[Air-L] ICA 2020 "Digital Cultures of South Asia" Preconference

[Sangeet]

Call For Papers

*International Communication Association 2020 Preconference*

Gold Coast, Australia



***Digital Cultures of South Asia: Inequalities, Infrastructures,
Informatization***



Link to online CFP: Preconference Digital South Asia
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o4L5Ii3z1FHwkbPUdAigkcAwNmXOcXSl/view?usp=sharing>



*Date & Time*: 9:00 am to 5.00 pm, Thursday, May 21, 2020



*Location*: Onsite, 2020 ICA Main Conference Venue, Gold Coast, Australia



Organizers: Radhika Parameswaran (rparames at indiana.edu, Indiana
University), Sangeet Kumar (kumars at denison.edu, Denison University),
Kalyani Chadha (kchadha at umd.edu, University of Maryland), Adrian Athique (
a.athique at uq.edu.au, University of Queensland) and Pradip Thomas (
pradip.thomas at uq.edu.au, University of Queensland).



Conference Coordinator: Roshni Susana Verghese, roshnisusana at gmail.com



ICA Division Affiliations: Global Communication and Social Change, Popular
Communication, Intercultural Communication, Ethnicity & Race in
Communication, and the South Asian Communication Association (SACA).



Institutional Sponsors: The Media School, Indiana University, Bloomington,
USA; The Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland,
College Park, USA; Department of Communication, Denison University,
Granville, Ohio, USA; School of Communication and Arts and the Institute
for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Queensland, Australia.



*Preconference Description*



Characterized by a mobile phone led connectivity boom and the  cheapest
data prices in the world (McCarthy 2019), South Asia has emerged as a
region with the greatest potential for the future growth of Internet users.
Indeed, as such, the area is not only central to any attempts at imagining
the future of digital media globally, but it also constitutes a fertile
territorial and cultural space for scholarly inquiry into the various
dimensions of expanding digital life in the region. Consequently, this
preconference focuses on exploring digital developments and their
political, economic, social and cultural implications in the context of
postcolonial South Asia and its global diaspora. The preconference draws
inspiration from scholars who have sought to de-westernize digital media
studies through their granular and interdisciplinary accounts of varied
aspects of digital life in non-western countries. It is also grounded in
the notion that the historical, political and social specificities of
postcolonial South Asia necessitate the production of knowledge on digital
culture— both conceptual and empirical— that explores the heterogeneities
and complexities of the diverse nations that constitute the region. We
envisage this preconference to be a forum for illuminating the varied
dialectical forces that are at play in South Asia in shaping digital
culture in ways that are similar to but also quite different from other
parts of the world.



In pursuit of these objectives, we invite submissions that cover a broad
range of topics set in South Asia, including, but not limited to scholarly
areas such as:

•                        Issues of digital access, connectivity and
inequality (social asymmetries of caste, gender, sexuality, religion,
language, and class)

•                        Online mobilization by activist communities to
protest inequities and advocate for social change

•                        Nature and implications for sovereignty of
governance and infrastructure regimes emerging across the region,
particularly as they relate to data collection and commodification,
security and privacy

•                        The political economy of digital media and the
impact of digital technologies on the mainstream media landscape in
entertainment and news media

•                        Rise of new genres of informational and artistic
representation— including parody, satire, and humor—in online spaces such
as YouTube

•                        Role of digital and social media in the
transformation of contemporary politics, including campaigns and elections

•                        Transformations in the business and content of
journalism, the rise of fake news, misinformation as well as hate and
extreme speech

•                        Vernacular community formation in local, national
and transnational/diasporic South Asian digital spaces

•                        New transnational digital circuits of cultural
production and consumption—fueled by affinities of caste, gender, class and
sexuality—within and beyond South Asia

The preconference aims to bring together ICA participants as well as
scholars from around the world who are interested in digital culture in the
Global South, with a particular focus on South Asia. Presentations and
conversations at the preconference will be geared to achieve the following
broad goals: build theory sensitive to the nuances of the region,
strengthen analytical frameworks, foster interdisciplinarity, encourage
critical thinking, and address empirical gaps in research.



** Keynote speakers to be determined and announced in Spring 2020. **



*Submission and participation details*



*Extended abstract due*: Monday, January 20th, 2020



*Final decisions on acceptance*: Friday, February 14th, 2020



At this time we invite authors to submit extended abstracts (700 to 1,000
words) that describe the main thesis and arguments, research goals,
theoretical influences/frameworks, and to the extent possible, the
methodological background and findings of their papers. The preconference
organizers welcome diverse theoretical and methodological approaches and
varied modes of analyses.

Please make sure you include a title for your abstract. We request you to
anonymize your document by removing all identifying information from it.
Very poorly written abstracts as well as those that do not relate to South
Asia will be automatically rejected. Abstract submissions will be reviewed
and final decisions communicated by February 14th, 2020.



*Please submit your extended abstracts to conference coordinator Dr. Roshni
Susana Verghese at roshnisusana at gmail.com <roshnisusana at gmail.com>*.



Based on the volume and the quality of submissions, we intend to explore a
potential thematic publication of preconference materials as a special
issue in a journal or as an edited volume.



*Registration fees*: With financial support from institutional sponsors and
ICA Divisions, the registration fees for the preconference will be under
$20. The registration fees will cover refreshments for two breaks and
lunch. This is a flat fee for anyone who wishes to present at or simply
attend the preconference (without a presentation), including all ICA
student and faculty members. There are no prerequisites for submitting
abstracts, registering for and participating in the preconference. All
attendees will need to create an ICA profile to register.



Finally, we expect all presenters will attend the preconference event for
the full day. If you are traveling from overseas, we advise you to arrive
on Wednesday, May 20, 2020, and make appropriate accommodation arrangements
for that night.


Sangeet Kumar

Associate Professor, Department of Communication

Denison University, USA


https://denison.edu/people/sangeet-kumar