

Then two participant-led sessions will take place. We will give our community the chance to present their works and reflections about subjects related to the pre-conference’s topics. These participant-led sessions will promote a critical, creative and collaborative environment to foster discussion and sharing of experiences and knowledge among all participants.

Find the preliminary program below:

9:00 – Welcome

9:15 – Roundtable

10:50 – Break

11:00 – Participant-led session 1

11:50 – Break

12:00 – Participant-led session 2

12:45 – Closing

Call for participation

The ECREA CYM seeks submissions that link to one or more of the following topics but not exclusively:

• media and digital exposure;
• attention economy;
• metaverse and new hybrid realities;
• vulnerable groups and digital disconnection;
• algorithms and the impact in online learning and media consumption;
• algorithms and emotional wellbeing;
• challenges and threats to digital citizenship and participation;
• innovative pedagogical approaches to Media and Information Literacy;
• experiences and collaboration with stakeholders beyond academia.

In your application, you can contribute to our event by submitting:

• one or more questions you would like to see addressed in the roundtable, with a special focus on the major themes covered by the event;
• and/or

abstracts (max 500 words, excl. references if applicable) about the topics above that you would like to present at the participant-led sessions. Participants can submit up to three abstracts. Abstracts must have a maximum length of 500 words which does not include the reference list and also not the keywords. For each abstract you submit, include at least the following aspects 1) title 2) body text 5) keywords (up to 5 keywords max). Presentations of the selected works must have a max. duration of 10 min.

This event will be online and free of charge.

How to submit your proposal?

Questions for the roundtables and/ or short abstracts must be submitted by 8th July through the form below.

Submit your proposal here.

For questions regarding your submission, please contact ana.oliveira@ulp.pt

Important dates

Submission/ questions and abstracts submission deadline: 8th July 2022

Communication of results: 1st August 2022

Registration deadline: 16th september

Pre-conference Date: 12th October 2022

November 23-25, 2022

Berlin, Germany (HIIG Berlin, ZeM Potsdam)

Deadline: June 20, 2022

Autonomy has been a multifaceted term for centuries that was and remains a key concept in discussions about individuals and societies alike. More recently, autonomy has gained a renewed relevance and additional meanings in the context of technical innovation, where it is ubiquitously employed in variations of “autonomous systems”. It is often associated with independently moving or self-controlling machines such as drones, vehicles or robots, or more generally with a wide range of automation processes. In this broad understanding, 'autonomous' becomes an attribute for (artificial) intelligence or (machine) learning and is used synonymously with self-determination or adaptability. At the same time, the term invokes (at least) one other meaning: a relational understanding of autonomy that denotes individual and collective processes that are embedded in infrastructures and conditioned by them. It is only in relation to and in the context of media, rules, norms, laws, practices, architectures, materialities or machines that the idea of autonomy acquires any meaning at all.

Against this backdrop the Infrastructures of Autonomy conference’s main objective is to address said conditions, structures and relations that constitute both human and machine autonomy. This also entails the various interpretations of the concept of autonomy.

In particular, papers are invited that address the following core themes:

● Conceptual aspects: This core theme reflects on the historical and philosophical roots that shape today’s debates on autonomy and automation. We pick up on the feminist discourse of “relational autonomy” that established the irreducibility of interdependence and relatedness for normative theories of autonomy. We posit that there is a troubling tension between industrial and digital automation that benefits consumerist subjects and the struggle for autonomisation that is dependent upon the suspension of automatic responses made by moral subjects. This struggle has always relied on external means of suspension and establishing new habits. For example, what is the contribution of technical, economic or public infrastructures to the normative claims and ethical or political practices of autonomisation? How does the extended conception of rationality that explicitly includes artefacts relate to the findings of infrastructure studies? Is autonomy always “scaffolded”? What can automated data capture and processing contribute to the struggles for autonomisation? Or does this automation of so many aspects of life rather interfere with these struggles? Lastly, if autonomisation depends on uncovering and suspending habits in the sense of dis-automatisation, how can the conspicuous tension between this dis-automatisation and the automatisation of infrastructures be conceived without falling back into a simple opposition?

● Technologies: This core theme is primarily driven by the idea of so-called “autonomous systems”, a term often used to describe a degree of (machine) agency without human oversight or control. These phenomena necessitate a reflection of agential hybrids – intricate human/machine networks of distributed agency and responsibility – and lead to questions on the varying degrees of automation and the contexts and structures of human/machine relations and interaction. What are the conditions of autonomy in “autonomous systems” – from planning and implementation to interaction with them; is it conceivable at all to make autonomy programmable? Which concept of learning is applied in “self-learning systems”? We are also interested in exploring the configurations of machine autonomy, may it be enacted or prescribed to these technical objects, and understanding its relationship(s) to human autonomy in the varying contexts that exist today.

● Bodies: The third core theme focuses on the somatic aspects and cognitive requirements of (human) autonomy. This refers to those premises of autonomy that are associated with socio-cultural constructs of human dis/ability, but also includes the role of affects, non-conscious cognitions and ‘automatic’ habits that counter the prevalent idea of the conscious and autonomous mind. The material dimension of technology plays an important role in these considerations, namely in settings of human-machine interaction, leading to questions of interface design, the ‘bodily’ presence of machines and the complex aspect of their potential to enable or constrain human agency and autonomy. We are interested in discussing how infrastructures in interaction with bodies shape, enable or prohibit autonomy; what performances of bodily autonomy might look like; and how this entanglement and enactment changes with new mechanical and digital infrastructures. In particular, we would like to address how the practice of care for one's own and other bodies is changing under the conditions of a computerised world.

All these major themes are to be understood as highly interconnected with the effect of mutually constituting dynamic infrastructures of autonomy. We believe the discourse on infrastructures of autonomy is highly relevant beyond a theoretical perspective, since it touches upon issues with high stakes and severe consequences, such as:

● autonomous weapon systems

● robotics and smart technologies in the field of care work

● health care applications and technologies

● autonomous systems in the field of machine learning

● smart housing and smart cities

● …

We welcome contributions from scholars of diverse disciplines, such as the arts, cognitive science, computer science, cultural studies, design studies, literature and film studies, media and communication studies, philosophy, psychology, political science, science and technology studies or sociology. Interdisciplinary approaches (e.g., those combining social, cultural and technical perspectives) are particularly encouraged. Submission process

● Abstracts of approximately 300 to 500 words in length (excl. references) should be submitted no later than 20 June 2022 to autonomy@hiig.de

● Speakers will be notified by 30 July 2022

It is planned to publish selected papers.

If you have any questions, you can contact the conference organisers via autonomy@hiig.de. For more information, visit our website at hiig.de/en/infrastructures-of-autonomy/.

Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG)

Thomas Christian Bächle & Theresa Züger

Brandenburg Center for Media Studies (ZeM)

Bernd Bösel & Jan Distelmeyer

Editor: Ofer Feldman

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-19-0576-6#about-book-content

This book presents a collection of studies on political interviews in a variety of broadcast media worldwide. Following the growing scholarly interest in media talk as a dominant form of political communication in contemporary society, a number of eminent international scholars analyze empirical material from the discourse of public figures and interviewer–journalists to address questions related to the characteristics, conduct, and potential effects of political interviews. Chapters span a varied array of cultural contexts: the U.S.A., U.K., Israel, Japan, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Australia, Philippines, Finland, Brazil, Malaysia, Spain, Venezuela, Montenegro, and the European Community, enabling a comparison of the different structures and contents of political interviews in societies from West to East. Authors bring an interest in discourse and conversation analysis, as well as in rhetorical techniques and strategies used by both interviewers and interviewees, from different disciplinary viewpoints including linguistic, political, cultural, sociological, and social–psychological. In doing so, the book develops a framework to assess the extent to which media political interviews and talk shows, and regular news programs, play a central role in transmitting accurate and genuine political information to the general public, and how audiences can make sense of these programs’ output.

University of Salzburg, Austria, Communication Department, Chair Public Spheres & Inequalities

Announcement code: GZ A 0107/1-2022

Submit your full application to: bewerbung@plus.ac.at

Application Deadline: June 8th, 2022

Do you want to be part of a dynamic and international team at a new chair? Do you want to push the research on global communication and asymmetries?

The newly established chair Public Spheres and Inequalities, Department of Communication Studies, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, is hiring a postdoc (early phase, (Postdoc (§ 26 of the Collective Agreement) with a research focus on global communication and international asymmetries (with relevance to any of the following sub-themes migration and public spheres, postcolonialism - global communication, - activism and inclusion). For more information contact: hanan.badr@plus.ac.at

Key Data:

• Starting date: October 1, 2022
• Duration of employment: 5 years, fulltime
• Workload: 40 hours, flexible working hours
• Salary: € 4,061.50 gross (14x per year, Group B1)

Responsibilities:

• Publish scientific research and teaching,
• support in research and teaching and administrative tasks
• with a possibility to work on habilitation (second book) is provided;
• participation in projects at the division of Public Spheres and Inequalities is expected.

Employment requirements:

• Completed doctoral studies in communication studies (or a related social science subject area) with a recognizable relevance to global communication and asymmetries in any of the following fields: migration and public spheres - postcolonialism - activism and inclusion

• independent teaching of four hours per week (2 courses);
• experience with qualitative and/or quantitative methods,
• international scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals;
• knowledge of theories and methods in communication studies;
• letter of motivation that presents career path, research and teaching experience and names of two references;

• very good written and spoken English;
• submitting a scientific concept for research, teaching, and outreach for the next five years.

The following qualifications are of advantage:

• experience with international projects in teaching and research;
• experience with obtaining third-party funding on a regional, national or international level;
• self-reflexive and has a critical orientation;
• an early phase postdoc (ideally no longer than 3 years ago, parental leave will be taken into account)

• good knowledge of German as well as a third foreign language are an advantage. Otherwise learning the German language within two years is expected.

• Desired personal qualities: strong communication skills, ability to work in a team and cooperate, reliability, critical thinking skills.

October 12-15, 2022

Ankara, Turkey

Deadline: June 19, 2022

Conference website: https://www.cidainternational.org

Submission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=cidainternational202

Info

CIDA International is an international symposium organized jointly by the Communication Research Association (ILAD), which was founded in 1989, and the Communication Faculty Deans Council (ILDEK), formed by the deans of communication faculties operating in Turkey and abroad since 2000, depending on the Turkish higher education system. Two Communication Symposiums in the Digital Age were held, the first of which was hosted by Mersin University Faculty of Communication in 2018 and the second one hosted by İzmir University of Economics Faculty of Communication in 2020. The third of the symposium, CIDA International 2022, will be held under the leadership of Ankara University Faculty of Communication (ILEF), in addition to the communication faculties of Başkent University, Hacettepe University and Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University, as well as the relevant departments and programs of Çankaya, Atılım, Ankara Social Sciences universities in Ankara. It will be held in Ankara on 12-15 October 2022 by an academic consortium consisting of departments.

Call For Papers

The dominant position of the field of communication in the regulation of social life and its centuries-old history as an academic discipline places it among the main determinants of the digital age. It is a well-known fact that studies on the general and sub-branches of the field have started to meet at the intersection of digitalization in the historical process and that digitalization-oriented approaches are next to what traditional and canonical studies have brought to the communication literature. While drawing attention to an important question whether this situation signifies a paradigmatic transformation in the field of communication or is it just a moment that emerges in the historical flow; a conjunctural situation also stands out, in which the extent of digitalization reminds of infrared, which is essentially an outdated technical expansion. This technology, in which information is coded and transferred to the receiver with the use of a led light, has already been replaced by means of wireless and long-distance access, but the excitement in the first reaction of humanity to this transmission, where it is not seen but the results can be seen, still keeps the acceleration of the digital age from the Matrix to the Metaverse universe alive.

The fantastic content of the narratives that present archaic projections about the transmission of knowledge, that the knowledge currently on earth may point to an ontological entity that we somehow decoded and revealed over time, not that we found later, but that was encoded in our cells; doesn't it draw a remarkable framework in terms of signifying the continuity in the transfer of information from one place to another, even though it is parallel to what the lens held to the unknowns of the universe can show? Although this speculation in itself “how did it happen?” doesn't answer the question, the digitization of information transfer encourages questions about who and what it was that brought forth the Metaverse universe after The Matrix and Black Mirror.

While approaching the development of the possibilities of technique from a deterministic and essentialist point of view, the questions that those in the aforementioned universes start to act independently of their creators or how they may feel towards those who created them; does it announce that the human is replacing God? The proposition that there is no time period in which predictions turn into so many new facts reveal so much foresight is strengthened by the fact that fictional contents have a factual nature gradually, and that there is no limit to what has been predicted over what has happened.

While CIDA International 2022 has the identity of an ancient time agora in a digital age where questions directed to the conventional discussion areas of communication and evaluations from other disciplines that place the concept of communication at its center, its participants and stakeholders in this age, who and what the subject is, through digital universes that look like portable temples calls for questioning. In this context, it presents a clear and provocative call to examine the facts and make comments on what is predicted.

Organized by the academic consortium formed under the leadership of Ankara University Faculty of Communication (ILEF), CIDA International 2022 will be held in Ankara on 12-15 October 2022. The course of the COVID-19 epidemic will be decisive, but face-to-face symposium is prioritized. In this context, the calendar of CIDA International 2022, where online presentations can be made in mandatory cases, starts on February 1, 2022.

Submission Guidelines

CIDA International 2022 is open to the work of academics and postgraduate researchers in the field of communication, as well as evaluations from other disciplines that place the concept of communication at its core. Applications will be accepted with extended abstracts between 900 - 1000 words. The subject, purpose, method and findings of the study should be clearly stated in the abstracts. Other than these, references and bibliography should not be used.

Venue

CIDA International 2022, where online presentations can be made in mandatory cases, will be held in Ankara on 12-15 October 2022. The course of the COVID-19 epidemic will be decisive, but face-to-face symposium is prioritized.

Contact

All questions about submissions should be e-mailed to info@cidainternational.org

12 October 2022

Zoom

Deadline: June 30, 2022

Online pre-conference before the 9th European Communication Conference

Since its inception, mediatization has been a contested term within media and communication research that includes different perspectives on the interrelation between technological and sociocultural change. While it can be argued that mediatization as a meta-process is an omnipresent part of human history, mediatization research is primarily a response to the progressing digitization and datafication of society and its consequences for human interaction and sense-making. The mediatization approach is characterized by different perspectives: constructivist, institutional, material and cultural as well as critical giving academics the possibility to discuss theoretically and methodologically socio-technological change. Where traditional communication research focused on media as independent entities, mediatization research contributed by highlighting interrelations and the interweaving of media and practices within different fields of human interaction.

However, as technology and society change, many of the claims that set early mediatization research apart have become self-evident in the light of the ubiquity of technical gadgets, social networks, and a sprawling digital infrastructure. As computers of different shapes and forms have not only become part of all symbolic operations, they have also evolved into “smart” infrastructures that act as gatekeepers between humans and the reality they live in, affecting us on a deeper level. What was once theorized and studied within specific communities and practices is now a widely accepted fait accompli that touches every aspect of everyday life.

Through all of this, mediatization has remained a useful yet broad concept that offers various points of contact for researchers from different disciplines. At the same time, mediatization has become an all-encompassing umbrella term for studying social and technological change. Its proponents find themselves targeting and discussing their research within more specialized, thematically relevant contexts. With core issues of mediatization research being widely discussed in various contexts, the boundaries and benefits of mediatization research are at risk of becoming diluted, raising the question of what makes this approach unique and compelling for future research?

Mediatization approach, theory and field have met with many critical objections over the past years, to which valuable answers have been formulated. At the same time, however, the dynamics of change in the media environment have accelerated further; giving way to datafication, algorithmization, platformization, and the growing influence of artificial intelligence. This raises questions about the status of the research field of mediatization; the relationship between processes and meta-processes; and fundamental definitional issues about what media and communication are now in the context of complex technological processes (the importance of big data and the analysis of users’ data and behaviour), new economic conditions (data capitalism, forecasting and surveillance) and new socio-cultural conditions, including pandemic and post-pandemic reality.

We want to invite researchers to discuss the past and the future of mediatization research as a broad yet unifying approach. Hence, this call addresses both established mediatization theorists, senior researchers, and early-career academics, from different backgrounds utilizing the concept of mediatization. We hope for theoretical and empirical ideas of how mediatization is currently understood and how the concept inspires future research.

We suggest the following topics:

- main objections to mediatization research, responses and defenses

- research challenges related to contemporary technological processes (platformization, datafication, algorithmization, artificial intelligence)

- necessary methodological, phenomenological and ethical transformations concerning the research field

- possible and needed new directions of development of the research field

- existing and potential threats related to the near future of mediatization research

- desirable transformations of particular research areas and topics (stabilized and emerging)

Planned conference day schedule

To discuss these issues, we plan a one-day online pre-conference in the week leading up to the main conference in Aarhus. First, we would like to kick off the event by allowing researchers to present their recent work on mediatization, with particular attention to the status of the field, its challenges, problems, and possible directions for development, subsequently, we would like to open up the discussion, , inviting senior scholars, including Göran Bolin, Nick Couldry, Kirsten Frandsen, Andreas Hepp, Stig Hjarvard, Knut Lundby, Friedrich Krotz, Carlos A. Scolari and other guests to provide responses, comments, and to discuss and explore the future of mediatization research.

Please fill the form to submit your abstract: https://bit.ly/3IyP71e by 30.06.2022.

The conference is free of charge.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the organizing team:

- Katarzyna Kopecka-Piech, katarzyna.kopecka.piech@gmail.com

- Rita Figueiras, ritafigueiras@fch.lisboa.ucp.pt

- Jakob Hörtnagl, jakob.hoertnagl@phil.uni-augsburg.de

- Jeannine Teichert, jeannine.teichert@uni-paderborn.de

- Mateusz Sobiech, mateusz.sobiech@o2.pl

June 21, 2022 (10  AM - 5 PM)

Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science

To attend in person, register here / to attend online, register here

This one-day seminar explores political and media discourses of forced migration in Europe in the contexts of the war in Ukraine and the earlier ‘refugee crisis.’ Anti-refugee and anti-immigration discourses were politically effective during the so-called ‘migration crisis’ of 2015. The collective production of culturally prejudiced knowledge constructed refugees as a ‘threat’ and turned them into Europe’s ‘enemy.’ It drew on discursive patterns of Islamophobia, Euro-scepticism, anti-globalisation, racism and discrimination.

The discourse of threat has been largely absent from the coverage of the war in Ukraine and its refugees. For the Bulgarian Prime Minister, Ukrainian refugees are ‘not the usual refugee wave of people with an unclear past. None of the European countries is worried about them’.

Why are Europeans worried at times, yet welcome refugees on other occasions? What is driving European attitudes to forced migration? What is the role of media in the production of knowledge on migration?

This seminar brings together researchers and practitioners to explore political and media constructions of migrants and refugees, past and present, to engage with questions:

How are migrants & refugees constructed by word and image?

What are the new lines of inclusions and exclusions in Europe’s migration policy, discourse and practice? What purpose does this discourse serve?

What’s driving Europe’s politics of borders? How are borders narrated and justified?

How do migrants & refugees use media to communicate themselves?

THE SEMINAR IS ORGANISED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH: LSE Media, Collegium Civitas, NAWA, POLIS

THE SEMINAR IS FINANCED BY: Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) Project No.: PPI/APM/2018/1/00019

PROGRAMME

PANEL 1 (10:00-11:30): The real and mediated lives of refugees

The communicative architecture of the wartime border: Control, hope and solidarity; Myria Georgiou, London School of Economics, UK & Marek Troszyński, Collegium Civitas, Poland

Smartphones as personal digital archives? Recentring migrant authority as curating and storytelling subjects; Koen Leurs, Utrecht University, the Netherlands

Images of Ukrainian refugees in Ukraine: statuses, interpretations, values; Anna Taschenko and Ludmila Iuzva, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine

PANEL 2 (12:00-13:00) Europe’s dangerous borders: an academic perspective

The colour line and the externalization of borders; Pierluigi Musaro, University of Bologna

The forgotten asylum seekers at the Polish-Belarussian border; Magda El-Ghamari, Collegium Civitas

PANEL 3 (13:30-15:00): Europe’s dangerous borders: through the eyes of practitioners

Refugees and people on the move: health needs; Dr Apostolos Veizis, Executive Director INTERSOS, Greece

Two borders, two standards of refugee protection in Poland. Experience in organizing humanitarian aid; Anna Dabrowska, Director, Homo Faber, Warsaw

From Criminalising Asylum Seekers to Expulsions to Rwanda: The UK’s Externalisation and Anti-Refugee Policies; Dr Emilie McDonnell, UK Advocacy Coordinator, Human Rights Watch.

PANEL 4 (15:50-17:00) Media and the construction of cultural borders

A Great Divide: Polish media discourse on migration; Marek Troszyński & Magdalena El-Ghamari, Collegium Civitas, Poland

Albanian media discourse on three refugee crises: Syria, Afghanistan, and Ukraine in comparative perspective; Elona Dhëmbo & Erka Çaro, University of Tirana, Albania

Migration trends in Kosovo: the rising brain drain phenomena; Labinot Hajdari & Judita Krasniqi; Kosovo Center of Diplomacy, Kosovo

Racism and historical amnesia in the British media coverage of migration; Eva Polonska, LSE