[ecrea] ICA precon: Applying the Capabilities Approach to Media and Communications

CALL FOR PAPERS

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE

2018 PRECONFERENCE

Applying the Capabilities Approach to Media and Communications

May 24, 2018

Venue: Main Conference Hotel

Abstract Deadline: December 15, 2017

Recent years have seen a growing interest in the concept of justice in 
media and communication studies. In the more general literature on 
social justice, an important contribution has come from the capabilities 
approach developed by Indian economist Amartya Sen and US philosopher 
Martha Nussbaum. The theory challenges utilitarian narratives and 
liberal notions of redistributive justice and has become the cornerstone 
of the United Nations’ Human Development Index. Despite its potentially 
great relevance for media industries and production studies, information 
and communication for development, telecommunications and media policy, 
and digital media research, there has been limited use of the 
capabilities approach across the media, communication and cultural 
studies field.

By bringing together for the first time scholars engaged in applying the 
capabilities approach to media and communications, this ICA 
preconference advances an agenda to create a new interdisciplinary focus 
in the field. It aims to build conceptual bridges across emerging 
frameworks for studying communicative capabilities, media practice, and 
digital literacies and to engage with normative debates about media 
justice, creative justice, and data justice. The preconference directly 
engages with the central theme of the ICA Annual Conference on “Voices” 
by inviting reflection on the ways we can address inequalities and 
enhance communicative opportunities for media workers and users in a 
global context.

The preconference will open with a keynote address by Nick Couldry 
(London School of Economics) and feature panels from invited speakers 
applying the capabilities approach to policy debates, development 
interventions, and normative media theories. We also invite paper 
submissions from scholars interested in this topic and we will accept a 
small number of papers from this open call.

CONFIRMED PARTICIPANTS:

Nick Couldry (LSE)

Heather Ford (University of Leeds)

David Hesmondhalgh (University of Leeds)

Tom Jacobson (Temple University)

Krishna Jayakar (Penn State)

Kari Karppinen (University of Helsinki)

Dorothea Klein (Sheffield University)

Robin Mansell (LSE)

Giles Moss (University of Leeds)

Jonathan Corpus Ong (University of Massachusetts Amherst)

Amit Schejter (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev / Penn State)

Noam Tirosh (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)

Thomas Tufte (University of Leicester)

Abstract of up to 500 words and a short bio of the author(s) should be 
sent to Prof Amit Schejter ((pennstateiip /at/ psu.edu) 
<mailto:(pennstateiip /at/ psu.edu)>) by December 15, 2017.

Please write IIPCAP:/YOURNAME/in the subject line of the email.

Abstracts and bios should be sent as Word attachments, each in a 
separate document, one saved as/YOURNAME:/Abstract and the other 
as/YOURNAME:/Bio.

Abstracts not sent according to the above instructions and not 
accompanied by a short bio will not be reviewed.

Authors will be notified of their acceptance before January 12, 2018. A 
small number of abstracts will be accepted to the workshop and full 
papers are expected by May 1, 2018.

Authors presenting at the pre-conference will be invited to submit their 
completed papers for review in a special issue of the/Journal of 
Information Policy/(www.jip-online.org <http://www.jip-online.org/>) to 
be published in 2018.

The preconference will take place at the ICA venue on Thursday, May 24, 
9AM-5PM. With financial support from the Institute for Information 
Policy at Penn State, cost per participant will be $50 (including two 
coffee breaks and lunch).

Pre-conference organizers:

David Hesmondhalgh, University of Leeds

Heather Ford, University of Leeds

Robin Mansell, London School of Economics

Jonathan Corpus Ong, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Amit Schejter, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Penn State

Sponsor: The pre-conference is sponsored by the Institute for 
Information Policy at Penn State University.

---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please
use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at
http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------