Tag: Journal of Communication

CFP Speaking Across Communication Subfields in JOC

“Publication
Call for Papers: Journal of Communication Special Issue: Speaking Across Communication Subfields. Deadline: July 15, 2019.

Guest Editors: Keren Tenenboim-Weinblatt (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) & Chul-joo “CJ” Lee (Seoul National University)

With the rapid growth and development of the field of Communication, it has also become increasingly fragmented, while its subfields – as represented by ICA’s various divisions and interest groups – have become increasingly self-contained. Researchers within the different subfields speak to each other in numerous forums and publications and in ever-growing levels of precision and sophistication, but are often oblivious to related developments in other subfields. Similarly, conceptual, analytical and empirical contributions are discussed in relation to the state-of-the-art within a specific subfield, but often fail to be developed into broader theoretical frameworks. The result is a multiplicity of theoretical, conceptual and empirical fragments, whose interrelationships and relevance for a range of communication processes remain to be established.

In this special issue, editors look for rigorous, original and creative contributions that speak across multiple subfields of communication. All theoretical approaches as well as methods of scholarly inquiry are welcome, and we are open to various formats and foci: The papers can be based on an empirical study, integrate a series of empirical pieces, thereby proposing a new theory or model, or be primarily theoretical. Their focus can be a specific theory, a specific concept or a set of related concepts, a communication phenomenon that can be better accounted for using a cross-disciplinary perspective, or any other focus that fits the purpose of the special issue. In all forms, the papers should make substantial, original contributions to theoretical consolidation and explicitly discuss the relevance and implications of their research to different subfields.

CFP Communication for Development & Social Change

Special Issue: “Communication for Development and Social Change: Experiences & Future Convergences”
Journal of Communication
Guest Editors: Thomas Tufte and Rafael Obregon

Communication for development and social change is at the crossroads of multiple approaches in communication scholarship, including visual communication, organizational communication, media and communication technologies, intercultural communication, and other communication practices. It also constitutes an established practice carried out and supported by agencies in international development and cooperation. In recent years, we have seen a proliferation of experiences and approaches, led by global partnerships and alliances as well as civil society organizations which, in many cases, crystallized in social movements across the globe.

In the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2008 and the so-called ‘Arab Spring’, social movements came to represent a rich and heterogeneous amount of bottom-up citizen and community-driven initiatives. They are cause-driven mobilizations pursuing goals across various issues and sectors, including public health, education urban development, sustainable development, and children’s and women’s rights. Recent humanitarian crises, such as the Ebola crisis and the refugee crises, have led to a widespread citizen engagement through a variety of social change communication and community-led initiatives.

In this processes, digital media and digital-centered forms of mobilization have been crucial, but also contested. The debate has moved beyond the initial techno-determinist fascination with so-called “Facebook” and “Twitter” mobilizations to the recognition of complex and dynamic relations between online and offline communication, organizations and social change, movements and media, performance and protest, communication and public deliberation, as well as among a variety of actors including communities, non-governmental and governmental organizations, movements, and companies pursuing similar agendas.

The energy, creativity, discourses, tactics, and strategies through which various political and social actors communicate for social change have come to challenge and inspire both research and practice. Many governmental and non-governmental organizations are seeking ways and means to reach and connect with constituencies, spark new energy, drive stronger public and policy agendas, build social movements, and promote social change.

Against this backdrop, the focus of this special issue of the Journal of Communication is to offer an in-depth understanding of the role of communication in social movements and various forms of collective action that promote equity, social justice, and human rights by tackling a range of global social problems.

We invite authors to send submissions informed by various theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches in communication studies. We are interested in submissions that:
– Revisit communication and social change theories, models, and arguments that inform research about communication in times of digital media and widespread citizen engagement.
– Examine case studies that bring original theoretical, analytical and conceptual insights about new dynamics of citizen engagement, organizational communication, and other communication practices related to multiple dimensions of social change.
– Critically reflect upon opportunities and limitations that social movements, organizations, non-government organizations, community-based organizations, and other civil society actors confront to spark communication, citizen engagement, and promote social change.
– Address communication experiences in a wide range of policy and development sectors and issues, including health, environment, poverty alleviation, energy, labor, culture, religion, diversity, gender equality, social accountability, and social inclusion.

Manuscripts should not exceed 28 pages (6000 words), including references and figures, and must be submitted through the online submission system of the Journal of Communication. Authors should indicate that they wish to have their manuscript considered for the special issue. Information about author guidelines can be found in the Journal of Communication website.

Deadline for submissions: December 1, 2016.

Inquiries should be sent to Dr. Thomas Tufte (ttufte[at]ruc.dk) and Dr. Rafael Obregon (robregon[at]unicef.org).

This theme issue will be published in 2017.

CFP Journal of Communication Special Issue

Call for Papers: Ferments in the Field
Ferments in the Field: The Past, Present and Futures of Communication Studies

In 1983, Journal of Communication (JoC) published the special issue “Ferment in the Field” (Volume 33, Issue 3, co-edited by George Gerbner and Marsha Siefert). The issue focused on “questions about the role of communications scholars and researchers, and of the discipline as a whole, in society” (Gerbner & Siefert, 1983, p. 4). The 35 contributions reflected “on the state of communications research today; the relationship of the researcher to science, society, and policy; the goals of research with respect to social issues and social structure; and the tactics and strategies for reaching their goals” (ibid). In 1993, two comparable JoC issues were dedicated to “The Disciplinary Status of Communication Research” (Volume 43, Issues 3-4, co-edited by Mark Levy and Michael Gurevitch). In 2008, a JoC special issue discussed “Epistemological and Disciplinary Intersections” (Volume 58, Issue 4, edited by Michael Pfau).

More than three decades after the original Ferment issue, it is again time to reflect on disciplinary transformations in communication studies. By calling this new special issue Ferments in the Field, we see historical continuity in our efforts along JoC’s tradition of inviting communication scholarship to reflect upon itself. Meanwhile, we ask questions with a special eye on the increasing complexity and diversity of the field:
• What does the field of communication research look like?
• What have been the key tendencies and developments in communication(s) research and its subfields?
• How has the field developed in the past decades? What have been long-term continuities and discontinuities since the 1980s?
• What is the actual and desirable role for communication studies in contemporary academe and society?
• What is the status of theory, methods, critique, ethics, and interdisciplinarity in our field?
• What is the status of critical research and theories?
• How should the field position itself vis-à-vis key contemporary processes and challenges?
• What does the future of communication studies look like?

With these questions in mind, we hope to encourage authors to revisit the classic “ferment” themes as identified by past contributions to JoC. It is our belief that past arguments and issues need to be re-examined given new developments in communication in contemporary societies, changing media systems and communication processes, the digitization of communication, global and regional crisis, and the dynamics of knowledge production in academic institutions around the world.

Contributions to a new edition of “Ferments in the Field” should be provocative essays that offer bold ideas with broad implications for the field as a whole and areas of specializations. This special issue speaks of ferments in the plural in order to spur reflections beyond established academic boundaries and stimulate discussions that encourage scholars to think beyond comfort zones. From multiple theoretical, methodological, and disciplinary perspectives, it asks about the continuities and discontinuities in communication research in an attempt to initiate a new round of debates about the past, present and futures of the field.

The special issue will be published in 2018. The editors are Professor Christian Fuchs (University of Westminster) and Professor Jack Qiu (Chinese University of Hong Kong).

Authors are welcome to submit extended abstracts to the Editors by December 1, 2016. Extended abstracts should have a length of 400-1,000 words (excluding tables, figures, and references). Abstracts should be submitted to c.fuchs[at]westminster.ac.uk and jacklqiu[at]cuhk.edu.hk.

After the editors review the abstracts, authors will be informed about acceptance or rejection by early February 2017. In reviewing abstracts, special attention will be given to whether the proposed pieces take a broad view on the past, present and future of communication studies from specific angles. Subsequently, authors who were asked to submit complete papers will need to submit their manuscripts by May 2, 2017. Each manuscript should not exceed 4,000 words (including tables, figures, and references). Manuscripts should be submitted to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jcom. Please indicate submission for the special issue “Ferments in the Field” in the cover letter.

Extended abstracts and manuscripts must conform to JoC guidelines, including the use of APA 6th edition.

Besides extended abstracts and manuscripts, the editors welcome expression of interest in reviewing submissions. Questions and comments should be directed to Jack Qiu and Christian Fuchs.

Social Media/Political Change JoC call

Journal of Communication
Submission Call for Special Issue on “Social Media and Political Change”

Guest co-Editor:  Dr. Philip N. Howard, University of Washington
Editor:  Dr. Malcolm Parks, University of Washington

The “Arab Spring” as well as recent events in other parts of the world have demonstrated that new communication technologies, such as mobile phones and the internet, are simultaneously new tools for social movement organizing and new tools for surveillance by authoritarian regimes.  Though communication theory necessarily transcends particular technologies, software, and websites, digital media have clearly become an important part of the toolkit available to political actors.  These technologies are also becoming part of the research toolkit for scholars interested in studying the changing patterns in interpersonal, political, and global communication.

How have changing patterns of interpersonal, political, and global communication created new opportunities for social movements, or new means of social control by political elites?  The role of social media in new patterns of communication is especially dramatic across North Africa and the Middle East, where decades of authoritarian rule have been challenged—with varying degrees of success.  Social media—broadly understood as a range of communication technologies that allow individuals to manage the flow of content across their own networks of family, friends and other social contacts—seem to have had a crucial role in the political upheaval and social protest in several countries.  Mass communication has not ceased to be important, but is now joined with a variety of other media with very different properties that may reinforce, displace, counteract, or create fresh new phenomena.

This Special Issue seeks original qualitative, comparative, and quantitative research on social media and political change, particularly as related to events in North Africa and the Middle East, but we are also receptive to work on political change in other parts of the developing world.  We would welcome manuscripts from a diverse range of methodologies, and covering diverse communities and cultures.  Methodological innovations or mixed method approaches are particularly encouraged, and manuscripts on the interpersonal and intergroup aspects of social movement organizing are central interest.  Whatever the approach, our goal is to select manuscripts that are grounded in the actual use of social media in promoting or resisting political change in developing countries and regions.  If you have questions regarding the appropriateness of a potential submission, please contact Prof. Philip N. Howard (pnhoward@uw.edu).

Deadline for Submission is August 15th, 2011, through http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jcom.  Manuscripts must confirm to all JOC guidelines, including the use of APA 6th edition format and a limit of 30 pages total manuscript length.  Please indicate your desire to be considered for the special issue in your cover letter.

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