COMMUNICATION POLICY AND TECHNOLOGY SECTION - CALL FOR PROPOSALS 2022

The Communication Policy and Technology Section of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites the submission of proposals for papers and panels for IAMCR 2022, which will be held online from 11 to 15 July 2022. The conference will also have a national hub at Tsinghua University in Beijing. The deadline for submission is 9 February 2022, at 23.59 UTC.

See the CfPs of all sections and working groups >

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 themes defined by our 33 thematic sections and working groups. Proposals submitted to sections and working groups may be centered 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.

Eight sub-themes of this central theme 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. See the complete theme description and rationale here.

The Communication Policy and Technology (CP&T) Section focuses on the role of policy (broadly defined) in the development of media and communication technologies, both analogue and digital, in past, current, and future societies.

For the IAMCR 2022 conference, we invite papers that explore how the general theme “Communication Research in the Era of Neo-Globalisation: Reorientations, Challenges and Changing Contexts” relates to media and communication policy and technology. We are interested in papers related to policy issues around media, communication technologies, and online platforms, ranging from print-cultures to online applications and the internet of things in different domains of society. Over the last decade, the relations between (state and regional) institutions, citizens, and corporations have been fundamentally reconfigured. This development is accelerated and complicated by the rapid rise of transnational digital media platforms and their role in public discourses, leading to policy struggles to keep up with the dynamic changes in all societal spheres. In addition, we witness the emergence of social (and populist) movements, often related to new modes of governance and participation, which reconfigure the boundaries between culture, communication, and politics. And lastly, we see increasing tendencies to “re-nationalize” policies and politics related to media and the digital, leading to an increasing fragmentation of regulatory frameworks.

The CP&T section invites submissions that critically engage with these issues from a policy and technology perspective.

We welcome both papers and panel proposals addressing the following themes that fit in the general call for papers and are relevant to our section:

Big Data and its implications for privacy, inclusiveness, respect, etc.;
Policies and debates around artificial intelligence and its ethical and social implications, including bias, discrimination, transparency, and responsibility in different contexts;
The increasing levels of automation, algorithms, and quantification in different social domains (e.g. health, social welfare, finance, news, and entertainment production) and its ethical and social implications;
The use of (predictive and punitive) control systems in political and legal decision making;
Digital sovereignty, internet fragmentation and the challenges for global internet governance;
Policies and research into the digital divide, mobile access, media literacy, access and inclusion programmes, etc.;
Global and national media and communication governance and their role in promoting pluralism and diversity;
International vs. national policies (e.g. trade policies and the resulting tensions between countries such as China and the US) and implications for communication and media practices
Historical development of communication and media policies in diverse regions and countries;
Comparative analysis of different policy regimes, their implementations, and implications;
The effectiveness of international policies and laws related to ICTs and the Internet in different regions of the world;
The roles played by citizens, communities, and organizations (both locally and globally) in shaping communication and media policies;
Media and online governance regarding disinformation, social network bots, online harassment, hate speech, and cyberbullying, particularly as it relates to gender, race, class, ethnicity, nationality, etc.;
Policies and policy debates around recent and future communication technologies, including blockchain, 5G, IPv6, etc.;
Policies related to online advertising and its implications for consumers and their privacy;
Policies and debates around public service obligations, pluralism and diversity, convergence and net neutrality in broadcasting and internet/telecommunications services;
National and regional policy initiatives, e.g. China's Belt and Road Initiative, ASEAN Plan of Action on Science, Technology, and Innovation (APASTI), the Digital Service Act / Digital Market Act in the EU, etc.
Regulating online elections
The future of the UN Internet Governance Forum

Please note that the CP&T Section does not cover all the spectrum of communication technology-related research. As such, it is not meant to be the primary submission venue for proposals which focus only on the role of technology for political communication (e.g. campaigning), on human-computer-interaction (e.g. user research without policy implication), on the political economy of technology without a clear connection to policy (e.g. media ownership and concentration) and similar topics without a clear policy dimension. Please note that depending on the number of submissions received, we may not be able to redirect proposals covering such topics and submitted to the CP&T Section to more appropriate sections or working groups of IAMCR.

Guidelines for abstracts

Abstracts are requested for the Online Conference Papers component. Abstracts submitted to the Communication Policy and Technology Section should have between 300 and 500 words in line with the conference and CP&T themes.

Abstracts should contain a title, main question or research problem, brief descriptions of the theoretical framework and method(s) used, and summarise the findings and their policy relevance.

Abstracts 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.

See important dates and deadlines to keep in mind

Requirements and Evaluation

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 the Communication Policy and Technology Section. 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.

Within CP&T Section, the review is conducted this way: after a first screening by the section chairs, submitted abstracts fitting the scope on the section and fulfilling the necessary requirements will be evaluated by a double-blind review on the basis of (1) theoretical contribution, (2) methods, (3) quality of writing, (4) literature review, (5) relevance of the submission to the work of the CP&T section and (communication/technology/media) policy, and (6) originality and/or significance of the work.

If a proposal is accepted, the presenter must confirm and register for the conference. Only registered participants will be included in the final conference programme.

Languages

The Communication Policy and Technology Section accepts abstracts in English, French, and Spanish.

For further information about the conference contact beijing2022 [at] iamcr.org

For further information about the Communication Policy and Technology Section, its themes, submissions, and panels please contact:

Chair: Julia Pohle
julia.pohle [at] wzb.eu (julia.pohle [AT] wzb.eu)
WZB, Germany

Chair: Francesca Musiani
francesca.musiani [AT] cnrs.fr
CNRS, France.

Vice-Chair: Weiyu Zhang
viyucheung [at] gmail.com (viyucheung [AT] gmail.com)
National University of Singapore, Singapore.

Vice-Chair: Jeremy Shtern
jshtern [at] ryerson.ca (jshtern [AT] ryerson.ca)
Ryerson University, Canada.