[ecrea] CFP: Whose voice?: Global Populisms, Media and Political Institutions in Uncertain Times

Whose voice?: Global Populisms, Media and Political Institutions in 
Uncertain Times

Populars: “A resurgence of populism in Europe”; the “economic populism” 
of Latin America; “a populist, business-minded Hindu nationalist...at 
once India's most popular and most divisive politician”; “populist 
notions of culture that frame homosexuality as an ‘un-African’, alien 
behaviour foisted on the continent by western imperialists”; “a populist 
feminist movement was ignited this spring when Rush Limbaugh's vitriol 
more than backfired” as well as “what was known in Latin America as 
‘popular feminism’”; #bringbackourgirls and #notyourrescueproject; 
Taksim and Tahir; the Pirate Party and the Tea Party; the French 
National Front, and the Zanzibar Civic Union Front.  This list is only a 
partial survey of the numerous social and political movements that have 
been described as giving voice to the needs and desires of ‘the people’ 
over the past decade. What is at stake in the noisy return of ‘the 
people’ to contemporary social and political debates? What are the 
languages and media that these popular movements use to communicate?

This two-day colloquium will provide a forum in which scholars are able 
to share research on the role that media and communication technology 
are playing in contemporary populist movements. Not very long ago, it 
was thought that the populist movements of the twentieth century, 
organized around charismatic leaders and the actions of undifferentiated 
masses, had been displaced by the rise of networked media and 
communication platforms that allowed for open access. Yet, the events of 
the past decade have witnessed the rise of political movements that echo 
traditional forms of populism while incorporating the non-hierarchical 
characteristics of networked communication media. The goal of this 
colloquium is to bring together research that explores the changing 
relationship between populism and popular democratic movements globally 
as well as the contemporary significance of ‘the popular’ more broadly 
as a category of analysis in critical communication and media studies 
scholarship. To this end, this meeting hopes to bring together scholars 
whose work draws upon the traditions of cultural studies and critical 
theory in order to make sense of the relationship between the people, 
media and political institutions in the contemporary moment.

This colloquium calls upon scholars to present material that engages 
with the following questions:

*What is the role that communication and media play in the formation of 
these new populist movements as well as in attempts to contain or 
preempt them?

*What is the relationship between these movements and established or 
emergent forms of political organization and institutionalization?

*How do these movements intersect with processes of economic 
globalization, the politics of gender and sexuality, as well as ethnic, 
religious, caste, tribal or other social formations and modes of 
collective identification?

We are seeking contributions from scholars based in Communication and 
Media Studies or any other related field interested in discussing a 
variety of movements, contexts and communication practices.

Please send 300-word proposals to (theglobalpopular /at/ gmail.com) before 
September 1st, 2014. Presentations will be 20 minutes in length, there 
will be an opportunity to circulate beforehand where possible. The 
conference will be held at Baruch College, City University of New York, 
New York City, with support from the Weissman School of Arts and 
Sciences on October 24-25, 2014. The conference is organized by Jayson 
Harsin (Baruch College) and Mark Hayward (York University).


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