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IAMCR Communications Policy and Technology Section - Call for papers

The Communications Policy and Technology Section of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites proposals on the theme of Media and Global Divides, for the 26th Annual Research Conference, to be held at Stockholm University, Sweden, 20-25 July 2008.

Economic, gender, age, racial and social divides have typified global society from ancient times to the present, and are frequently reflected in conventional media representations and output. These traditional divides often re-emerge in the context of New Digital Media, at the centre of which are the Internet, Web 2.0 applications and Next Generation Networks. The CPT Section is inviting further and deeper research and reflections on social context, policy implications and solutions to the related issues.

Click here to go to the IAMCR conference website.

The theme ‘Media and Global Divides’ reflects one of the prevailing challenges of public policymaking in digital domains globally. It also represents one of the primary research areas of the Communications Policy and Technology Section of the IAMCR. The Section therefore welcomes this subject as the overall theme of the Stockholm 2008 IAMCR Conference and invites the submission of abstracts bearing on the related Sectional sub-theme: Digital Divides: New Media, ICT Policies and User Empowerment.

Are public and corporate policies keeping up with changes in citizen demand for greater access to the new communication tools? Is there now a more balanced inclusion of the voices of varied demographic groups such as youth, the elderly, women, men and the disabled in digital media output? Do the burgeoning information and communication technologies (ICTs) offer more access or less for those at the bottom of the economic pyramid? What are the new innovations that offer a greater chance of social equity? Can New Media help to redress imbalances in conventional communications output or do these emerging applications mainly create new info-elites? Are the new patterns of user-generated content and online communities a form of emancipation from conventional output inequalities and how do they affect concepts of quality, ownership, participation and identity? Is there now more scope for redressing the historic access and informational chasm between the global North and the Global South? The questions abound.

The CPT Section welcomes abstracts of between 300 and 500 words from scholars of any academic discipline bearing on these and related issues. Topics of particular interest in abstract submissions to the Section include:

• The Impacts of National or Regional Communications Policies on Minorities
• The Meaning and Significance of Digital Technologies and Global Divides for varied communities of interest, such as Rural or Urban residents, youth and the elderly
• Technology, Communications Policy and Inequality in Historical Perspectives
• Mobile Broadband, Telephony Usage Patterns and Poverty
• Emerging Divides in Relation to New Media use within Families, Personal Relationships, Neighbourhoods, Communities and Cities
• Mediating Dominance - ICT’s and Alternative Media
• Emerging Technologies, Markets and New Business Models
• New Media, First Nations and Cultural Challenges or Empowerment
• Technology Designs, Markets and Issues of Consumer Usage
• Digital Divides and the future of NGNs and Web 2.0
• Wars, Conflicts and the Digital Divide
• Internet Governance, the WSIS Process and Global Divides
• Gender, Race and Social Representations on the Internet
• Intellectual Property, Open Source Policies and the Future of Research
• Public Policy-making, ICTs and e-Inclusion

Abstracts of no more than 500 words, addressing one or more of the above topics should be submitted in Word format to Maria Michalis (M.Michalis@Westminster.ac.uk) and Jo Pierson (CPT08@telenet.be) before January 31, 2008. Abstracts should state the title as well as the methodology or approaches used and introduce the empirical material on which the paper is based.

Each abstract may be presented in only one Section of the IAMCR Conference. Offering duplicates of the same paper to different Sections of the Association is likely to result in elimination of the duplicate abstract.

Each abstract must include title, presenter’s name(s), institutional affiliation and email addresses of author(s). Applicants will be advised by March 31, 2008 of the outcome of their submissions. The full text of accepted papers will be required no later than 15th June 2008.

Submission Synopsis
Abstract Submission Deadline: January 31, 2008
Abstract Length: Maximum 500 words, including keywords
To be sent to: Maria Michalis (M.Michalis@Westminster.ac.uk) and Jo Pierson (CPT08@telenet.be)
Notification of Acceptance: March 31, 2008
Full Papers to be submitted by: June 15, 2008

IAMCR CPT Section
Hopeton S. Dunn and Jo Pierson (Section Chairs)
Maria Michalis and Bart Cammaerts (Deputy Section Chairs)

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