[ecrea] CFP South African Communication Association Conference, 2016, Univ of Free State,

/SACOMM - South African Communication Association/
/Bloemfontein 2016/
**
**
*This notice serves as the call for papers for the South African
Communication*
*Association (SACOMM) annual conference for 2016*
The SACOMM conference will be hosted by The Department of Communication
Science at the University of Free State in Bloemfontein on 3-5 October 2016.
Abstracts are hereby invited for the SACOMM 2016 conference.

**
*SACOMM 2016 CONFERENCE THEME*
*Communication from within and below: Social Transformation and
Inclusiveness*

In the past year South Africa has experienced great turbulence, from
student protests to economic challenges, to the eruption of race
"politics." These events have brought to the fore debates regarding the
state of progress of our young democracy in the social, political,
educational as well as economic spheres. The fractured engagements in
the public sphere have largely demonstrated that there are still deep
chasms between social groups in our society. Despite the lingering
effects of the long shadow of apartheid, developments in communication
technologies have facilitated a growing surge from the marginalized to
actively contest the asymmetrical power relations in the country.  The
contemporary climate, therefore, is indicative of the transition from
protracted exclusion to communicating from within a unique habitus and
from the grassroots.
This year's theme */Communication from within and below: social
transformation and inclusiveness/* attempts to grapple with the spirit
of the times, by examining the role of communication in today's
tumultuous climate. Communication from within, in the first instance,
captures the identity-centred approach that communication strategies
taken from local knowledge can play on creating a great South African
society. On the other hand, communication from below captures the
reimagining of agency in the role of communication, which challenges
years of silence by the ostracised. Additionally, the theme seeks to
explore the possibility of countering the dominance of Western
epistemologies by examining communication strategies gleaned from local
geographies of the Global South.
In addition, for social transformation and inclusiveness to take root,
especially in the corporate and marketing environment, a model of
communication is required that is cyclical, relational and leads to
mutual change and benefit. Emphasis should shift from persuasion and the
transmission of information to dialogue, debate and negotiation on
issues that resonate with members of stakeholder groups. Issues relating
to social transformation and inclusiveness are also of particular
relevance to journalists as public communicators. Especially in
developing countries, public communication, both from within and below,
is facilitated to a large extent by community media. These platforms are
valuable yet often under-utilised in communicating identity from a local
perspective and in assisting members of the community to communicate not
only within and below, but also across the boundaries of race, culture,
language, etc.
We invite scholarly papers and panels that reflect on these and other
issues related to social transformation and inclusiveness within the
communications environment.
*Key points of discussion include* the need for transformation of the
communication and media studies curriculum in South African
universities; development communication and communication for social
change; identities in a time of transformation; post-colonial
epistemology; impact of lack of transformation and inclusiveness in
organisations; reaching the excluded through culturally-competent
communication; exploring "them" and "us" in health communication; the
role of journalism and the media in facilitating the gaze of the Other;
plurality of voice in the media; alternative forms of journalism in
achieving unity through dissidence; and the ability of the current South
African media landscape to facilitate communication within and below.
*ABSTRACTS *
**
*CATEGORIES *
Category 1: Full 20 minute conference paper presentations
Category 2: Poster presentations
Category 3: Panel discussion sessions and/or roundtable/workshop proposals
Academics and practitioners can submit abstracts for categories 1 - 3.
Emerging scholars (Honours, M.A. and Ph.D. students) can submit
abstracts for categories 1 and 2.
*ABSTRACT SUBMISSION FORMS *
All abstracts must be submitted on the correct abstract submission form.
Submissions which are not submitted on the correct form will not be
accepted.
Incomplete submissions will not be accepted.
Abstract submission forms can be downloaded in MSWord format from the
SACOMM website at http://www.sacomm.org.za
<http://www.sacomm.org.za/> (CONFERENCE)
*Or click on *http://www.sacomm.org.za/?page_id=484

*All abstract submissions should be addressed to: *(Sacomm2016 /at/ ufs.ac.za)
<mailto:(Sacomm2016 /at/ ufs.ac.za)>
Prof. Milagros (Mili) Rivera
Conference convenor of SACOMM 2016

*Submission deadline: 15 June 2016 *
**
*SCHEDULE *
Deadline for electronic submission of all abstracts for peer review and
other proposals: 15 June 2016. The conference organisers will notify
authors about the status of their contributions via e-mail by 15 July 2016.
*CONFERENCE REGISTRATION *
A call for registration with further details about the conference will
be released shortly.
**
*Conference theme: *
The conference theme gives an indication of the topic of discussions
during plenary sessions at the SACOMM annual conference. Individual
abstract submissions are not required to adhere to the conference theme.

*SACOMM STREAMS*
SACOMM has seven different streams. Please indicate which stream your
abstract submission should be allocated to on your abstract submission form.
The SACOMM streams are:

  * Media Studies and Journalism
  * Corporate Communication
  * Film
  * Communication in General
  * Emerging Scholars
  * Communication education and curriculum development (CECD)
  * Communications advocacy and activism (CAA)

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