[ecrea] cfp - disinformation and digital media as a challenge for democracy

CALL FOR PAPERS

*D**ISINFORMATION AND DIGITAL MEDIA AS A CHALLENGE FOR DEMOCRACY*

/European Integration and Democracy /Series, Vol. 6

The Centre for Direct Democracy Studies (CDDS) at the Faculty of Law of 
the University of Białystok, Poland (UwB) is pleased to announce a call 
for papers for the upcoming sixth volume in the /European Integration 
and Democracy /Series, devoted to *challenges for democracy, the rule of 
law (/Rechtsstaat/) and the respect for fundamental rights, posed by 
contemporary disinformation practices and digital media*.

For the present volume, the Centre will work together with the Research 
Group on Law, Science, Technology and Society (LSTS) at the Vrije 
Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium and the Department of Media and 
Communication of Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), the Netherlands. 
The planned book will be co-edited by Elżbieta Kużelewska (CDDS), 
Georgios Terzis (VUB), Daniel Trottier (EUR) and Dariusz Kloza (VUB).

**

*Background to the research question*

This book is motivated, to a large extent, by the recent developments in 
information, misinformation and disinformation practices. From the 
beginning of history, various and diverse means or channels of 
communication have been employed to inform, misinform (unintentionally) 
and disinform (deliberately); the book will focus mainly on the last of 
these practices, frequently labelled ‘fake news’. Yet, in recent 
decades, the emergence and progress of new information and 
communications technologies (ICT), combined with the ever more 
increasing digitalisation and globalisation of almost every aspect of 
modern life, have opened new and uncharted avenues to that end. The 2016 
referendum on the departure of the United Kingdom from the European 
Union (the so-called ‘Brexit’) and the presidential elections in the 
United States – and related, alleged disinformation practices – are 
perhaps the strongest reminder of the importance and power of 
disinformation in society. These developments, in turn, bring about 
profound ramifications for the very existence and functioning of a 
democratic polity. In particular, they affect the values and principles 
on which the European integration project as well as many other Western 
democratic polities have been built: human dignity, freedom, democracy, 
equality, the rule of law (/Rechtsstaat/) and respect for human rights, 
among others. These democratic polities are only at an early stage of 
understanding the implications of disinformation practices and digital 
media. Therefore, the relations between democracy and these practices 
merit critical analysis and academic attention.

**

*Topics of interest*

This edited book aims to contribute to a better understanding of 
contemporary disinformation practices and digital media. Its overall 
goal is to map and analyse their impacts on democracy /sensu largo /and, 
eventually, to draw lessons for the future. More concretely, the book 
will explore topics such as:

▪ *setting the scene: *mapping and delineating ‘fake news’, 
‘post-truth’, ‘alternative facts’ and other catch-all terms related to 
contemporary disinformation practices; mapping and delineating 
contemporary ‘digital’ media; exploring their forms, contents, meaning, 
causes, historical development as well as the benefits and threats that 
they might pose both to individuals, groups and societies;

▪ *modus operandi: *the functioning, purposes and power of 
disinformation in human life and in society; the role of emotions, 
emerging technologies (e.g. social media and other platforms, 
algorithms, artificial intelligence), relevant social practices (e.g. 
manipulation, propaganda, surveillance) as well as other factors (e.g. 
media literacy) in disinforming;

▪ *democracy: *the relation between these disinformation practices, on 
the one hand, and democracy, on the other; especially their impacts on 
and their ramifications for democratic values (e.g. pluralism, veracity, 
trust) and processes (e.g. public debates, elections and 
accountability), the rule of law (/Rechtsstaat/), and the respect for 
human rights (e.g. fair trial, freedom of expression, privacy and 
personal data protection);

▪ *case studies: *the changes brought about by these disinformation 
practices to various sectors of public life, e.g. macro- and micro 
economy, banking, finance, business, innovation, research and technology 
development, religion, media, arts and culture, etc.; the change brought 
about to specific societal challenges, e.g. migration, climate change, 
hate speech, etc., the change brought about to individual countries 
(jurisdictions);

▪ *roles and responsibilities: *identifying the key actors – 
policy-makers, media outlets, journalists, service providers, technology 
developers, non-governmental organisations, religious associations, 
artists, etc. and the public at large – and discussing their roles and 
responsibilities in the production and circulation of as well as in 
confronting disinformation; the consequences of such confrontation for 
democracy, the rule of law (/Rechtsstaat/) and the respect for 
fundamental rights.

Moreover, the Editors welcome further proposals for topics to be 
explored. The book will take a broad, interdisciplinary perspective, 
analysing the subject-matter from the diverse viewpoints of philosophy, 
ethics, law, history, political science, economy, business management, 
sociology, psychology, geography, linguistics, computer science, 
journalism and media studies, science and technology studies (STS), 
among others. In addition, comparative analyses are strongly encouraged.

**

*Envisaged timeline*

*30 June 2018 *– deadline for extended abstracts (1st stage)

*31 July 2018 *– invitation to submit full contributions

*15 October 2018 *– deadline for final submissions (2nd stage)

*30 November 2018 *– notification of acceptance after double blind 
peer-review process

*31 December 2018 *– deadline for submission of a camera-ready version

*ca. June 2019 *– book ready

**

*Information for the authors*

▪ Submissions are made in a two-stage procedure: - in the 1st stage, 
extended abstracts (ca. 1,500 – 3,000 words) will be evaluated by the 
Editors to assess their quality and suitability to the overall project;

- in the 2nd stage, full submissions will undergo a double, blind 
peer-review process by appointed, external and anonymous reviewers.

▪ Full contributions should normally be between 6,000 – 15,000 words; 
contributions of both shorter and higher word length may also be 
submitted, subject to negotiation with the Editors.

▪ *Submissions should be made anonymously in British English and sent 
via the /EasyChair /platform at 
https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=eids6.*

▪ The Authors will not be remunerated for their contributions.

▪ Questions, if any, are welcome at (eids6 /at/ easychair.org).

*/European Integration and Democracy /**Series*

A well-established book series, /European Integration and Democracy /was 
launched in 2011 at the Centre for Direct Democracy Studies (CDDS) at 
the University of Białystok, where is its managed and edited. Since 
2014, the Series is published by Intersentia, a reputable international 
printing house based in Belgium and the United Kingdom. Each volume in 
the Series tackles a timely, pressing issue that is of utmost importance 
for the European integration project and, at the same time, that poses a 
challenge to the values and principles on which this project has been 
built. Up to date, the Series has produced five edited volumes, 
analysing – through that lens – issues ranging from the elections to the 
European Parliament to trans-Atlantic data privacy relations, to 
migration.1 All books in the Series originate from a call for papers and 
the submissions received go through a double, blind peer-review process, 
in accordance with the Guaranteed Peer-Review Contents (GPRC) standard.

Elżbieta KUŻELEWSKA, Georgios TERZIS, Daniel TROTTIER and Dariusz KLOZA

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