[Air-L] Reminder: Call for Papers IAMCR-CPT Section Stockholm 2008

[Jo Pierson]

Dear all,

Thank you for distributing widely.

Kind regards,
Jo Pierson

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International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR)
26th Annual Research Conference, 20-25 July 2008
Stockholm University, Stockholm (Sweden)
Theme: Media and Global Divides

Call for Papers
COMMUNICATION POLICY AND TECHNOLOGY (CPT) Section
Sub-theme: DIGITAL DIVIDES - NEW MEDIA, ICT POLICIES AND USER  
EMPOWERMENT

The theme ‘Media and Global Divides’ reflects one of the prevailing  
challenges of public policy-making in digital domains globally.  It  
also represents one of the primary research areas of the  
Communication 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.

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.

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 at Westminster.ac.uk) and Jo Pierson (CPT08 at 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. Please visit the following website for more and updated  
information about the conference: http://www.jmk.su.se/contents/sidor/ 
english/info/scientific_conference.php.


SUBMISSION SYNOPSIS
Abstract Submission Deadline:	   January 31, 2008
Abstract Length:   Maximum 500 words, incl. keywords
To be sent to:   Maria Michalis (M.Michalis at Westminster.ac.uk) and Jo  
Pierson (CPT08 at 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)