[ecrea] Communication and Uncertainty - Theoretical and Empirical Approaches to the Study of Complexity and Contingency in Communication

Title: "Communication and Uncertainty - Theoretical and Empirical 
Approaches to the Study of Complexity and Contingency in Communication".

The deadline for submissions is 18 April 2009.

Target participants: researchers in communication, social sciences, 
philosophy and related disciplines
Venue: University of Padua
Date: May 15 2009
Contact: (vincenzo.romania /at/ gmail.com)
Website: http://www.philosophy-of-communication.eu/

An informal workshop exploring recent research and theory development 
focussing on complexity, contingency and risk in communication
Any human communication carries an element of 'risk': uncertainty in 
communicative performances can occur at different stages and in 
different forms, involving both individual and collective actors.
In particular, it can regard:
(1) from an interactionist perspective, the framing of the situation 
- what's happening here?;
(2) the transformation of the intentions of the emitting actor(s) to 
a message adequately perceived and received by the interlocutor(s) - 
how to tell something that will be understood in the way I\wemeant 
(and how do we know what we mean before we
communicate)?;
(3) the possibility, after Luhmann, of a translatability or 
un-translatability of a message or a discourse between operative 
distinctions and contrasting codes among the actors involved - how 
can we understand each other?;
(4) in intercultural terms, a connected process of approximation to the other;
(5) finally, the process of communication itself, intended, in 
pragmatic terms, as a way to reduce uncertainties or, in the terms of 
conflict theory, as a way to negotiate among contrasting points of 
view and systems of meaning.
Because of the centrality of communicative action for the 
construction, reproduction, mediatisation and reflection of social 
structures, uncertainty in communication remains a complex and 
relevant issue for philosophy and for the social sciences.
In short, communicative uncertainties arise on account of different 
reasons. There is an inherent ambiguity in the communicative 
exchanges of everyday life due to the features of language, of role 
taking, and more generally of interaction.
Also, the environments in which communication occurs are becoming 
more and more complex because of different phenomena such as 
economical, cultural and political globalization, rapid social 
change, technological innovation.
We can perhaps say that studying the relation between communication 
and uncertainty is one of the best ways to understand the emerging 
features of large scale post-modern social structures.
Our workshop deals with the question how the social sciences approach 
uncertainty in communication processes in complex societies.
It aims to bring together researchers and educators who are working 
on uncertainty in communication or related topics.
The workshop will have an informal character, with plenty of room for 
discussion and interaction.
Contributions discussing work in progress are welcome, as are more 
advanced statements of research results or theory development. 
Contributions are invited which may address all relevant aspects. 
Theoretical and empirical proposals are both welcome.
Please send abstracts (max. 200 words) for 30-minute presentations 
via email to the organizers Vincenzo Romania and Johan Siebers.

The presentations will be arranged into a number of thematic sessions.
The deadline for submissions is 18 April 2009.

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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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European Communication Research and Education Association
Web: http://www.ecrea.eu
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E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
Web: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~ncarpent/
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