[ecrea] CfP: Special issue on parodying humanitarianism online

Call for papers

Networking Knowledge – Special Issue 
(https://ojs.meccsa.org.uk/index.php/netknow/announcement/view/42)

_Parodying humanitarianism online_

Abstracts of 200 words are invited from early career researchers by 
October 20, 2018, for consideration for publication.

This special issue calls for contributions that interrogates the role of 
online media parodies in complicating the rhetoric and practices of 
everyday humanitarianism.

Broadly, ‘parody’ can be defined as a humorous or a satirical piece that 
imitates the style or appearance of another piece of work, or the voice 
of its author. In the context of humanitarianism, our concern is with 
parodies that appear on online media platforms that provide a harmless 
‘critique’ of various representations of humanitarianism, most often, 
the poorly contextualised, stereotypical and de-humanising fundraising 
and advocacy narratives and imagery, and forms of individual 
‘do-gooding’. Examples include, comedian Trevor Noah’s UNICEF fly, 
Radi-Aid’s Africa for Norway, and Teju Cole’s piece, ‘The White-Savior 
Industrial Complex’. The central question that this special issue asks 
is influenced by a debate that Lisa Ann Richey (n.d.)[1] 
<https://ojs.meccsa.org.uk/index.php/netknow/announcement/view/42#_ftn1> prompts 
readers to, in a discussion on ‘satirizing everyday humanitarianism’: 
does such online parodies promote critical thought or add a further 
layer of complexity to contemporary humanitarianism’s increasingly 
commodified edifice?

This special issue is particularly seeking contributions that examine 
how the functions, practices, and ecologies of new media sites enable 
such forms of critiques of humanitarianism. We ask how online media 
parodies can be situated within theories of humanitarian communication 
and mediation, while also attempting to critically explore how the 
instantaneous and interactive nature of communications of digital 
technologies provides new opportunities and challenges in critiquing 
everyday humanitarianism. For example, drawing on Lisa Colletta 
(2009)[2] 
<https://ojs.meccsa.org.uk/index.php/netknow/announcement/view/42#_ftn2>, 
how do online media allow for engagement between the satirist and the 
viewer that is fundamental to ensuring the effectiveness of a parody? 
Further, influenced by Leah Lievrouw (2011)[3] 
<https://ojs.meccsa.org.uk/index.php/netknow/announcement/view/42#_ftn3>, 
can parodies be considered as a form of ‘culture jamming’ whose purpose 
involves ‘subverting and critiquing’ images and ideas of the mainstream 
humanitarianism media culture? Moreover, how do the communicative 
ecologies of new media allow for the re-shaping of understandings of the 
‘us’ vs ‘them’ relationship, and do parody accounts, aided by new media, 
point towards key shifts in the traditional relations of communications 
power? We invite articles from across disciplines of media, 
communications, and culture, conflict and security, and international 
development, and those that offer new and fresh critiques on the 
‘critiques’ of humanitarianism.

Within the context of new media, parodies, and humanitarianism, topics 
of interest for this special issue include, but are not limited to:

  * Theoretical and methodological approaches
  * Forms of online media parodies, purposes and practices
  * New media ecologies and subversive spaces/techniques
  * Strategies of persuasion and ethical considerations
  * Parody as breaking stereotypes in humanitarian discourse
  * Parody as challenging the traditional ‘us’ vs ‘them’ narrative
  * Parody as reaffirming myths in humanitarian discourse
  * Pubic engagement with parody
  * Parody, right to represent and consent

Abstracts of 200 words are invited from early career researchers by 
October 20, 2018, for consideration for publication. Please submit 
abstracts to: Madhushala Senaratne ((H.M.Senaratne /at/ sussex.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(H.M.Senaratne /at/ sussex.ac.uk)>). Abstracts must also include: name 
of author, affiliation, contact details, and 5-6 keywords. We also call 
for expressions of interest from early career researchers keen in 
serving as assistant editors of the special issue.

[1] 
<https://ojs.meccsa.org.uk/index.php/netknow/announcement/view/42#_ftnref1> Richey, 
L. A. (n.d.) ‘Humanitarianism’, /I-PEEL - International Political 
Economy of Everyday Life/. ,http://i-peel.org/homepage/humanitarianism/

[2] 
<https://ojs.meccsa.org.uk/index.php/netknow/announcement/view/42#_ftnref2> Colletta, 
L. (2009) ‘Political Satire and Postmodern Irony in the Age of Stephen 
Colbert and Jon Stewart’, /The Journal of Popular Culture,/ Vol. 42, No. 
5. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5931.2009.00711.x

[3] 
<https://ojs.meccsa.org.uk/index.php/netknow/announcement/view/42#_ftnref3> Lievrouw, 
L. A. (2011) /Alternative and activist new media,/ Cambridge: Polity Press


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