The Community Communication and Alternative Media Section of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR/AIECS/AIERI 2023) invites the submission of proposals for papers and panels for IAMCR/AIECS/AIERI 2023, which will be held in Lyon, France, from 9 to 13 July (Lyon23) with an Online Conference Papers (OCP23) component from 26 June to 5 July.
The deadline for submission of proposals is 9 February 2023 at 23h59 UTC.
See the CfPs of all sections and working groups >
Main theme – Inhabiting the planet: Challenges for media, communication and beyond
IAMCR/AIECS/AIERI 2023 conferences have a main conference theme that is explored from multiple perspectives throughout the conference in plenaries and other moments, including the programmes of the thematic sections and working groups. Additionally, each section and working group also defines some of its own themes, which are described in their individual calls for proposals. Proposals for contributions to the conference are submitted to the sections and working groups and may focus on an aspect of the main conference theme as it relates to the concerns of the section or working group, or address a theme identified by the section or working group.
The main theme for IAMCR/AIECS/AIERI 2023, “Inhabiting the planet: Challenges for media, communication and beyond,” is concerned with possibilities for rethinking communication research agendas at a time when the irreversible effects of climate change is compounded by stark geopolitical, sociocultural and religious tensions in human communities. At this juncture, urgent reflection and research is needed on how we can hope to flourish today and in the future, and also how media and communication tools and environments can be positive forces and spaces for change.
Five sub-themes of this central theme have been identified: Humanity and progress; democracy; media, information and communication; cities and territories; and environmental accountability.
Consult a detailed description of the main theme and its sub-themes
The Community Communication and Alternative Media Section (CAM) brings together research on community, alternative and citizens’ media and communication forms, media and digital activism, and other kinds of civil society-based communication. It considers a wide range of non-governmental and non-commercial communication practices such as do-it-yourself media; media by, for, and with geographical communities and communities of interest; indigenous/First Nations media; social movements’ communication; digital resistance, techno-politics, and social media protests; counter-cultural and culture jamming expressions; media surveillance and watchdogs; and participatory communication and media that form a ‘third sector’ distinct from public service and commercial media. Such practices may use a variety of communication technologies and forms, from print newsletters to mobile phones, from group communication and demonstrations to community radio and (online) social networks.
The section asks questions such as:
- How do marginalized, minority, or vulnerable groups develop, adapt, use, and appropriate media and communication technologies?
- What makes citizen media and communication forms effective and sustainable?
- What are the innovative forms of media activism? Are the older forms still alive and useful?
- What are the social, economic, legal, and political contexts of community and alternative media?
- What are the most fruitful theories and research methods for studying these media and communication forms?
- Which kind of journalism do they practice? What are the links between journalism and activism?
- Do these media and communication expressions point us to new forms of networked publics, participatory democracy, and active citizenship? Are these concepts problematic?
- What do we learn from citizen & community media? How do we integrate community communication in the Higher education curriculum? Community engagement is central to our work: how does the neoliberal context challenge or constrain scholarship in our area?
- How do alternative and citizen communication projects speak to the global and ecological crises that we face?
- How does community communication understand interculturality and create connections with communities in mobility: migrants, refugees, diasporas, etc.?
The section welcomes current research conducted with grassroots and systemically marginalized communities and social justice movements. CAM is a large, diverse, open, and friendly section. We are committed to the discussion of current practices and challenges facing social justice communications, the development of appropriate research approaches that can be useful for grassroots communities and social and environmental justice movements.
Community Communication and Alternative Media: Grassroots Responses to Planetary Challenges
The Community Communication and Alternative Media Section welcomes contributions from all scholars and practitioners who research and work in this field and is particularly interested in submissions on the following themes, which intersect with the 2023 conference’s focus on being human on a planet facing numerous overlapping crises:
- Alternative media, socio-ecological transition, and public participation;
- Community media and platforms, the right to communicate, and the role of emergent actors: environmental, feminist, indigenous, and social justice movements (LGBT+, racial, religious, etc.).
- Inside/outside: challenging dominant systems through activism, social movements, and community-led infrastructure.
- Indigenous knowledge, and communicative and epistemological justice
- Traversing Space and Place: Community Narratives of Displacement, Exile, and Migration
- Strategies for sustainability, resilience, and resistance in the face of myriad global crises.
In the spirit of our commitment to dialogue and community, we actively encourage proposals for roundtables and other formats, such as film screenings and virtual exhibitions, that will encourage active participation by conference attendees. Contact the Head of the section for proposals in different formats (details below).
The Section is hosting a joint session with the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN). Papers submitted to this session should have as a primary author/presenter an individual who identifies as an emerging scholar and relate to one or more of the themes above. If you are interested in this session, see the ESN CfP and submit your proposal following the procedures outlined there.
Contributing to the conference: Lyon23 and OCP23
There will be two ways of joining IAMCR2023:
- If you are not able to or don’t want to join the face-to-face conference in Lyon but do want to submit an online-only paper, submit your abstract to OCP23 only. If accepted, you’ll later submit your full paper to the online platform, which will be open for discussion from 26 June to 5 July.
- If you do want to join the face-to-face event, submit your abstract to Lyon23 and OCP23. If accepted you’ll submit your paper to the online platform and present it at the face-to-face conference.
Guidelines for abstracts
Abstracts should have between 300 and 500 words and must be submitted online here. Abstracts submitted by email will not be accepted.
It is expected that authors will submit only one (1) abstract. However, under no circumstances should an author submit more than two abstracts as a single author or as the lead author of a co-authored paper and no author will submit more than one abstract to the Community Communication and Alternative Media Section. 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.
If your abstract is accepted, you will need to submit your full conference paper (up to 8,000 words) in order to be included in the programme.
Proposals for panels can only be submitted to Lyon23 and OCP23. Panel submissions must include an abstract for each paper submitted here and a description & supplemental information submitted via this form on the conference website.
The deadline to submit abstracts is 9 February 2022 at 23h59 UTC.
See important dates and deadlines to keep in mind
Languages
The Community Communication and Alternative Media Section accepts abstracts in English, French and Spanish. You can submit the abstract and the full paper (if accepted) in any of these three languages. Papers will be organized in groups according to the themes they have in common, and these will be multi-lingual.
In line with the section’s existing practice of facilitating ‘whisper translation’ of sessions where possible, we will make every effort to provide some form of informal translation support in both online and in-person sessions in 2023. Presenters are asked to assist in this process by ensuring that supporting materials (e.g. slides) include text in a different official language to that of their oral presentation.
For further information about the Community Communication and Alternative Media Section, its themes, submissions, and panels please contact the Head of the section:
Co-Chair: Amparo Cadavid
School of Communication, UNIMINUTO, Colombia
amparo.cadavid [at] consultingecho.com
Co-Chair: Vinod Pavarala
UNESCO Chair on Community Media / University of Hyderabad, India
vpavarala [at] gmail.com
Vice-chair: Alejandro Barranquero
Department of Communication and Media Studies, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain
abarranq [at] hum.uc3m.es
Vice-chair: Andrew Ó Baoill
School of English and Creative Arts, University of Galway
andrew.obaoill [at] universityofgalway.ie
