[Air-L] CfP IAMCR CP&T Istanbul 2011

[Jo Pierson]

International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR)

Conference 'Cities, Creativity, Connectivity' in Istanbul (Turkey)  
July 13-17, 2011

http://iamcr2011istanbul.com

Communication Policy & Technology Section

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Communication Policy and Technology (CP&T) Section invites  
submissions for its open sessions at the IAMCR 2011 conference to be  
held in Istanbul (Turkey) from July 13-17. The IAMCR conference theme  
for 2011 is ‘Cities, Creativity, Connectivity’.

In the network society the media and telecommunication landscape of  
one-way broadcasting and two-way personal communication is  
transforming into a digitized, converged and interactive ecosystem,  
based on internet technologies and applications. This transformation  
has also driven the development of horizontal networks of interactive  
communication that connect local and global in chosen time. Castells  
labels this new form of socialized communication as ‘mass self- 
communication’, and sees it as a potential new medium for power and  
counter-power.
These changes in communication technologies co-evolve with fundamental  
transformations in cities and urban agglomerations, linked to  
globalisation and network infrastructures. In his theory of urbanism  
Castells characterises these transformation of cities in the network  
society on three bipolar axes. First - functionally speaking - the  
network society is organised around the opposition between the global  
and the local. Cities as communication systems are supposed to connect  
both. However, as these logics are conflicting, they disrupt cities  
from within when they attempt to respond to both, simultaneously.  
Second - in terms of meaning - our society is characterised by the  
opposing development of individuation and communalism. Because cities  
are big aggregates of individuals, forced to coexist, and communes are  
located in the metropolitan space, the divide between personality and  
communality brings intensified stress upon the social system of cities  
as communicative and institutionalising devices. Third - in terms of  
spatial form - the urbanised world is also caught up in a complex  
interplay between the ‘space of flows’ (i.e. hybrid space of separate  
geographical territories being linkup electronically in an interactive  
network) and the ‘space of places’ (i.e. physical space within the  
confines of geographical locality organizing experience and activity  
in everyday life). Hence urban environments do not disappear into the  
virtual networks, but are transformed in the interface between  
electronic communication and physical interaction.

The Call for Proposals by the IAMCR Communication Policy & Technology  
section takes this co-evolutionist perspective between cities and ICT  
as an entry point and metaphor for investigating and understanding the  
mutual shaping between society and communication technology. We invite  
papers that discuss policy concerns, regulatory developments, user  
practices, market trends and business strategies related to this kind  
of socio-technological co-evolution, framed within the overall  
conference theme of ‘Cities, Creativity, Connectivity’.

In addition to themes related to ICT and cities, we also invite papers  
and proposals for panels that address the following overall themes in  
relation to information and communication technologies and  
applications, from the perspective of policy, users/audiences and  
industry.

Themes

1. Privacy, surveillance and vulnerability

Mass self-communication and other forms of interaction via social  
media, mobile communication, internet-of-things technologies can give  
more autonomy to media users. At the same time the resulting amplified  
self-directed control over time, place and content of communication  
and interaction with many more people increases the chance of negative  
(but also positive) consequences and implies more responsibilities.  
This means that the vulnerability of people engaging in mass self- 
communication changes and possibly increases. This notion of  
‘vulnerability’ refers to issues like privacy, surveillance, trust and  
security.

2. Creativity, innovation and users

Nowadays users are supposed to be in the driver’s seat of creative  
destruction - based on disruptive technologies - and of the co- 
creation of new media, content and technology. The lowering of  
thresholds for multi media content production, distribution, storage,  
retrieval and consumption is seen as an enabler for empowerment,  
especially in relation to do-it-yourself media and related  
craftsmanship. Various terms and concepts are used to classify the  
users depending on their involvement in technology innovation and  
content production (e.g. Nielsen 1-9-90 rule, produsers, lead users,  
pro-ams, co-creators, citizen journalists and warm experts). We invite  
papers that reflect upon, re-conceptualise and question current  
dominant visions and categorisations of users as innovators in the  
changing ICT landscape.

3. Connectivity, inclusion and media literacies

Connectivity deals with access (for instance, urban versus rural), but  
also with use and domestication. In the changing media environment of  
mass self-communication, new affordances of communication tools  
require a rethinking of digital exclusion-inclusion. The latter links  
in with the notion of digital literacy and skills, with different  
levels of capabilities, and with the way inclusion is (not) scripted  
into media technologies from a social shaping perspective. Finally we  
also invite papers that discuss connectivity in relation to different  
types of online and offline communities, in particular discussing the  
role of virtual social worlds and social network sites in human  
relations.

4. Copyright, -left and -riot

Digitalisation reverting cultural products to the immaterial and the  
internet facilitating total automation whereby digital products can be  
copied infinitely and distributed on a global scale are challenging  
the prevalent property regime in terms of cultural production  
fundamentally. Lobby organisations of the copyright industry are  
increasingly aggressive in their attempts to coerce users and fans  
back into the commodity exchange model and away from the prevalent  
gift economies online. Governments are being pressured into adopting  
legislation penalising copyright infringers and making ISPs liable for  
what occurs on their networks. Another strategy consists in collapsing  
piracy with filesharing and propagating a discourse that peer2peer  
networks and filesharing is per definition criminal and illegal. We  
invite papers that focus on discourses of copyright industries,  
innovative strategies of content producers, creative commons, audience  
research relating to downloading of digital copyright protected  
content, the consequences of state intervention for (online) privacy,  
or any other topic relating to the context set-out above.

Submission information

The CP&T section welcomes proposals for papers bearing on  
aforementioned and related issues by submitting an abstract (300 - 500  
words). Abstracts should state the title as well as the methods or  
approaches used and introduce the empirical and theoretical material  
on which the paper is based. Besides the abstract title and text, each  
abstract must include title, author name(s), affiliation,  
institutional address and email address of (all) author(s).

The scholarly presentations of accepted submissions can take place in  
different types of sessions: Paper presentation sessions (i.e. 4-5  
presenters with each around 12-15 minutes, requiring full paper  
submitted in time), High intensity sessions (i.e. 6-8 presenters with  
each around 5-7 minutes) or Poster sessions (i.e. presenting work  
individually through a poster).

Proposals for panels are also welcome. The proposal should have no  
more than five papers and needs to contain a framing text and the  
abstracts of all the papers. The framing text (max. 500 words excl.  
bio) contains the idea and goal of the full panel, how it fits in the  
CP&T section CfP, a listing of all paper titles with authors, and  
adding short bio-data of each individual author. It would also be  
recommended to suggest a panel chair and a discussant. The proposal  
framing text and the individual abstracts will be reviewed and based  
on this review we will accept, accept with revisions or decline the  
panel.

IAMCR accepts presentations in English, French and Spanish. However,  
it is requested that abstracts and panel proposals, if at all  
possible, be submitted in English. By rule, IAMCR does not permit  
submission of identical abstracts to more than one section/working  
group, and this policy is strictly enforced.

Submission of abstracts, panel proposals and (once accepted) full  
papers can only be done online through IAMCR Open Conference System  
(OCS) using the link to be found on the official Istanbul conference  
website. For more on the submission, registration, theme, location,  
etc., please go to <http://iamcr2011istanbul.com> or visit IAMCR at <http://iamcr.org 
 >.

The deadlines are as follows:

- February 8, 2011: Submission of abstracts (papers and panel  
proposals will be assessed by double blind review)

- March 25, 2011: Announcement of acceptances

- June 3, 2011: Full papers due (max. 7500 words), in order to ensure  
that authors’ names and papers’ titles are included in final  
conference program. There is no second round of reviewing for  
acceptance.

If a proposal is accepted, the presenter must also be registered for  
conference participation, in order to be included in the final program  
of the Section. A CP&T best paper award will be granted to one of the  
presenters, based on the full papers submitted in time.
Additional questions on the CP&T sessions at the IAMCR 2011 conference  
(e.g. on panels) may be addressed to Bart Cammaerts  
(B.Cammaerts[AT]lse.ac.uk) and Jo Pierson (jo.pierson[AT]vub.ac.be).

Section Chair:  Jo Pierson  /  Vice-Chairs: Bart Cammaerts and Maria  
Michalis



Jo Pierson, Ph.D.
IBBT - SMIT, Studies on Media, Information & Telecommunication
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Offices: Pleinlaan 9, 2nd floor
B - 1050 Brussels
Belgium
Tel: +32 2 629 16 27
Fax: +32 2 629 17 00
E-mail: jo.pierson at vub.ac.be
http://smit.vub.ac.be
'SMIT 2010, 20 years of Research, Collaboration and Friendship'