[ecrea] Call Preconference on civil rights in Mediatized Societies

>Call for Papers
>
>
>
>Civil Rights in Mediatized Societies:
>
>Which data privacy against whom and how?
>
>
>
>Organized by IAMCR as a Pre-Conference19-20 July 
>2008 to the IAMCR 26th World Congress 20-25 July 
>2008, University of Stockholm, Sweden.
>
>
>
>The need for a Pre-Conferenceon Civil Rights in Mediatized Societies
>
>Accountability for the role of media in society 
>and culture is an oldtopic for media and 
>communication scholars, especially for those who 
>areaffiliated to the IAMCR, which at the same 
>time is an Association ofresearchers and 
>accepted as an NGO by UNESCO and the UN system. 
>For example,topics like the Digital Divide or 
>those discussed at the WSIS Summit alwayshave attracted great interest.
>
>The digitalization and the use of digitalized 
>media of today are notonly areas of new 
>possibilities and potentialities for a better 
>life for all,for education and economy, for 
>leisure and contacts between the people, but 
>under the given conditions of today  also a 
>growing danger for freedom anddemocracy, a 
>menace for the civil rights of people, as they 
>increasingly controland influence people and 
>give rise to a reduction in our capacity to be 
>human.  From concerns aboutBig 
>Brother,questions about datamisuse rise issues 
>of civil rigths, privacy and the possibilitiesof 
>social and media activism.  Much academicwork on 
>these issues is strongly theoretical or 
>undertaken in the fields of Lawand 
>Criminology.  The field of Media 
>andCommunications can draw upon a broader range 
>of disciplines including psychology,sociology, 
>politics and communication theory itself to 
>interpret and learn fromempirical evidence to 
>understand the implications of these 
>developments for peoplesbehavior and the 
>potential danger for free and democratic societies.
>
>An example, and there are many:
>
>As Peterwalks up the main street, suddenly his 
>mobile phone is ringing. A kind voicetells him 
>that the retail shop he just was in front of, 
>has a special offer inshoes of the label he 
>usually wears. Behind this call, a lot of media 
>and telecommunicationprocesses and a lot of 
>computer power have been active: A camera took 
>picturesof all people walking on the road  of 
>course because of security reasons. A 
>computerwith artificial intelligence software 
>identified his face by biometrical 
>attributes.The computer exchanges its knowledge 
>with the police net, in order to find outthe 12 
>digits personal number of the person and to know 
>whether the personfulfils the important social 
>norms of having a job, is not deviant, is not 
>veryill and so on. Police and other governmental 
>institutions cooperate with privateenterprises 
>in cases like this, because the Government feels 
>responsible forthe public space and the security 
>of the people in the time of terrorism. Thehuge 
>data stores of specialized economic enterprises 
>inform about the rest: whetherhe has a credit 
>card, what types of things he usually buys, 
>whether he pays hisbills and so on. Also known 
>are all his operations he did by mobile phone 
>andin the internet: Whether he buys tickets for 
>what, with whom he speaks by phone,what books he 
>bought at Amazon, the websites he usually visits 
>by his provider,which one he searches for with 
>Google, the friends he usually meets in chats orcontacts by e-mail or phone.
>
>Ofcourse, Peter is eager to buy shoes more 
>cheaply than usually, he enters theshop. When he 
>leaves it with the shoes, he doesnt care that 
>there is a verysmall RFID chip in the shoe, as 
>is the case in everything he buys  the 
>datacollected by that technology help to follow the traces of the shoe.
>
>More and more institutions have begun to collect 
>all the data they canget  in whatever way: the 
>government, the police, the industry, 
>enterprises,the health and the security system, 
>the banks and the political parties, theretail 
>shop chains, the media themselves. They do it in 
>order to make the peopleslives more secure and 
>pleasant, and in order to do their jobs better  
>moreinformation seems always better than less 
>information. Of course, it is not newthat they 
>do this. But there are developments which should be taken intoconsideration:
>    * More and more data exist about every 
> single person, e.g. about her or his genes, 
> health, wealth, interests, working qualities 
> and so on. Especially, every activity with 
> electronic media produces data and produces 
> traces  with whom we communicate and how 
> often, sometimes about what, what we are 
> interested in and what we do in leisure or a job, what we buy and so on.
>    * More and more of the produced and existing 
> data which describe a person are collected by 
> more and more institutions, organizations and 
> enterprises  from PayPal or credit card 
> organisations, for example. Here, media society 
> means that more and more areas of life are 
> intertwined with media and thus may be used to 
> collect data. New laws at least in the 
> industrial societies care for a universal order 
> of this data, e.g. a personal number for every 
> individual. Thus, all data may be brought 
> together and ordered by person. By the ongoing 
> development of the media, this set of data may 
> be used everywhere. The outcome of this is 
> dangerous for the individuals, for democracy and society.
>    * Economy and the enterprises need 
> information about what people want and what 
> they like, to optimise their products and the 
> ads for their target groups. Government, police 
> and more and more societal institutions collect 
> data with the argument that they need them to 
> protect the people against terrorism, for 
> planning and for doing their job. The problem, 
> which carries high risk is that now economy and 
> government have similar interests  against the 
> consumers and the citizens of civil society, who need freedom.
>    * Technological development is helpful for 
> government and economy, as the necessary 
> devices for control become smaller, better and 
> cheaper: Even if a person does not use 
> electronic devices, it is nearly impossible to 
> move in a European or US-city without being 
> observed by dozens or more TV cameras. In 
> addition, new technologies like RFID chips come 
> to life. And first of all, computers gradually 
> learn, what is understood as artificial 
> intelligence, and they more and more become 
> able to analyze the data automatically, without 
> a person directing them. They will identify 
> persons and they will decide whether a person is dangerous.
>
>In general, the collection of data by government 
>and social institutionsor by the enterprises is 
>not new. What is new is that today more and more 
>dataconnected with a person are produced, and 
>that government and economy collectsthem all  
>as it seems better to have them all if one wants 
>to make valid predictionsabout behaviour. In 
>addition, it is new is that government 
>institutions,private enterprises and other 
>institutions and parties are interested in 
>thesame data: they cooperate against the consumer and citizens.
>
>Media and communication scholars observe, 
>describe and analyse whathappens with the media, 
>communication and culture. The above 
>developments areamong the recent media effects 
>on society and the individual.  In this context 
>the concept of civil rightsand their role in a 
>mediatised society make it important to analyse 
>issues ofideology, culture and cultural 
>diversity, religion, values, ethics and 
>changingpolitical systems.  These are the 
>broaderissues that frame our interest in the specific topic of data misuse.
>
>This pre-conference is planned, and supported by 
>the IAMCR, to discussthese issues and problems, 
>most of which are being ignored today.
>
>The goals of theconference are threefold.
>    * It will provide a basis for making an 
> inventory of what happens today in this area 
> and what can be expected over the next decade. 
> This includes the law, media, technical devices 
> for surveillance and so on. This inventory 
> should be based on scholarly research.
>    * There are a lot of grassroots, other 
> organisations and NGOs that work on these 
> topics and have ideas and experience to develop 
> alternative models.  They know what to do and 
> how to do it. The conference will solicit and 
> collect reports from such organisations in order to learn from them.
>    * A declaration will be developed on what 
> the situation is and what action might be 
> taken. Such a declaration will be discussed by 
> the General Assembly of IAMCR, and if it is 
> supported, it will be distributed, if the 
> Assembly agrees. If of general interest, the 
> papers and NGO reports may be printed and distributed.
>
>Who should attend?
>
>We encourage scholars, members of NGOs and other 
>institutions to presenttheir research and work 
>on data misuse at this pre-conference and to 
>cooperatein a common network based in different 
>countries and cultures worldwide. We 
>inviteacademic papers and NGO reports from 
>different countries focussing on what canbe learned from their experience.
>
>We invite abstracts of 500 words.Abstracts will 
>be peer-reviewed by the organizers. Decisions 
>will be reachedtwo weeks after the submission 
>date of 1April 2008. Those invited to present 
>their work will be asked to submit afull paper 
>(or report in the case of NGOs and others) with 
>a view to possiblepublication by 1 July 2008.
>
>Timing of Pre-Conference:
>
>The conference will take place from 19 July 2008 
>9:00 am to 20 July 2008 1:00 pm at the 
>University of Stockholm.There will be some 20 
>presentations on the Saturday. The Sunday 
>morning will bedevoted to the development and 
>discussion of a declaration by the 
>participants.The organisers cannot provide 
>financial support to participants.  The fee 
>covers the cost of lunch, coffee andthe room 
>rental.  Participants canarrange accommodation at the IAMCR Conference website.
>
>Pre-Conference on CivilRights in Mediatized Societies Fee:
>
>IAMCR High Income Country:  USD 130.00
>IAMCR Low Income Country:  USD 50.00
>
>Registration will open from 15 April 2008.  You 
>will register by sending an 
>emailto:  <mailto:(Friedrich.Krotz /at/ uni-erfurt.de)>(Friedrich.Krotz /at/ uni-erfurt.de)
>
>You will then receive an invoice from IAMCR to 
>pay your preconference registrationfee at 
>PayPal.  After the fee has beenreceived your registration will be valid.
>
>Pre-Conference Organisers:
>
>Professor FriedrichKrotz, email: 
><mailto:(Friedrich.Krotz /at/ uni-erfurt.de)>(Friedrich.Krotz /at/ uni-erfurt.de)
>Professor Robin Mansell, email: 
><mailto:(r.e.mansell /at/ lse.ac.uk)>(r.e.mansell /at/ lse.ac.uk)
>
>Send your abstract to 
><mailto:(Friedrich.Krotz /at/ uni-erfurt.de)>(Friedrich.Krotz /at/ uni-erfurt.de) 
>by 1 April2008.
>
>
>
>For further information about hotels and the 
>main IAMCR conference, see 
><http://www.mediaandglobaldivides.se/>http://www.mediaandglobaldivides.se/
>
>Note that University of Stockholm is 
>NOTresponsible for the organisation of this 
>pre-conference.  They only do registration for 
>the MAIN IAMCRconference, 20-25 July 2008.
>

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Nico Carpentier (Phd)
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Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Free University of Brussels
Centre for Studies on Media and Culture (CeMeSO)
Pleinlaan 2 - B-1050 Brussels - Belgium
T: ++ 32 (0)2-629.18.56
F: ++ 32 (0)2-629.36.84
Office: 5B.401a
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Katholieke Universiteit Brussel - Catholic University of Brussels
Vrijheidslaan 17 - B-1081 Brussel - Belgium
&
Facultés Universitaires Saint-Louis
Boulevard du Jardin Botanique 43  - B-1000 Brussel - Belgium
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http://mcgraw-hill.co.uk/html/0335222102.html
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Participation and Media Production. Critical Reflections on Content Creation.
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<http://www.c-s-p.org/Flyers/Participation-and-Media-Production--Critical-Reflections-on-Content-Creation1-84718-453-7.htm>http://www.c-s-p.org/Flyers/Participation-and-Media-Production--Critical-Reflections-on-Content-Creation1-84718-453-7.htm 

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European Communication Research and Education Association
Web: http://www.ecrea.eu
----------------------------
ECREA's Second European Communication Conference
Barcelona, 25-28 November 2008
http://www.ecrea2008barcelona.org/
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E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
Web: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~ncarpent/
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