[ecrea] Cfp: ESA Conference Athens 2017, RN18 Communications and Media Research

*REMINDER CALL FOR PAPERS*

*(Un)Making Europe:  Capitalism, Solidarities, Subjectivities*

13th Conference of the European Sociological Association

29 August – 1 September 2017, Athens, Greece

*Abstract deadline: 1st February 2017*

Conference website: *www.esa13thconference.eu 
<http://www.esa13thconference.eu>*

*RN18 - Sociology of Communications and Media Research *

Coordinators:    Roy Panagiotopoulou, National and Kapodistrian 
University of Athens, Athens, Greece, (rpanag /at/ media.uoa.gr) 
<mailto:(rpanag /at/ media.uoa.gr)>

                                 Romina Surugiu, University of 
Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania, (romina.surugiu /at/ fjsc.ro) 
<mailto:(romina.surugiu /at/ fjsc.ro)>

The ongoing financial crisis in Europe is not only challenging the 
established economic, political, social and cultural structures and 
practices, but has also caused new inequalities, uncertainties and fears 
for people across Europe and beyond. The premise of a united Europe is 
at stake while euroscepticism is constantly gaining power. The 
well-known democratic deficit that characterized EU policies, is keeping 
member states and citizens from standing behind a united Europe.

Media enterprises have witnessed radical changes due to technological 
advances and new communication practices. There is an increasing radical 
right populist movement – mostly in Northern Europe  –  that has been 
growing in parallel to left wing resistance movements  –  especially in 
Southern Europe. Mainstream media are divided trying to profit from the 
contradictions. At the same time on social media, the fragmented voices 
of the public struggle to be heard. In such critical times, it is 
crucial to analyse the forms of communication and media practices that 
reinforce, contest and challenge the (un)making of Europe.

1) *Theorizing Media and Capitalism: European and global perspectives*

- Critical Social Theory and Media

- Political economy of the Media

2) *Communicating the new era*

-  European public sphere, mainstream media and social media: From 
Grexit to Brexit and vice versa?

- Building bonds or rising fences? Populism, racism, ethnocentrism, 
migration and the refugee crisis

3) *Crisis, uncertainty, challenges*

- Public service media: Threats and opportunities

- Legacy media and social media

  4) *Activism: Solidarity as resistance*

- The challenge of solidarity

-  Alternative projects: Cultural co-operatives, radical media, 
community media, commons-based media,   peer production projects, online 
platforms

- Activism in the new ethnocentric European landscape

5) *Power and subjectivity*

- Social media and political expression

- New subjectivities, fragmented identities, social inequalities, 
asymmetries

6) *Labouring in communication industries*

- The global division of digital labour, value creation, knowledge labour

- Working conditions in communication industries, higher education and 
journalism

- Exploitation, unremunerated labour

*RN18_a: Sociology of Communications and Media Research* (General Session)

*RN18_b: Theatricalization of Politics in Contemporary Media and Arts* 
(Joint Session with ISA  RC14,  Christiana Constantopoulou, Panteion 
University, Athens; (christiana.constantopoulou /at/ panteion.gr) 
<mailto:(christiana.constantopoulou /at/ panteion.gr)>)

Theatricalization is an important aspect of social life in general, of 
political life in particular. Aspects of the political scene and action 
are given in mass  and new media discourse as well as in mass cultural 
productions (as “narratives” of the contemporary society). Given that 
people understand reality first of all on the symbolic level, the 
analysis of these narratives is an ideal approach of the meaning given 
to politics and communication nowadays: images of the economic crisis, 
of the migrants and/or refugees, of identities (given by media discourse 
or by mass cultural productions), constitute a basic imprint of the 
expressions of the current “social myths”. In this sense we invite 
papers based on the analysis of emblematic media events or on the 
political “stories” narrated in TV serials and cinema.

  Specific sessions will be created from the general RN pool of abstracts.

*RN18_KS: Academic labour, digital media and capitalism* (Arranged RN 
Keynote Session)

Digital education and the neoliberal university: How do the working 
conditions within higher education look like? What problems do academics 
face who are confronted by state control and the violation of freedom of 
academic speech?

*CALL FOR PAPERS FOR SEMI-PLENARIES (SP)*

*CALL FOR PAPERS BY RESEARCH NETWORKS (RN) *

*CALL FOR PAPERS BY RESEARCH STREAMS (RS) *

Please consult the Conference website: www.esa13thconference.eu 
<http://www.esa13thconference.eu>

*Important Notes and Instructions *

*Notes for Authors *

We DO NOT REQUIRE you to send us a full copy of your paper (neither 
before nor after the conference)! Authors are invited to submit their 
abstract either to a Research Network (RN), a Research Stream (RS) 
and/or a Semi-Plenary (SP). You can submit a maximum of two abstracts to 
the ESA 2017 conference, but only one submission per RN or RS is 
allowed. At the entire conference, each participant can only present one 
paper as first author (in case that two abstracts are accepted, s/he 
will have to decide which one to cancel). After abstract evaluation, 
coordinators will have the chance to transfer papers between sessions 
where applicable.

Abstracts should not exceed *250 words* (for semi-plenaries: 500 words). 
Most paper sessions will have the duration of 1.5 hours. Normally 
sessions will include 4 papers (15 minutes presentation time per paper) 
and discussion.

Abstracts must be submitted online to the submission platform, see 
below. Abstracts sent by email cannot be accepted. Abstracts will be 
peer-reviewed and selected for presentation by the RN or RS 
coordinators. The notification of acceptance will be sent by the 
conference software system in early April 2017.

*Abstract Submission *

Just as at the previous conference in Prague, ESA’s 13th conference in 
Athens 2017 will also be managed via the online conference software tool 
called “ConfTool”.

*Timeline 2017 *

1^st   February       Abstract submission deadline

                                 (for RN/RS coordinators: 15 March – 
peer-review end date in ConfTool)

1^st   April                 Notification of acceptance

                                 (sent to abstract submitters via 
ConfTool in early April)

1^st   May                Early-bird registration deadline

1^st   June                Paper givers registration deadline

1^st August            Printing of the programme

29 Aug. to 1 Sep.  13th ESA conference in Athens

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