GENERAL CALL FOR PROPOSALS
This is the general call for proposals. Consult the specific calls for proposals of IAMCR’s 31 thematic sections and working groups which adapt and add to this overall theme.
The International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites submissions of abstracts for papers and panel proposals for the 2017 IAMCR conference to be held from 16 -20 July, 2017 in Cartagena, Colombia. The deadline to submit abstracts is midnight GMT on 9 February 2017.
Proposals for consideration by thematic sections and working groups must be submitted via the IAMCR Open Conference System at http://iamcr-ocs.org
The overall theme of the 2017 conference is Transforming Culture, Politics & Communication: New media, new territories, new discourses.
“Transforming Culture, Politics & Communication: New media, new territories, new discourses”
All over the world communication and media are being transformed by complex and often unpredictable dynamics, tendencies and trends.
Across an increasing number of regions, established social and political actors are being challenged and new movements are emerging, defined, for example, by sexual preferences, lifestyles, ethnic identities, customs, practices or interests. These new actors are more likely to see “politics” as spaces of multiple modes of participation rather than as spaces where they are represented. Contemporary politics (especially political parties) are being transformed and new social movements are emerging and growing, taking various forms, sizes, and shapes.
Against this backdrop, the conference will explore and discuss the link between, on the one hand, broad social, political and cultural changes and dynamics, and on the other, changes in communication, media, and their processes. In particular, the conference will be an opportunity to incubate and develop theories, research, and frameworks, that might guide emerging theoretical frameworks to help think about, discuss and create new, and hopefully more appropriate, concepts and methods for the field and its practices.
A key focus will be the new social and spatial territories of the political, their social and cultural effects, and the dramatic transformations they have produced in communication processes.
Given the epochal changes underway globally, is it time to rethink communication and relocate it, with all of its nuances, within a new understanding of politics and culture that speaks to the times we now live in?
At the same time, the outdated geopolitical idea of a north/south, east/west world that dominated thinking in the 20th century also needs to be revisited. The conditions of social and cultural life that generated these conceptualizations are no longer linked to territories. Today “souths” and “norths” (in the conventional sense), mingle and interact with centers and peripheries, and easts and wests, throughout the world.
Submission of Abstracts
Each Section and Working Group of IAMCR will issue its own Call for Papers, based on the general thematic outline above. Abstracts should be submitted from 1 December 2016 – 9 February 2017. Both individual and panel submissions are welcome. A panel submission is one in which a group of colleagues propose a coherent theme to be discussed by multiple speakers. See the specific instructions for panel submissions.
Early submission is strongly encouraged.
Deadlines
The deadline for submission of abstracts is 9 February 2017. Please note that this deadline will not be extended.
Decisions on acceptance of abstracts will be communicated to applicants by their Section or Working Group Head no later than 3 April 2017.
For those whose abstracts are accepted, full conference papers are to be submitted by 26 June.
Guidelines for Abstracts
Unless otherwise stated by a Section or Working Group, abstracts should be between 300 and 500 words in length.
All abstract submissions must be made via IAMCR’s Open Conference System. There are to be no email submissions of abstracts addressed to any Section or Working Group Head.
It is expected that for the most part, only one (1) abstract will be submitted per person. However, under no circumstances should there be more than two (2) abstracts bearing the name of the same author either individually or as part of any group of authors. 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. Such submissions will be deemed to be in breach of the conference guidelines and will be rejected by the OCS system, by the relevant Head or by the Conference Programme Reviewer. Authors submitting them risk being removed entirely from the conference programme.
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 or contact the head of the Section and Working Group that interests you.
For further information, please consult the conference website or contact the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) by email at cartagena2017@iamcr.org.
Criteria for Evaluation
Submitted abstracts will generally be evaluated on the basis of:
- Theoretical contribution
- Methods
- Quality of writing
- Literature review
- Relevance of the submission to the work of the Section or Working Group
- Originality and/or significance
Sections and Working Groups may use additional criteria and may assign different weights to the above criteria. Consult the specific CfP or contact the head of the Section and Working Group you want to submit to if you have questions.
Proposals for consideration by thematic sections and working groups must be submitted via the IAMCR Open Conference System at http://iamcr-ocs.org.