[Air-L] cfp: Cultures and Ethics of Sharing

[Felix Stalder]

Media, Knowledge & Education: Cultures and Ethics of Sharing 

Call for papers by the Media Forum Innsbruck for an international 
conference at the University of Innsbruck (November 18-19, 2011)

Sharing has emerged as one of the core cultural values native to the 
networked environment where information has many properties of a classic 
public good, that is, it is non-rivalrous in use and non-excludable in 
access. As Manuel Castells (2009, p. 126) puts it: "In our society, the 
protocols of communication are not based on the sharing of culture but on 
the culture of sharing." IT-based innovation has increasingly impacted on 
the way individuals share information and recently forced society into a 
discourse about what can, should, must or even must not be shared. Yet, the 
sharing of information has been discussed primarily from the point of view 
of copyright (free licenses, law enforcement, law reforms) and from the 
economic perspective (new modes of production, business models, potential 
to turn around industries, financing the 'first copy'). With this 
conference, we move beyond these aspects and shift the focus to the 
cultural and normative dimensions of sharing. What are the values embedded 
in this informational 'culture of sharing'? How do they differ across 
various contexts, organizational and social practices? How do these relate 
to, transform, and possibly conflict with other value sets dominant in 
organizations and society? How does the widespread use of online sharing 
platforms affect organizations and society?

With this international conference, and subsequent publications in suitable 
format (online and offline) we aim to contribute to a better understanding 
of the promises, benefits and challenges of the cultural paradigm of 
sharing in different contexts. 

We welcome submissions from scholars and activists as well as media 
professionals. Proposals that address one or more of the following topics 
are especially encouraged:

 - cultural practices of sharing in networked spaces
 - ethics in social media developments
 - open educational resources and open access publishing
 - emerging forms of sharing news
 - sharing as community engagement
 - sharing as media activism
 - media dynamics and sharing in global public spheres
 - normative aspects of information policy and knowledge dynamics
 - business strategies and (information) sharing
 - economies of sharing vs. economies of exchange
 - traditions of sharing in cross-cultural perspective
 - aspects of sharing in media philosophy
 - motivational aspects in organizational information sharing
 - organizational and IT instruments to foster or guide information sharing
 - social status and reputational economies
 - awareness of others’ activities and its impact on sharing

Academic, technological, and artistic contributions are welcome. Proposals 
can be submitted for conceptual papers, reports of empirical studies, 
design artifacts, and workshops. The conference is orientated towards 
discourse and open exchanges among the participants. Conference languages 
are English and German.

The international conference is hosted by the Innsbruck Media Studies 
Research Group at the University of Innsbruck. It is part of a series of 
conferences "Media, Knowledge, Education", and it is offered in the 
framework of the research project "Activist Media. Popular Forms of Media
Appropriation" (Austrian Science Fund). Its purpose is to provide an 
international platform for exchanging current research results and feeding 
them into the ongoing research and the university's teaching offerings.


Confirmed speakers: 

Christina Slade (London), Ingrid Volkmer (Melbourne), Fran Ilich (New 
York/Mexico D.F.), Volker Grassmuck (Berlin/Paderborn), Hans-Martin 
Schönherr-Mann (Munich), Manfred Faßler (Frankfurt)


Conference organizers: 

Univ. Prof. Dr. Theo Hug, Univ. Prof. Dr. Ronald Maier, Dr. Felix Stalder, 
Dr. Wolfgang Sützl


Dates and deadlines:
⁃ July 8, 2011: submission of abstracts (maximum 500 words, plus short CV)
⁃ July 22, 2011: notification of speakers
⁃ October 15, 2011: submission of manuscripts ( max. 5000 words incl. 
references and an abstract of max. 100 words)
⁃ November 18/19, 2011 conference
⁃ December 1, 2011: notification of papers accepted for publication
⁃ January, 2, 2012: publishing of revised papers
⁃ April 30, 2012: publication of the conference proceedings (University of 
Innsbruck Press)

Contact:

Dr. Wolfgang Sützl
E-mail: <wolfgang.suetzl at uibk.ac.at>