[Air-l] Call for Papers: Social Determinants of Public Policy in the Information Age

[Merlyna Lim]

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Information Society (TIS) special issue on

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF PUBLIC POLICY IN THE INFORMATION AGE

Edited by Milton Mueller (Syracuse University) and Becky Lentz (Ford
Foundation)

If the 1990s was the decade of market liberalization in media and
telecommunication
industries, what will the next decade be? What will define the agenda for
communication
and information policy in the next decade?

Current policy discourse is focused on relatively narrow regulatory or legal
issues, such
as broadband regulation, the proper scope of intellectual property rights,
interconnection
and competition in telecommunications, and media concentration. While
recognizing the
importance of issue-specific policy research, this special issue would
attempt to shift
some attention to the underlying social determinants of public policy.  The
objective is to
encourage the development of revised conceptions of the public interest
appropriate to a
transformed industrial and political environment. Interdisciplinary papers
that bring
together insights from political science, sociology, economics, and cultural
studies are
especially welcome.   Ideally, papers would shed light on current
developments and place
them in perspective that has relevance for the future.

As more specific examples of the type of papers/research we seek:

* Analyses of long-term change in media and telecommunications institutions
that draw
upon any relevant literature of institutional change (e.g., the New
Institutional
Economics, the Old Institutional Economics, social movement theory, property
rights
economics, organizational repertoires and innovation).

* Papers exploring changes in the way citizens, consumers, business groups
or other
constituencies are organizing to influence communication and information
policy,
including new analyses of how so-called global civil society or
transnational advocacy
networks are involved in communication and information issues.

* Papers that assess the impact of globalization on communication and
information
policies, and explore the relationship between national policies,
constituencies, and
institutions on the one hand and international organizations and
constituencies on the
other.

* How conceptions of the public interest in communication and information
policy have
changed in response to new technologies, new industry conditions and
political and social
developments. Are new theories of the public interest in communications and
information
policy being formed?

* Explorations of the role of ideas and scholarly research in shaping,
fomenting or
resisting changes in policy. How are normative principles responding to the
changing
landscape?

Manuscripts prepared according to the TIS guidelines (http://www-
slis.lib.indiana.edu/TIS/vtisinst.html) should be submitted by October 1,
2003.  Please
send the manuscripts to: Milton Mueller <mueller at syr.edu>.  Authors are
encouraged to
discuss their ideas with the guest editors.