[Air-L] CFP # BLOCKCHAIN SCENES # JDSR

[Nathalie Casemajor]

Dear AOIR list,

We are pleased to share below a call for papers for a special issue of
the *Journal
of Social Digital Research* on Blockchain Scenes.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us at
nathalie.casemajor at inrs.ca and william.straw at mcgill.ca

Best,

Nathalie Casemajor and Will Straw

Nathalie Casemajor
Professeure-chercheure
INRS - Institut national de la recherche scientifique
Centre Urbanisation Culture Société
Codirectrice de l’Observatoire des médiations culturelles (OMEC)
385 Sherbrooke Est, Montréal H2X 1E3
T 514 499-8278 – Bureau 5124
http://www.inrs.ca/nathalie-casemajor

…………………………………………………………………………………………….


*# CALL FOR PAPERS - BLOCKCHAIN SCENES #Special issue of the Journal of
Social Digital Research*
https://www.jdsr.io/call-for-papers

Deadline: October 15th
Guest editors: Nathalie Casemajor (Institut national de la recherche
scientifique, Canada) and Will Straw (McGill University, Canada)

BACKGROUND TO THIS SPECIAL ISSUE
Since it first appearance in the form of Bitcoin in 2008, blockchain
technology has expanded far beyond cryptocurrency to inspire novel
applications in the fields of law, energy trading, healthcare or art. Its
rise has spawned a community (or diverse communities) of developers,
investors and enthusiasts around the world. This issue of JDSR proposes to
consider these communities as scenes, in the sense of collectivities who
create or gravitate around specific workplaces and spaces of assembly
(including digital environments), engaging in practices of visibility and
invisibility.
Originally theorized in popular music studies, the notion of scene has been
taken up in urban studies to analyze the ways in which sociability in its
public forms may settle around particular kinds of work or diverse objects
of cultural, social and economic interest. In the case of what we are
calling blockchain scenes, this perspective might offer insight into the
spatial inscriptions and local specificities of the tech industries
(through a study of such phenomena as the Berlin blockchain scene). More
broadly, the notion of scene invites to consider the cultural and material
shaping of blockchain networks. It suggests new ways of understanding the
diverse ethical worlds, behavioural protocols and regimes of attention that
compose the blockchain sphere.

WHAT WE SEEK
This JDSR special issue has two goals. First, it aims to bring together
empirical research on the social composition, organizational forms and
material settings of blockchain scenes through various research methods
(onsite ethnography, web ethnography, social network analysis; etc.).
Second, it seeks innovative theoretical, analytical, and critical
approaches to blockchain through the lens of scene studies. We specifically
encourage submissions which will engage with the notion and theory of
scenes as analytical tools.
The special issue welcomes contributions on the following themes, but is
not limited to them:
# Geographies of blockchain scenes: the cultural, social, political, urban
characteristics of local and national scenes, and their transnational
connections.
# Sociality and organization: online and offline spaces of assembly and
conviviality; workspaces and networking spaces (co-working spaces, online
code repositories, conferences).
# News media and information channels dedicated to blockchain, such as news
websites, magazines, podcasts, social networking services or messaging apps.
# Diversities in blockchain scenes: women in blockchain, BIPOC & LGBTQ+
voices, explicit and implicit structures of exclusion or inequity
# Blockchain art scenes: studies of NFTs, art-related DAOs, and cultural
intermediaries (e.g. galleries) dedicated to blockchain-based art.
# The ethics and aesthetics of blockchain projects: the affective,
performative and speculative dimensions of projects and their relationship
to ideas of anonymity, strategies of visibility/invisibility and techniques
of publicity or promotion.

WHAT AND HOW TO SUBMIT
We invite researchers to submit an English-language abstract of no more
than 500 words (without references). The author(s) should email their
abstract proposal as a Word file to nathalie.casemajor at inrs.ca and
william.straw at mcgill.ca

PROCESS AND TIMELINE
September 1, 2021: Abstract submission opens.
October 15, 2021: Abstract submission deadline.
November 15, 2021: Notification of the decision to submit the full
manuscript to JDSR.
Please note that the initial acceptance of an abstract does not guarantee
acceptance of the full manuscript.
May 1, 2022: Full manuscript submission deadline.
May 1, 2022 to August 1, 2022: Review process (1-2 rounds).
August 2022: Decision on manuscripts.