Call for Proposals #IAMCR2022
Communication Research in the Era of Neo-Globalisation:
Reorientations, Challenges and Changing Contexts
11-15 July 2022 | Beijing, China and wherever you are
The deadline to submit was 9 February. The results of the peer review will be announced by 31 March
Download this call for proposals as a PDF file
Consult the calls for proposals of IAMCR's 33 thematic sections and working groups
Consult the call for proposals of Flow34
The International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites proposals for papers and panels for IAMCR 2022, to be held online from 11 to 15 July, 2022, with a national hub at Tsinghua University in Beijing and other events in China, online, and around the world.
Conference themes
IAMCR conferences have a main conference theme (with several sub-themes) that is explored from multiple perspectives throughout the conference in plenaries, in the programmes of our sections and working groups, and in the Flow34 virtual cinema and podcasts stream. They also have many many themes defined by our 33 thematic sections and working groups. The sections and working groups’ themes are described in their individual calls for proposals. Proposals submitted to sections and working groups may be centred on an aspect of the main conference theme as it relates to the central concerns of the section or working group, or they may address the additional themes identified by the section or working group in their individual calls for proposals.
The main theme for IAMCR 2022, “Communication Research in the Era of Neo-Globalisation: Reorientations, Challenges and Changing Contexts,” is concerned with possibilities for rethinking communication research agendas in the post-pandemic world, which has seen dramatic shifts in the way we interact and understand our physical, social, cultural, political and material environments.
IAMCR 2022 – Main conference theme
Communication Research in the Era of Neo-Globalisation:
Reorientations, Challenges and Changing Contexts
Two years into the global pandemic of COVID-19, the world is facing unprecedented challenges from a brand-new media and cultural topography in a post-pandemic era of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, including but not limited to issues related to public health, climate change, and sustainability. With more than three decades of cultural, economic, and communication globalisation, we now enter an all-encompassing post-pandemic world of neo-globalisation. In the wake of long waves of colonisation, and establishment of new kinds of economic and cultural hegemony in the second half of the 20th century, the ruptures of the pandemic give rise to the agenda of a what might be called a neo-globalisation dispensation. This turns on trade exchange and intercultural communication, accenting soft power and patterns of interdependent cultural harmony -- reorganizing world orders. In the age of neo-globalisation, international economic, political, and cultural exchanges are based on measures of institutional innovation, disruptive technology, and political empathy.
This contemporary world, and its central tenet of globalisation, poses urgent questions and challenges for media and communications scholars. What are cultural identities and identification processes in this era of neo-globalisation? What are the roles of media and communication in the construction of a global public health community? How do data and digital science shape and influence intercultural communication? What are the essential “Global” media ethics in the digital age? How do we communicate for sustainability? How do we design digital platforms and content and provide public service to better advance science and technology?
The theme is open for a wide range of ideas dealing with, but not limited to, the following specific sub-themes that have been identified:
- Reorienting Media and Communication Research in the Era of Neo-Globalisation;
- Artificial Intelligence in Global Communication Contexts;
- Cultural Identities and Dis-Identities in the Era of Neo-Globalisation;
- Communication for Sustainability: Climate Change, Environment, and Health;
- Media Ethics and Principles in the Digital Age;
- Media, Communication, and the Construction of Global Public Health;
- Data/Digital Science and Intercultural Communication;
- Digital Platforms and Public Service: Science, Technology and Sustainability.
Each sub-theme is briefly described below:
1. Reorienting Media and Communication Research in the Era of Neo-Globalisation
In the age of neo-globalisation, international economic, political, and cultural exchanges are based on measures of institutional innovation, disruptive technology, and political empathy. Contemporary communication studies emerged in the mid-twentieth century as a hybrid field growing out of art, literary studies, sociology, and other disciplines. The era of neo-globalisation has expanded the boundaries and imagination of media communication research. Therefore, we invite papers and panels that reorient the direction, scope, and possibilities of media and communication research. In this regard, we ask: How should scholars (re)define media and communication research in the neo-globalisation era? What are the impacts of different levels of neo-globalisation on media and communication studies? What are the implications of international economic, political, and cultural exchanges and policies on global media communication research in the era of neo-globalisation?
2. Artificial Intelligence in Global Communication Contexts
The explosive growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and its application in recent years have made it a dominant productive force of social development. In many countries around the world, AI plays a critical role in public governance, facilitating effective response to the pandemic, and public health. Meanwhile, concerned researchers have called for a code of ethics for AI developments, applications, and research, generating discussion and debate about boundaries and limitations. We are interested in papers and panels that focus on the use of artificial intelligence in communication and media research, media framing and public perceptions of AI, and the existing and possible future impacts of it in global communication contexts.
3. Cultural Identities and Dis-Identities in the Era of Neo-Globalisation
The unprecedented pandemic of COVID-19 has precipitated a new era of globalisation. Cultural identities continue to be created, proliferated, and contested by global media and communication. More frequent and immersed online presence and interactions beyond geographical limits shape cultural identity and identification processes in gradual and crucial ways. #BlackLivesMatter, #StopAsianHate, and the global #MeToo movements all showcase the significance of today’s (social) media agenda and how cultural identities transcend beyond national borders. At the same time, media and communication scholars have called for the need to re-evaluate the enduring significance of nation-states, entangled in cosmopolitan conditions of cultures and identities. Against this backdrop, we are interested in papers and panels on cultural identity construction and changes in the context of neo-globalisation. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: What is the role of domestic political forces in the shaping of cultural identity and identification now? How to situate global media and communication research in the context of globalisation with the continuing centrality of nation-states? How do social media activate cultural identity and identification of marginalized groups in a world of global interconnectedness?
4. Communication for Sustainability: Climate Change, Environment, and Health
In recent years, no-globalization has taken risk societies (Ulrich Beck) to the precipice of profound challenges. The flooding in North China, Western European, and Australia, wildfires around the globe, oil spill in Southern California – natural and man-made disasters pose threats to the well-being of human beings, wildlife, as well as the shared environment in which we live. Media and communication scholars respond to issues related to sustainability, including but not limited to climate change, environment, and public health and explore possibilities of facilitating sustainable development through communication. We welcome papers and panels discussing strategies, effects, and concerns related to communication for sustainability from diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives, such as journalism studies, public communications, and corporate communications.
5. “Global” Media Ethics and Principles in the Digital Age
Principles and standards for the practice of media and communication in an era of neo-globalisation are not static but ever-changing. Emerging issues of information (in)equality, gender, and race in the digital age highlight the need for continuing development and (re)consideration of global media ethics surrounding all aspects of media production, circulation, and consumption. We welcome papers and panels on a wide range of issues within this area, such as discrimination in digital media, the manifestation of populism in social media, and the predominant control of global media in the hands of a minority of Western countries.
6. Media, Communication, and the Construction of Global Public Health
The global pandemic of COVID-19 has accelerated the pace of building and enhancing a global public health system, making it even more urgent to examine the role of media and communication in the construction of a global public health community, how its presence and power may lead to the mobilization of societal action that creates and improves the conditions for public health, and how certain media practices may hinder progress toward effectively building a global public health community. To this end, we invite papers and panels that seek to address the current status of global health disparity and governance, the role of media in responding to global health risks, and the different ways in which media and communication research can contribute to public health globally.
7. Data/Digital Science and Intercultural Communication
The enormous growth in user data on global media platforms provides researchers with opportunities to investigate the processes of cultural generation in the digital space, providing new ideas for theoretical innovation in intercultural communication research. New media technologies and data/digital science can enable people with different cultural backgrounds to express their cultural identities or impede them from doing so. The development of digital science creates possibilities of examining intercultural communication practices through large-scale data of social interactions among different groups of people. We welcome papers and panels that analyse and report online interactive behaviours in the digital “transnational community” to examine the processes of intercultural communication in the digital age of neo-globalisation.
8. Digital Platforms and Public Service: Science, Technology and Sustainability
Digital platforms are increasingly used for public service promotion, environmental engagement, science education, and crisis and risk communication, providing unique and interactive opportunities to the public sector to promote its policies and activities, to the scientists to share cutting-edge findings, and to environmental activists to advocate for their sustainability initiatives. How these messages can be delivered effectively through digital platforms, however, needs further investigation. We welcome papers and panels that examine the content and delivery of messages for science, technology, sustainability, and public service on different digital platforms as well as the intended and unintended effects of these communication efforts.
Guidelines for abstracts
Abstracts are requested for the Online Conference Papers component. Abstracts must be submitted to one of IAMCR’s 33 thematic sections and working groups or to Flow34. Before submitting, please consult the specific CfP of the section or working group at https://iamcr.org/beijing2022/swg-cfp.
See the IAMCR website for additional information about the various sections and working groups.
Abstracts should have between 300 and 500 words and must be submitted online at https://iamcr2022.exordo.com. Abstracts submitted by email will not be accepted.
The deadline to submit abstracts is 9 February 2022 at 23h59 UTC.
It is expected that authors will submit only one (1) abstract. However, under no circumstances should there be more than two (2) abstracts bearing the name of the same author, either individually or as first author. No more than one (1) abstract can be submitted by an author to a single section or working group. Please note also that the same abstract or another version with minor variations in title or content must not be submitted to more than one section or working group. Any such submissions will be deemed to be in breach of the conference guidelines and will be rejected.
Proposals are accepted for both single Papers and for Panels with several papers (in which you propose multiple papers that address a single theme). Please note that there are special procedures for submitting panel proposals. For other important dates and deadlines, please see the key dates on the conference website.
Technical guidelines, if any, are defined by the individual sections and working groups. If you have questions, consult the section or working group’s specific CfP. For further information about the conference, visit the website or contact beijing2022 [at] iamcr.org.
Languages
Each section and working group adopts its own policies regarding languages. Some accept abstracts and programme sessions in English, French and Spanish while others conduct their programmes in only one or two languages. Consult the CfP of your section or working group for details of its language policy.
