[ecrea] CfP: Networks of transnational and transcultural communication

Call for Papers

Networks of transnational and transcultural communication: Concepts in
theory, methodology and research

Conference of the International and Intercultural Communication section
of the German Communication Association (DGPuK)

November 22-24, 2012, Erich Brost Institute for International
Journalism, TU Dortmund University, Germany

As everyday life is changing in an era of growing digitalization and
internationalization, “network” has become a catchword in the
description of current communication processes: People are employing
web-based networking platforms to exchange information and organize
their social interactions (sometimes with considerable effects on other
social entities, as the recent revolts in North Africa and the Middle
East have demonstrated); network organizations, often encompassing
different geographical areas and sometimes even the whole globe, are
reshaping the patterns of economic relations; social structures in
general are transforming themselves into an entity that Manuel Castells
calls the “network society”. The idea of communication as a network
seems particularly promising in the field of transnational and
transcultural communication research. However, despite inflationary use
of the term “network” in various analytical contexts, its application in
communication and media studies remains vague in most instances, often
being stuck in a merely metaphorical meaning of the term which blurs the
theoretical concepts that stand behind it.

Which potentials and pitfalls may the network approach entail for the
study of transnational and transcultural communication processes? Which
scenarios of cross-border communication – e.g. from the fields of
journalism studies, political or organizational communication, media
economics, sociology of or computer-mediated communication – really
deserve to be called a network? Which methodological challenges need to
be tackled in transcultural and transnational network analyses? And what
does “network” actually mean – and how does it relate to alternative
terms and concepts, such as hybridity, translation, connectivity and the
public sphere? These questions serve as landmarks for the conference,
which aims at updating the concept of the network in transnational and
transcultural communication research. The contributions will be grouped
in three thematic blocks:

1. Theory: In contemporary communication studies, the network approach
has been accentuated as an ideal perspective to keep track of
developments related to the current media shift. However, most network
analyses seem to blank out that the approach in fact has a long
tradition with (sometimes conflicting) roots in such diverse research
contexts as logic and mathematics, political science, sociology, social
anthropology, social psychology and geography. What can we learn from
these and other (classical as well as contemporary) variations of the
network approach? Which traditions and innovations in network theory can
be helpful for explaining current developments of cross-border
communication? In how far do they also take into account the effects and
selectivities of network-building processes – and what are alternative
approaches? By critically retracing and examining these different lines
of research, the conference wants to specify the concept of the network
and explore its potentials for transnational and transcultural
communication research – as well as its limitations.

2. Methodology: The application of network analysis in transnational and
transcultural communication studies brings new challenges to empirical
research settings – in all stages of the research process: Which
particularities need to be taken into account with regard to the
selection of cases? How can the necessary data be collected and
analyzed? Which techniques of visualization comply with the standards of
comparative research? The conference encourages a critical reflection of
all kinds of methodological challenges in cross-cultural network
analyses and welcomes presentations of innovative overall research
designs as well as discussions of specific methodological problems.

3. Empirical analysis: In recent years, the idea of the network has been
resonating in the analysis of various kinds of scenarios of
transnational and transcultural communication: Interpersonal networks
and social movements, network organizations and media markets, online
journalism and the World Wide Web are just a few objects of research
that lend themselves to be examined with the help of the network
approach. However, the approach is not restricted to individuals,
groups, organizations and other entities, or their communicative acts;
it can be gainful whenever there is relational data. The conference
invites proposals that may present all kinds of examinations of
cross-border communication, be they mediated or non-mediated, which
demonstrate the advantages (and the disadvantages) of the network
approach in applied research settings. The presentations can focus on
transnational and transcultural communicative networks on the micro, the
meso as well as on the macro level; they may originate from any
sub-discipline in the field of communication and media studies. Attempts
at systematizing existing network analyses of cross-cultural
communication processes are also welcome. Thus, the conference hopes to
illustrate a broad variety of research on networks of transcultural and
transnational communication in practice.

Integrated PhD workshop

The conference will be supplemented by a workshop at which PhD students
can present their dissertation research in international and
intercultural communication without any thematic restrictions imposed.
Renowned scholars will be commenting on each presentation, thus offering
a unique opportunity to obtain constructive feedback from experts who
would otherwise not be easily available.

Submission and selection of papers

Submissions for the conference should be made in English, submissions
for the PhD workshop can be made in English or German. Please send your
proposal to the organizers ((iic2012 /at/ brost.org)) no later than June 1,
2012 (using a pdf or a doc file). The abstract must not be longer than
8000 characters (including blank spaces). Please add a title page to the
abstract containing the name(s) and address(es) of the presenter(s) and
the title of the presentation. Conference submissions are for 20-minute
presentations and should be assigned to one of the three thematic
blocks. All submissions will be subjected to anonymous review based on
the criteria of originality, relevance, theoretical foundation,
appropriateness of the methods used, clarity of language, and reference
to the conference theme (the latter criterion does not apply to PhD
workshop submissions). All submitters will be informed by July 13, 2012,
about the outcome of the selection process.

Local organization

Dipl.-Journ. Tobias Eberwein/
Prof. Dr. Susanne Fengler/
Dipl.-Geogr. Julia Lönnendonker, M.A.
Erich Brost Institute for International Journalism
TU Dortmund University
Otto-Hahn-Straße 2
D-44227 Dortmund
Tel.: +49 (0) 231/755-4152
Fax: +49 (0) 231/755-4131
http://www.brost.org


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