[Commlist] cfp merzWissenschaft 2019

Call for papers

*"Formation of opinions in evolving public spheres".**
**Supervising Editors: merzWissenschaft (JFF) editorial team*

Public discourse is of enormous importance in democratic societies and 
has for many years been primarily medial in nature. The current 
transformation in the media landscape, in particular in the online 
world, raises a number of questions regarding the significance of media 
for the processes involved in formation of opinions. Some examples here 
are network-specific forms of communitization in homogenous interest 
groups or in groups which are dominated by highly polarizing extremist 
positions, the significance of filter bubbles and filter clash, 
alternative facts and fake news. With a particular eye to social 
networking services, another example is the role of social media 
influencers, the impact of information intermediaries as well as the use 
of image-based and audio-visual messages such as memes, GIFs and video 
clips as arguments in discourse. Structurally speaking other agents 
appear in addition to journalistic providers. In spite of the hope of 
democratizing public discourse through new possibilities for 
participation for all potentially informed citizens, currently the power 
of algorithms and the granularization of message contact give reason to ask:

■    How do opinion formation processes take place in the light of this 
structural transformation?
■    Which agents play which roles?
■    What does this mean for medial discourse in democratic societies?

Articles addressing such questions make it possible among other things 
to identify appropriate points of departure for the promotion of 
necessary skills in adolescents as well as adults and to outline 
conducive basic parameters for formation of opinions.

/merzWissenschaft/ 2019 wants to help improve understanding of the role 
played by media transformation, in particular as made more dynamic by 
the Internet, in opinion formation processes. In this context the 
treatment of the following focus points appears sensible; the following 
are however only a selection of possibilities, some of which may overlap 
in scope:

Focus point: Agents and structures
■    To what extent can the diversity of opinions present in the 
Internet also represent the diversity of opinions found in the 
population and be integrated in a public discourse?
■    What challenges emerge, for example with regard to the transparency 
of the influence of certain agents, to the particularization of 
sub-audiences or to the accessibility of information as well as the 
possibilities for participation?
■    What role do new agents and content ranges in the Internet play in 
opinion formation processes? Examples here are algorithms, information 
intermediaries and social network services as well as social media 
influencers including the associated networks, etc.  

Focus point: Substance and Discourse
■    How can substantive discourse in the Internet be characterized in 
terms of its significance for the process of opinion formation?
■    What (new) strategies and phenomena are emerging from current 
network-based discourse? What are their specific respective objectives?
■    What is the significance of the various types of arguments and 
representational forms in current discourse? What change processes can 
be observed here (e.g. fake news, alternative facts, GIFs, memes, etc.)?
■    What conclusions can be drawn based on the analysis of processes 
and argumentation structures with regard to the opinion formation process?

Focus point: Individual opinion formation processes
■     What is the significance of the Internet for opinion formation 
processes in different segments of the population? To what extent are 
aspects such as social control, forms of communitization, reflection or 
critical evaluation relevant?
■    To what extent do individuals or groups use participative 
opportunities in the Internet? Why do (don't) they use these opportunities?
■    To what extent do individuals fully understand network-based 
information in terms of sources and intentions? To what extent can they 
gain a complete and deep understanding of medial participation structures?
■     What skills does the individual require in order to deal 
productively with information and interpretation possibilities among the 
diversity of agents? What are the associated challenges?

/merzWissenschaft/ provides a forum advancing scientific analysis in 
media education and promoting progress in the theoretical foundation of 
the discipline. For this purpose qualified articles are called for from 
various relevant disciplines (including media-educational, 
communications sciences, (developmental) psychological, legal and 
philosophical perspectives), also with an interdisciplinary approach, 
for the continuing development of expert media-educational dialog. Of 
interest are original papers with an empirical or theoretical 
foundation, presenting new findings, aspects or approaches to the topic 
and which are explicitly related to one of the topic areas or questions 
outlined above or which explore a separate topic within the scope of the 
overall context of the Call.

Abstracts with a maximum length of 6,000 characters (including blank 
spaces) can be submitted to the merz-editorial team ((merz /at/ jff.de)) until 
February 18, 2019. Submissions should follow the merzWissenschaft layout 
specifications, available at 
www.merz-zeitschrift.de/fileadmin/user_upload/merz/PDFs/merzWissenschaft_Hinweise_zur_Manuskriptgestaltung_englisch-1.pdf. 
The length of the articles should not exceed a maximum of approximately 
35,000 characters (including blank spaces). Please feel free to contact 
Susanne Eggert, tel. +49.89.68989.152, e-mail: (susanne.eggert /at/ jff.de) 
with any questions.

_Summary of deadlines_
■    February 18, 2019: Submission of abstracts to (merz /at/ jff.de)
■    March 01, 2019: Final decision on acceptance/rejection of the abstracts
■    June 07, 2019: Submission of papers
■    June 10 to July 22, 2019: Assessment phase (Double-blind peer review)
■    August/September 2019: Revision phase (with multiple cycles, when 
appropriate)


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