[ecrea] Call for papers: Chinese Media Legislation and Regulation: Trends, Issues and Questions

   *Call for papers: Chinese Media Legislation and Regulation: Trends,
   Issues and Questions *



   The Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy (PCMLP) at the
   University of Oxford is organizing a conference on Chinese media
   legislation and regulation, in Oxford, on 15 June 2012, on the
   following issues:

   China’s media landscape has undergone tremendous change over the
   last few years. Technological innovation and the explosion of
   Internet use have changed the landscape for the dissemination of
   entertainment and information. Provincial television channels have
   boomed. Privatization and foreign investment and influence have
   become important questions for consideration. The cultural
   industries have become a priority area for further economic
   development. At the international level, media trade is one of the
   most prominent issues between China and the United States.
   Electronic media have also become a channel for bottom-up political
   activity: increasingly microblogs are used to bring specific
   incidents into the public sphere, or for satirical expressions.

   These evolutions have been studied in-depth from the angles of
   political science, communication studies and cultural studies. The
   legal and regulatory aspects, in contrast, have received less
   attention in academic literature. Understanding the internal
   dynamics of the regulatory system for the media is crucial to better
   explain its impact on political issues, how media law and regulation
   reflect broader evolutions in China’s legal system, and to provide a
   deeper insight in the shifting priorities and objectives of the
   current leadership. To identify salient issues and bring emerging
   talent in the field together, the Programme for Comparative Media
   Law and Policy at the University of Oxford will organize a
   conference which will revolve around the following issues:

   · /Understanding the context of Chinese media law, regulation and
   policy. What dynamics exist in the restructuring of institutional
   interests behind media law and policymaking? How do policy making
   institutions in China interact with international counterparts? What
   shifts are taking place in the bureaucracy of decision-making and
   why, including those between the Party and State, and along
   horizontal and vertical lines. Is the conception of an underlying
   value system changing and if yes, how are relevant interests mobilized?
   /
   /
   /· /Emerging media doctrines and enforcement. Is there consistency
   between the various administrative regulations? Can one examine case
   studies in regulation—the recent changes on regulation of
   entertainment formats, for example—as a way of presenting new
   understandings of media law and policy making in China? Is the role
   of the courts changing in terms of functioning in the media policy
   realm? Are various zones of litigation, tort law, defamation or
   privacy law, financial or business law, having an impact on media
   policy? Which sorts of cases are brought to courts, or how does
   administrative enforcement function?
   /
   /
   /· /Alternative forms of regulation. How are co-regulation and
   self-regulation taking shape in China? In which sectors are these
   applied? What are the actors, structures and processes?
   /
   /
   /· /International cooperation and trade. How is China opening up for
   foreign investors? Does this result in shifting patterns of business
   activities, investment and participation? What is the influence of
   the WTO and other international regimes on Chinese media law and
   regulation?
   /
   /
   /· /How does discourse about media law and regulation include
   reference to international norms and competing models of regulation?
   What is the state of research on effects of change in norms and
   enforcement on social relations?
   /
   /
   /PCMLP invites proposals that aim to provide conceptual, empirical
   or theoretical approaches to these and related questions. All
   researchers are welcome, but Ph.D. researchers and early-career
   academics are especially encouraged to apply. Interested
   participants are kindly requested to send an abstract of no more
   than 500 words and a brief CV to Rogier Creemers
   ((rogier.creemers /at/ csls.ox.ac.uk)
   <mailto:(rogier.creemers /at/ csls.ox.ac.uk)> ) before 31 March 2012.
   Participants will be informed about acceptance before 15 April 2012.

   It is expected that the conference papers will form a publication,
   the exact format still to be determined.
   For further information about PCMLP, please see:
   http://pcmlp.socleg.ox.ac.uk <http://pcmlp.socleg.ox.ac.uk/>

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