[Air-L] ICA 2013 Panel proposal - new media & civic engagement

[Delia Dumitrica]

Dear colleagues,

We are looking for two more panelists for a panel on new media and civic
engagement for the upcoming ICA conference (London, UK, June 17-21, 2013).
If you are working on cases of civic engagement through new media and are
interested in tackling the questions we propose in the panel description
(see below), please email Delia Dumitrica (dddumitr at ucalgary.ca) with a
brief (150 words) abstract by next Monday, November 15, 2012.

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Panel Proposal to ICA 2013, London, UK
Communication and Technology

Panel Session: New Media and Civic Engagement: From Networked
Individualism to Collective Action

Organizers:

Dr. Maria Bakardjieva
Professor, Department of Communication and Culture, University of Calgary,
Canada

Dr. Delia Dumitrica
Instructor, Department of Communication and Culture, University of
Calgary, Canada

Abstract:

This panel examines the mechanics of four cases of civic mobilization
through new media, focusing on the exchanges between everyday life and the
political sphere. The panelists are asking what their respective cases can
teach us about the role new media play in the activation of ordinary
people that leads to the development of political consciousness and
participation in civic and political action. Our interest is drawn to the
complicated exchange between a wide range of mundane uses of new media
(from creating protest Facebook groups to liking politicians on Twitter)
and the wider political structures. When and under what conditions do such
individual activities supported by new media build up enough energy and
scale to make an impact on the political sphere? How are new media
contributing to the transformation of isolated acts of protest or
challenge to the established order into collective action that brings
about real change? And what happens once the political players, for their
part, start employing new media for colonizing the energy of the
grassroots?

Maria Bakardjieva is looking at a case where new media became a key tool
in inciting a wave of civic resistance against proposed legislation on
Bulgarian forests.

Delia Dumitrica is looking at the perceptions of young people in Calgary,
Canada concerning the mobilizing role of social media in the 2010
electoral municipal campaign.

* * *

Dr. Delia Dumitrica
Instructor
Department of Communication and Culture
University of Calgary