[ecrea] call for manuscripts for a special issue of “Communication Theory” on “Conceptualizing Mediatization”

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“Conceptualizing Mediatization”
Call for Papers for a special issue of “Communication Theory”

http://www.wiley.com/bw/journal.asp?ref=1050-3293


Guest editors: Nick Couldry (Goldsmiths, University of London),
Andreas Hepp (ZeMKI, University of Bremen)


Today, we can no longer understand culture and society in isolation from the media: If we do politics, for instance, it is politics by and through media. The way we spend our work time as well as our spare time is increasingly marked by the use of computers. Against this backdrop, ‘mediatization’ has evolved as a key concept to describe a fundamental transformation of the relationship between the media, culture, and society. Generally speaking, ‘mediatization’ captures the interrelation between media-communicative change, on the one hand, and socio-cultural change, on the other. The core idea behind this concept is that the changing media exert an influence in that they alter communication processes and, in so doing, our socio-cultural construction of reality. In this sense, media are ‘moulding forces’. However, the specificity of certain media opens up various possibilities for dealing with them, depending on the contexts of their appropriation, as well as on
power-relations. In such a perspective, ‘mediatization theory’ is less concerned with direct and unidirectional effects of media contents on culture and society but allows for a complex and critical reflection of the role of contemporary media communication, as well as the history of culture and society.

Over the past decade, the discussion surrounding mediatization has stimulated important empirical research. It has produced a wide array of sophisticated analyses of the mediatization of various fields of culture and society, most notably on politics, religion, and popular culture. As mediatization research becomes more and more differentiated today, it is time to reflect on the theoretical power of mediatization theory, particularly against the background of empirical research in and beyond its tradition.

The aim of this special issue of Communication Theory therefore is to stimulate debate by “Conceptualizing Mediatization” in a wider perspective. Within such a general scope, we invite manuscript submissions on the following non-exclusive list of topics:

•       Re-thinking the complexity of mediatization.

•       Theorizing historical dimensions of mediatization.

•       Reflections on (trans-)cultural and (trans-)national aspects of mediatization.

•       Mediatization as critical approach of media research.

•       Mediatization in relation to other concepts of change within communication and media research.

Manuscripts must be submitted no later than 1 April 2012 through the online system of Communication Theory: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/comth.

Submissions should indicate that authors wish to have their manuscript considered for the special issue. Manuscript inquiries should be sent to Nick Couldry (<(n.couldry /at/ gold.ac.uk)>) and Andreas Hepp (<(andreas.hepp /at/ uni-bremen.de)>).





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Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp
University of Bremen - FB 9
ZeMKI, Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research
Linzerstr. 4
D-28359 Bremen, Germany

Phone:   +49 (0)421 218-67620

http://www.zemki.uni-bremen.de
http://www.kommunikative-figurationen.de/





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