[ecrea] Call for book chapters "MAPPING THE ALTERNATIVE MEDIA IN TURKEY"

*/CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTERS/*

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*MAPPING THE ALTERNATIVE MEDIA IN TURKEY*

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*Editors: *

Bar?s, C,oban & Bora Ataman

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*Deadline for abstracts:*

1 December 2012

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We aim to map the alternative media in Turkey, which is varied in form, 
structure and working styles such as "cracks", "rhizomes" and "fronts". 
Similarly to what has occurred with the mainstream media, both large and 
small examples of the alternative media, alongside their widespread 
prevalence inside the country, have also already transcended the 
national borders. We argue that mapping the alternative media, embracing 
newspapers, radio and television channels, cinemas, blogs, forums and 
platforms, essentially the full range of conventional and new media 
organs and vehicles, is one of the most useful research approaches to 
comprehending the nature of alternative politics in Turkey.

The alternative media works as a source of memory and an archive helping 
to understand the historical and current structure of alternative 
politics in Turkey. IT also gives voice to alternative ideologies and 
politics and makes their political activities visible. In addition, the 
alternative media, which mainly represents the "otherised", oppressed 
and marginalised groups, forms the vanguard of struggle against the 
hegemony and barbarism of the oppressive, globalized neo-liberal society.

Alternative media, as an umbrella term, applies to those media organs 
which are typically bottom up organisations. In principle, their 
organizational structures and decision making processes are democratic, 
participatory, polyphonic and dialogic. Their opposition to the 
mainstream media finds its roots, in its form and content, in social and 
political struggles and is based in radical ideologies such as 
anarchism, radical democracy and Marxism. The existence of alternative 
media indicates the struggle to construct a truly democratic and free 
sphere of communication from a number of broad perspectives, varying 
from the idea of simply being independent from either the state or 
capital, to being completely opposed to them. In this context, it is 
also possible to claim that every organ of the alternative media, as a 
centre of subaltern resistance, is part of a greater alternative 
communication network.

This so-called alternative network (or networks) is/are the voice of 
different political or social groups, communities, minorities or even 
individuals at the grassroots level. Thus, they open the way for these 
groups to actively participate in political and social life, as either 
real "agents" or as "spectacles" in the field of symbolic struggle. 
Therefore, individuals or groups can find opportunities to get involved 
in both real and symbolic struggles for hegemony, not only as consumers, 
but also as producers; as active agents.

Therefore, alternative media institutions either on the micro- or 
macro-scale cannot be considered as combatants solely at the 
informational level. In addition to their struggle to gather, record and 
spread news and ideas concerning local, national and transnational 
problems, they also provide a response to the establishment through real 
political actions. It is not unusual to see their active participation 
in protests, or even note that they hold the leadership positions in the 
organisation of some of these dissident political actions. Therefore, 
their active struggle with the hegemonic powers can also be considered 
as an effort to create alternative political forms. More commonly 
however, alternative media operate as the symbolic production centre of 
alternative politics and as an incubation ground for the intellectual 
and ideological constructs of social movements.

Alternative media, along with other dissident institutions, are seen as 
paving the way for a brighter and more just future by being the voice of 
the voiceless and contributing to the imagining of a different world. 
Threatening so-called representative democracy by supporting 
participatory social, cultural and political activities is also deemed 
useful to this end. By engaging in such activities, they may be able to 
cause the transformation of political culture in general. More 
importantly, however, the ways in which subordinate constituents of the 
society interpret politics and their own means of participation could 
change in a positive manner. Moreover, such efforts may also lead to the 
construction of efficient counter-public spheres alongside the more 
common examples of alternative spaces.

Diverse anti-systemic, reformist and revolutionary ideological 
orientations, varied political discourses and different modes of action 
constituting the alternative media landscape mostly open up an 
opportunity for the "oppressed" to actively participate in these 
alternative political spaces that are, to a certain extent, diverse, 
colourful, vivid and, most importantly, innately dialogic.

In this context, we argue that the "duty" of academia should be to 
understand these alternatives without stigmatizing them as the source of 
conflicts within the prevailing social system. After all, we as editors, 
would like to study these initiatives since the imagining of an 
alternative world may only be possible by embracing the oppressed and 
their voice, even though the world around us is not particularly welcoming.

Abstracts of papers are sought on topics such as:

· Radical media (Struggling within legal parameters to push the limits 
of the existing system

· Radical- militant media (affiliated with revolutionary organizations)

· Identity and rights-based media (Human rights, labour and trade-union 
rights, gender, environment, ethnicity, struggles based on faith or 
denomination

· Transnational and diaspora-based alternative media

· Independent, objective, opposition media

· Dissident voices, "cracks" in the mainstream media

However, it should be noted that the categories above do not refer to 
independent categories with clear differences. It is possible to say 
that; most examples of the alternative media operating in Turkey can be 
included under more than one of the rubrics mentioned above. 
Nevertheless, the alternative media organs in Turkey, despite a degree 
of permeability in the boundaries that separate them, may be seen as 
belonging more to one or another of the above-mentioned classifications, 
therefore, these categories will constitute the bookʼs chapters.

Furthermore, we are mainly interested in the case studies (comparative 
if possible) and empirical research possessing theoretical and 
methodological clarity, and focusing on at least one of three basic 
dimensions of media studies; such as "/Production/", "/Text/", or 
"/Audience/", without missing the multi-layered and intertwined 
relationships between these dimensions.

Abstracts of a maximum of 250 words in Turkish and English outlining the 
topic, theoretical and methodological approach as well as the research 
question, should be submitted to either Bar?s, C,oban 
((bcoban /at/ dogus.edu.tr) <mailto:(bcoban /at/ dogus.edu.tr)>) or Bora Ataman 
((bataman /at/ dogus.edu.tr) <mailto:(bataman /at/ dogus.edu.tr)>) until * December 1 
2012*.

Announcement of the abstracts selected will be made by February 1 2013.

The deadline for full paper submissions is August 1, 2013

The editors are planning to publish book in Turkish and English and have 
made an agreement with *Yordam, *to publish in January 2014.

After the evaluation of the abstracts, negotiations with foreign 
publishing houses will begin for the English version.

Bar?s, C,oban & Bora Ataman (Eds.)

Deadline for Research Proposals: December 1, 2012.