[ecrea] Call for Abstracts From Multitude to Crowds in Social Movements - International Conference

From Multitude to Crowds in Social Movements – publics, gatherings, 
networks and media in the 21th century

26-27 January 2015
International Conference hosted by the Catholic University of Portugal, 
in a CECC/CECL co-organization.
Deadline for proposals: 31/08/2014

Further info: http://frommultitudetocrowds.blogspot.pt

There has always been, in human history, collective action taken by 
ordinary people. The 19th and 20th centuries were a period of political 
affirmation of social groups and the concomitant emergence of social 
movements as collective endeavors to promote political and social change 
in any direction and by different means (Borch, 2012). This period saw 
the rise of the social movement in the sense of a set of people who 
deliberately commit themselves to a shared identity, a unifying belief, 
a common program and a collective struggle to prosecute that program of 
social action.

In the 21st century there has been a transformation of the traditional 
forms of action. Indeed, the repertoire of collective action (Tilly and 
Wood, 2009) has changed as the organization and public recognition are 
different in a time when the relevance of the media in social and 
political relations invites new orders of functioning. The revolutionary 
wave of demonstrations and protests, riots, and civil wars in the Arab 
world beginning on 18th December 2010 are an illustrative case. The Arab 
Spring had in communication tools, such as the Internet and social 
networks, a key factor for social mobilization and socio-political 
demands (Khondker, 2011). The same occurred in Portugal, Greece and 
Spain with social protests related to the global financial and economic 
crisis. Social networks were vital to the coordination of national and 
international collective actions, while traditional media such as 
television or the press were essential for the public recognition of 
their causes.

Even if recent technological changes put social actors in a global 
network society (Castells, 2009), that does not necessarily erase the 
need for a topological experience (with its physical and emotional 
aspects) (Collins, 2001). Social movements and publics still need to 
gather in crowds to reach their collective dynamics. So, how to 
characterize the reciprocal influence of multitudes, publics and crowds?

The International Conference “From Multitude to Crowds in Social 
Movements – publics, gatherings, networks and media in the 21th century” 
aims to discuss media relevance on present-day social movements and if 
and how collective action is being transformed in contemporary 
mediatized societies (Adolf, 2011; Burton, 2010). How should we think 
the relation between mediatization and public experience? What is the 
symbolic meaning attached to the occupation of public spaces such as 
streets, plazas or official premises? How do social movements’ 
commitment to change (Tilly, 1977) use social media to establish a 
unified system of belief? How do they relate to the “crisis of 
representation” in contemporary social and political systems? What is 
the place of crowds in social movements? What is the relation between 
multitudes, crowds and publics? How do publics engage in “public action 
regimes” (Cefaï and Pasquier, 2003)? How are Sociology, Political 
Science and Communication Sciences reacting to the new developments in 
social organization and public expression?

This two-day event brings together scholars from a variety of 
disciplines such as Communication Sciences, Sociology, or Political 
Science, to offer an updated perspective on the ways notions of 
multitude, crowds, social movements and media intersect. It proposes to 
study social movements repertoires and how social groups are led to 
adapt, improvise and invent new ones under the social constraints 
imposed by the use or presence of media.



Confirmed Speakers:

    * Dr. Christian Borch (Copenhagen Business School, CBS, Department 
of Management, Politics and Philosophy);
    * Dr. Erik Neveu (Sciences Po Rennes)
    * Dr. Gustavo Cardoso (ISCTE- Lisbon Universitary Institute)
    * Dr. João Carlos Correia (University of Beira Interior)

We welcome contributions that consider (but are not limited to) the 
following topics:

    * Social Movements and the Crowd
    * Social Movements History
    * Social Movements and the Crowd
    * Social Movements History
    * Crowd Sociology
    * Critical Theories on the Crowd, Multitude and Publics (Le Bon, 
Tarde, Durkheim, Freud, Canetti, Negri, Habermas)
    * Theoretical Appraisals on Social Movements
    * Theories on Public Experience
    * The Publicity of Crowds, Publics and Multitudes
    * Public Sphere and Social Movements
    * Media and Crowds
    * Traditional and New Media in the Emergence and Consolidation of 
Social Causes
    * Media's Influence on Collective Action
    * Digital and Social Media in Social Protests
    * The Influence of Crowds and Multitudes on Public Agenda
    * Social Movements and Democracy
    * Crowds, Multitudes and Publics in Media Events
    * Social Movements, Media and Imagination - Words of protest, songs 
of disapproval and images of appeal
    * Media Visibility of Social Action
    * Media, Crowds and the Law
    * Media, Arts and Literature Representations of Crowds, Publics and 
Social Movements
    * Multitude and Crowd in the 21th century- from Facebook to the street
    * The Occupation of Public Spaces by Social Movements
    * European Social Movements in diverse national contexts, 
ex:"Geração à Rasca" (Portugal), "Indignados" (Portugal), "Que se Lixe a 
Troika" (Portugal), "Movimiento 15 M" (Spain), and "Nunca Máis" (Spain)
    * Contemporary Social Movements ex: Arab Spring; Obama presidential 
campaigns; Tea Party; "Occupy Wall Street" and the recent Political and 
Social Crisis in Ukraine, Greece, Venezuela and Brazil

Official Language: English

Further info: http://frommultitudetocrowds.blogspot.pt



Submission of Abstracts

We welcome proposals of no more than 300 words, by August, 31 2014, 
including a title, abstract, four keywords, a short-bio and affiliation 
details. Send the proposals in RTF or PDF format to the following email: 
(frommultitudetocrowds /at/ gmail.com)

An Electronic Book (with ISBN) is expected to be published with a 
peer-reviewed selection of the best papers presented in the conference. 
Please note that the acceptance of the abstract does not guarantee 
publication in the Ebook.

Timeline

    * Submission of Abstracts Deadline: August, 31th 2014
    * Notification of Acceptance: October, 1st 2014

Submission of Full Paper Deadline: December, 15th 2014





CECL- Communication and Languages Research Center

Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities | NOVA University

Av. de Berna, 26-C, 5th floor, room 506

1069-061 Lisboa, PORTUGAL

Tel. (+351) 21 795 08 91

(info /at/ cecl.com.pt)

http://www.cecl.com.pt/en/



CECC - Research Centre for Communication and Culture

School of Human Sciences | UCP

Palma de Cima, 1649-023 LISBOA - PORTUGAL

Tel. (+351) 217 214 018

(cecc /at/ fch.lisboa.ucp.pt)

http://cecc.fch.lisboa.ucp.pt/en/






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