[Commlist] Call for papers: Struggling with Technology

*CALL FOR PAPERS: Nordicom Review Special Issue (open access)***

**

*Title:*Struggling with Technology
*Special issue editors:*Stine Liv Johansen (Aarhus University), Maja 
Sonne Damkjær (Aarhus University), Martina Skrubbeltrang 
Mahnke (University of Copenhagen), Ane Kathrine Lolholm Gammelby (Aarhus 
University).
*Deadline for submission of abstracts:*1 October 2019.

*Motivation and Aim*
This special issue of /Nordicom Review/explores and discusses the 
concept ‘struggling’ in relation to media and technology use. 
‘Struggling with technology’ is a dual concept. It refers not only 
tosituations where media technology is adopted to deal with different 
struggles, but also to situations where media technology itself becomes 
the subject of struggle.

Media technology permeates our social, leisure and work life. Although 
media technology is often implemented to support everyday activities and 
communication, it sometimes ‘gets in the way’, is experienced as 
difficult to handle or becomes the subject of heated debate. In other 
cases, people challenged by specific life situations or issues such as 
physical or mental health problems adopt particular technologies in 
order to overcome these struggles in – for them – meaningful ways.

Appropriation of new technologies thus often fosters – or is fostered by 
– different kinds of struggle. Technologies may contribute to amplify 
and extend or modify and constrain specific capabilities for 
communicationas well as change or reconfigure practices, meanings, 
social relations and relations of power. Given the similarities of the 
Nordic media and welfare systems and the Nordic countries’ rapid 
adoption of media technologies, this special issue will explore the 
concept of struggling specifically within a Nordic context 
(cross-national comparative studies are welcome).

This special issue aims to contribute to current debate about societal 
implications of media and technology use through different theoretical, 
analytical, empirical and conceptual discussions of how individuals and 
groups experience ‘struggling’ with technology. A further goal is to 
examine how discourses and metaphors concerning our engagement with 
technology affect understandings of media and technology. When these 
critical discussions become nuanced and sharpened, which we hope to 
achieve with this special issue, we as a research community contribute 
to improve insight into the roles that different media and technologies 
play in our lives.

Under the theme ‘struggling with technology’ we invite researchers to 
focus on aspects of our lives with media and technology that become 
pertinent because they are troublesome, imbued with conflict, discomfort 
or uncertainty, or lead individuals and groups to struggle. We wish to 
scrutinise features of media and technology use associated with 
‘struggle’ at different phases of life and between and across 
generations and social groups, as well as how media and technology users 
demonstrate agency and creativity in how they respond to these 
circumstances.

We welcome contributions that examine and discuss the phenomenon of 
‘struggling with technology’ in depth, especially in relation to 
cultural, social, historical and temporal perspectives on the multiple 
and complex ways in which people engage with and make use of different 
media types and technologies. We especially encourage contributors to 
discuss theoretical aspects of the concept ‘struggling,’ for instance 
how the given framework of ‘struggling’ can be operationalised for 
empirical media and technology studies, and how different perspectives 
can be integrated both analytically and conceptually.

*Procedure and Important Dates*
The special issue is expected to be published online and in print in the 
winter 2020/2021. The selection of papers to be included in this special 
issue will follow this two-step procedure:

 1. Authors submit title and abstract (no more than 600 words incl.
    references) of their papers along with five-six keywords and short
    author bios (no more than 150 words per author) to the special issue
    editors (please send this to (stineliv /at/ cc.au.dk)
    <mailto:(stineliv /at/ cc.au.dk)>). *The deadline for submission of
    abstracts is 1 October 2019 at 23:59 CET.* The authors will be
    notified of acceptance or non-acceptance by early December 2019.
 2. If an abstract is accepted, the authors will be requested to submit
    a full paper (no more than 7000 words including all references and
    appendices) anonymised for double-blind peer review and formatted
    according to the /Nordicom Review /guidelines
    <https://www.nordicom.gu.se/en/publications/nordicom-review>. *The
    deadline for submission of invited, anonymised full papers is 1
    April 2020. *The subsequent double-blindpeer review process and
    other administrative matters will take place according to a timeline
    to be further arranged by the special issue editors and the main
    editorial board.
Please note that if the invited, anonymised full papers are deemed 
incompatible with the preceding accepted abstracts or do not demonstrate 
sufficient academic quality, the special issue editors will reserve the 
right to reject such papers in line with /Nordicom Review/’s editorial 
policy. <https://www.nordicom.gu.se/en/publications/nordicom-review>

*Please address all questions as well as abstracts and full paper 
submissions to:*
Stine Liv Johansen, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark 
((stineliv /at/ cc.au.dk) <mailto:(stineliv /at/ cc.au.dk)>).

We look forward to receiving your submissions!

*About */Nordicom Review///
/Nordicom Review/ is an international peer-reviewed open access journal 
published by Nordicom (Nordic Information Centre for Media and 
Communication Research) at the University of Gothenburg. The publication 
of /Nordicom Review/ is supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers. 
/Nordicom Review/ is indexed by SCOPUS.

View this CFP on Nordicom's 
website:https://www.nordicom.gu.se/en/latest/news/call-papers-struggling-technology


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