[ecrea] CFP-Special Issue of Chinese Journal of Communication (CJC)

Special Issue of Chinese Journal of Communication (CJC)

CALL FOR PAPERS

China and Cyberspace:
> From e-Community to e-Democracy?

Submission Deadline: December 30, 2015



Guest Editors

Lin FENG (Lecturer in Chinese Studies, University of Hull)

Xiudian DAI (Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Studies, 
University of Hull)





The general aims and focus of the Special Issue

During the past two decades, the development of digital media and 
expansion of Internet access has witnessed a fast growing population of 
netizens around the world. In particular the development of web 2.0 
technology has fuelled the rise of the social media, which has further 
contributed to the expansion of digital space. Today, China has the 
world’s largest population of digital media users, while at the same 
time the country is believed to be one of the regimes that has the 
tightest censorship control in place. This Special Issue seeks to 
investigate the culture and politics of China’s emerging e-Society with 
a particular focus on the role played by the growing digital networks in 
(re)shaping the systems and processes of Chinese governance in the 
Internet age.

The edited volume aims to explore new methodologies and theoretical 
frameworks towards analysing the transformation of China’s multiple 
media platforms in which e-Community, e-Governance and e-Democracy are 
constructed and contested since the country’s connection to the Internet 
two decades ago.

More specifically, we invite contributions concerned with the following 
key themes:
a)	e-Community:
•	The practices and implications of online information sharing, 
dissemination and dissent;
•	The emerging e-Society from the traditional society through such 
lenses as online communities, digital distribution and file sharing of 
cultural products, and online protest;

b)	e-Governance:
•	The impact of digital communications, especially the Internet, upon 
existing hierarchies and systems of governance;
•	Digital convergence and its impact on regulation of the information 
and communications technology (ICT) sector in China;
•	Theoretical and empirical investigation of the legitimacy and 
effectiveness of any form of digital governance that China might 
institute and practice;

c)	e-Democracy:
•	The role of the Internet as a tool and opportunity for making Chinese 
politics more democratic before a fully democratic system is achieved;
•	The response of China’s political establishment to the digital 
revolution, both institutionally and politically;
•	Digital empowerment of individual Chinese citizens and local communities

We welcome contributions based on theoretical and empirical research to 
address a specific field of development manifesting the mutual impact 
between China as a sovereign state and cyberspace as an environment of 
electronic communication that reshapes and reconstructs individual, 
community and even national identities. We seek papers that promote 
cross-disciplinary dialogue and critical debate in media and 
communication studies, cultural studies, politics and international 
studies, and Chinese studies.
All manuscripts must be submitted by December 30, 2015. All accepted 
manuscript will be published online first and the planned printed 
publication date is an issue of CJC in 2017.

Submissions should conform to the editorial guidelines of the Chinese 
Journal of Communication found at http://www.informaworld.com/cjoc under 
“Instructions for Authors”.

Papers for consideration in this special issue should be submitted 
online http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rcjc and should indicate they are 
intended for inclusion in the special issue.

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