[Air-L] AoIR 2023 panel on Identities, polarisation and fandom

[Tom Hale]

Dear Sebastian,

Thanks for this post and sorry for the late reply. I'm curious to hear more
about the papers already in the panel, and I may also have something to
contribute.

The panel touches on some themes of my work, which uses linguistic
anthropological/sociolinguistic tools to analyze social media interaction
in which at least some of the participants support their positions on
public policy, politics, and/or social ethics using scripture, theological
reasoning, and/or spiritual authority. I haven't thought of this in terms
of fandom, though I can see how the concept could be stretched a bit to
include being a "fan" of a particular religious position. My work certainly
gets into polarisation and partisanship, though it tends to focus more on
"culture wars" issues than on economics (though economics and capitalism
come into it too). Of the themes you listed, my work is probably closest to
"Intersections of identities in religions, fandoms and politics."

I look forward to hearing from you about the current papers lined up, and
also whether you think my work has enough of an intersection with the panel
to make it a fruitful addition.

Thanks,

Tom Hale
PhD Candidate in Intercultural Studies
Fuller Theological Seminary
https://www.fuller.edu/posts/student-profile/thomas-hale/


On Thu, Feb 23, 2023 at 5:49 PM Sebastian Svegaard via Air-L <
air-l at listserv.aoir.org> wrote:

> Dear colleagues!
>
> We are working to put together a panel for AoIR around an intersecting
> theme of fandom & identity, and polarisation & partisanship. How do people
> form identities and communities online within, besides and against
> capitalist economics - and in connection or disconnection with their
> political values?
> We currently have 2-3 papers and are looking for more contributors. This
> is deliberately kept very open, as we are interested in getting a wide
> range on perspectives, but some rough ideas we had were themes such as:
>
> - Capitalist clashes in internet culture
> - Political fandom/fans
> - Political communication and identities
> - Intersections of identities in religions, fandoms and politics
> - Data collection and media consumption intersecting with identity
> formation
> - Everything else that might connect to any of the themes
>
> Please get in touch if you already have a paper that would like a home,
> have an idea for a contribution or connection, or just want to hear details
> about the other papers involved already. We're more than happy to shift
> ideas around to build something together.
>
> References include:
>
> Barnes, Renee. (2022.) *Fandom and Polarization in Online Political
> Discussion*. Palgrave. [
> https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14039-6](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14039-6)
>
> Catucci, Nick. (2022.) “The Two Americas: The *White Lotus* Fans and
> *Reacher* Fans” in *The Atlantic.*
>
> Miller, Lucy. 2020. "*Wolfenstein II* and MAGA as Fandom." In "Fandom and
> Politics," edited by Ashley Hinck and Amber Davisson, special issue,
> *Transformative Works and Cultures,* no. 32. [
> https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2020.1717](https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2020.1717).
>
>
> Petersen, L. N. (2022). *Mediatized fan play : moods, modes and dark play
> in networked communities*. Routledge. [
> https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351001847](https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351001847)
> (edited)
>
> Stanfill, M. and Condis, M. (eds.) (2014.) Special edition of
> Transformative Works and Cultures on Fandom and/as Labor. [
> https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/issue/view/16](https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/issue/view/16)
>
> - - - - - -
>
> Sebastian F. K. Svegaard
> Post-doctoral researcher, Queensland University of Technology
> PhD Media Studies
> AFHEA
> MA Musicology
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