[Air-l] CfP 31 Oct 2006: Electronic J of Communication - Communicative Ecologies

[Marcus Foth]

Reminder

CALL FOR PAPERS -- closes 31 Oct 2006
Electronic Journal of Communication (EJC)
Special Issue: Communicative Ecologies

We invite the submission of conceptual or empirical (quantitative or  
qualitative) work on the theme of communicative ecologies in any  
place-based setting. The special issue is scheduled for publication  
in mid 2007. Deadline for completed manuscripts: 31 Oct 2006.  
Submissions should be electronic (.doc or .rtf format only, please  
avoid .pdf and .html). Inquiries about possible topics are welcome.  
Submissions and inquiries should be directed to the guest editors:  
see below.

The concept of ecology has a lot to offer communication research. We  
can define a communicative ecology as a milieu of agents who are  
connected in various ways by various exchanges (Tacchi, Slater, &  
Hearn, 2003). Broadly, it refers to the context in which the  
communication process occurs. Such an ecology can thus be thought of  
as comprising a number of mediated and unmediated forms of  
communication. In this context, use of the term is closely aligned to  
research in the field of media ecology, and is thus informed by the  
early work of Christine Nystrom (1973) and, more recently, David  
Altheide’s “The Ecology of Communication” (1995). Our particular  
interest in the concept stems from our study of people in particular  
places with access to many different media. For example, we have  
studied communication patterns in inner-city apartment buildings and  
communities in rural areas. Thus we conceive of a communicative  
ecology as having three layers. A technological layer which consists  
of the devices and connecting media that enable communication and  
interaction. A social layer which consists of people and social modes  
of organising those people – which might include, for example,  
everything from friendship groups to more formal community  
organizations, as well as companies or legal entities. And finally, a  
discursive layer which is the content of communication – that is, the  
ideas or themes that constitute the known social universe that the  
ecology operates in.

Using an ecological metaphor opens up a number of interesting  
possibilities for analyzing place-based communication (e.g., in  
neighbourhoods, apartment buildings, or – on a larger scale – suburbs  
and cities). It can help us to better understand the ways social  
activities are organized, the ways people define and experience their  
environments, and the implications for social order and organization  
(Altheide, 1995, p. 9). For example, in analyzing an apartment  
complex, an ecological metaphor might suggest first examining the  
features of the population in the apartment and mapping the patterns  
of engagement within that population. In addition we could ask how  
people relate to different places within the apartment, and how this  
interaction is mediated by the use of technology. Do different groups  
form around a coffee shop? Do email or cell phone connections define  
other ecologies? Then we might also be able to study transactions  
between different ecologies. The ecological metaphor focuses on whole  
of system interactions. It also enables us to define boundaries of  
any given ecology, and to examine how the coherence of that boundary  
and the stability of each ecology is maintained. What topics of  
conversation define insiders and outsiders in the ecology? Finally,  
it also opens up the question of the social sustainability of a  
communicative ecology. Similar sorts of questions could of course be  
asked of any human communication phenomena in any place-based context.

http://www.cios.org/www/ejc/calls/hearnfoth.htm

Guest Editors:

Professor Greg Hearn
g.hearn at qut.edu.au

Dr Marcus Foth
m.foth at qut.edu.au


--
Dr Marcus Foth
BMultimedia BCompSc(Hons) MA PhD
m.foth at qut.edu.au - http://www.vrolik.de/

Australian Postdoctoral Fellow
Institute for Creative Industries and Innovation
Queensland University of Technology (CRICOS No. 00213J)
Creative Industries Precinct, Brisbane QLD 4059, Australia
Phone +61 7 3138 8772 - Fax 8195 - Room Z6-511
http://ici.qut.edu.au/