[Air-l] Reminder - CATaC'06 in Estonia - Papers due 13 February

[Fay Sudweeks]

To: @NAME@
CALL FOR PAPERS

International Conference on
CULTURAL ATTITUDES TOWARDS TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATION (CATaC'06)

28 June - 1 July 2006
University of Tartu, Estonia
http://www.catacconference.org

Conference theme:
Neither Global Village nor Homogenizing Commodification:
Diverse Cultural, Ethnic, Gender and Economic Environments

The biennial CATaC conference series continues to provide an
international forum for the presentation and discussion of current
research on how diverse cultural attitudes shape the implementation and
use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The conference
series brings together scholars from around the globe who provide
diverse perspectives, both in terms of the specific culture(s) they
highlight in their presentations and discussions, and in terms of the
discipline(s) through which they approach the conference theme.

The 1990s' hopes for an "electronic global village" have largely been
shunted aside by the Internet's explosive diffusion. This diffusion was
well described by Marx - all that is solid melts into air - and was
predicted by 
postmodernists. The diffusion of CMC technologies quickly led to many
and diverse internets. A single "Internet", whose identity and
characteristics might be examined as a single unity, has not
materialised. An initially culturally and gender homogenous Internet
came more and more to resemble an urban metropolis. Along the way, in
the commercialization of the Internet and the Web, "cultural diversity"
gets watered down and exchanges strong diversity for a homogenous
interchangeability. Such diversity thereby becomes commodified and
serves a global capitalism that tends to foster cultural homogenization.


CATaC'06 continues our focus on the intersections of culture,
technology, and communication, beginning with an emphasis on continued
critique of the assumptions, categories, methodologies, and theories
frequently used to analyse these. At the same time, CATaC'06 takes up
our characteristic focus on ethics and justice in the design and
deployment of CMC technologies. We particularly focus on developing
countries facilitated by "on the ground" approaches in the work of NGOs,
governmental agencies, etc., in ways that preserve and foster cultural
identity and diversity. By simultaneously critiquing and perhaps
complexifying our theories and assumptions, on the one hand, and
featuring "best practices" approaches to CMC in development work, on the
other hand, CATaC'06 aims towards a middle ground between a putative
"global village" and homogenizing commodification. Such middle ground
fosters cultural diversity, economic and social development, and more
successful cross-cultural communication online.

Original full papers (especially those which connect theoretical
frameworks with specific examples of cultural values, practices, etc.:
10-20 pages) and short papers (e.g. describing current research projects
and preliminary results: 3-5 pages) are invited. 

Topics of particular interest include but are not limited to:
- Culture isn't 'culture' anymore
- The Internet isn't the 'Internet' anymore 
- Gender, culture, empowerment and CMC 
- CMC and cultural diversity 
- Ethics and justice 
- Free/Open technology and communication
- Internet research ethics
- Cultural diversity and e-learning 

SUBMISSIONS
All submissions will be peer reviewed by an international panel of
scholars and researchers and accepted papers will appear in the
conference proceedings. Submission of a paper implies that it has not
been submitted or published elsewhere. At least one author of each
accepted paper is expected to present the paper at the conference.

Full papers (10-20 formatted pages) - 13 February 2006  
Short papers (3-5 formatted pages) - 20 February 2006 
Workshop submissions  - 20 February 2006 
Notification of acceptance  - mid March 2006 
Final formatted papers  - 29 March 2006 

There will be the opportunity for selected papers from this 2006
conference to appear in special issues of journals. Papers in previous
conferences have appeared in journals (Journal of Computer Mediated
Communication, Electronic Journal of Communication/La Revue Electronique
de Communication, AI and Society, Javnost- The Public, and New Media and
Society) and a book (Culture, Technology, Communication: towards an
Intercultural Global Village, 2001, edited by Charles Ess with Fay
Sudweeks, SUNY Press, New York). You may purchase the conference
proceedings from the 2002 and 2004 conference from
www.it.murdoch.edu.au/catac.

CONFERENCE CO-CHAIRS
  Charles Ess, Drury University, USA, catac at it.murdoch.edu.au
  Fay Sudweeks, Murdoch University, Australia, catac at it.murdoch.edu.au
PROGRAM CHAIR
  Herbert Hrachovec, University of Vienna, Austria
CONFERENCE CO-VICE-CHAIRS
  Pille Runnel, Tartu University, Estonia
  Pille Vengerfeldt, Tartu University, Estonia