[Commlist] OURMedia Conference on Indymedia, media activism and academic activism

*27-30/11: OURMedia Conference on Indymedia, media activism and academic 
activism*

With the 20th anniversary of Indymedia, the Université libre de 
Bruxelles and Unversiteit Antwerpen organise the 12th OURMedia 
Conference, from 27-30 November in Brussels (at ISTI, Rue Hazard, 44). 
More than 60 media activists and scholars will present their research 
and experiences on the legacy, achievements, shortcomings and influence 
on contemporary (online) media activism of Indymedia, and more generally 
on how media practitioners and media scholars can collaborate.

Keynote speakers:
Dorothy Kidd (University of San Francisco, USA)
Susan Forde (Griffith University, Australina)
Des Freedman (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK)
Keltoum Belorf (DeWereldMorgen.be, Belgium)
Sylvain Lapoix (DataGuele, France)

Full program and registration:

https://lapij.ulb.ac.be/ourmedia2019_en/

If you are interested to attend, please register by 20 November. Lunch 
will be provided by Collectactif, an NGO that engages Syrian cooks who 
are refugees in Belgium, and the registration fee serves to support them.

There will be live translation from English to French and vice-versa 
during the whole conference.

+++

Key themes of the conference

The conference will be held under the general theme ‘Mediactivism – 
Scholactivism’. We encourage the submission of papers that focus on the 
(real or imagined) gap between academia and society, exploring how 
academic scholarship could be useful for (alternative) media (activists) 
and the myriad ways in which media scholars can be committed to 
equality, social justice and progressive social change. The general 
theme ‘Mediactivism – Scholactivism’ refers to how both media 
practitioners and media scholars, rather than being impartial or 
partisan, can be ‘committed’ by actively and openly campaigning for 
particular ideals. As the conference will coincide with the 20th 
anniversary of Indymedia, we encourage the submission of papers 
specifically focusing on analysing its legacy, achievements, 
shortcomings and influence on contemporary (online) media activism.

In particular, the conference will focus on four topics :

    Legacy of Indymedia
    Mediactivism
    Scholactivism
    Digital and offline media activism

A special series of sessions will be dedicated to the celebration of the 
20th anniversary of Indymedia, by critically approaching its legacy : 
the Indymedia network was set up in 1999 in London and Seattle (with the 
WTO protests). Using new technologies of information and communication, 
activists created online content in parallel to what was broadcasted and 
reported by traditional media. But what is left of the Indymedia network 
after its 20th  anniversary, and how has it helped in shaping the 
evolution of (alternative) media ? We propose to tackle this theme by 
asking three questions : (1) How can we explain the decline of 
Indymedia’s local and regional centers ? (2) How has the role of 
Indymedia evolved over time in the social movements landscape of the 
regions/countries it is or was present in ? And (3) which influence has 
the « Indymedia experiment » had on new alternative media initiatives ?

Indymedia is a form of Mediactivism, which constitutes the second theme 
of the conference. We encourage presentations that focus on examples of 
mediactivism, using online and/or offline tools. Activists’ experiences 
may foster scholarly discussions that take us beyond the classical 
division between expressivist (ie citizens’ participation) and 
counter-hegemonic (ie discourses and form opposed to the mainstream) 
media. We warmly welcome activists’ testimonies and presentations of 
current and future projects.

As a specific form of activism, we also put forward the question 
regarding scholactivism, which is the third theme of the conference. As 
scholars, how can we be involved in activism ? To which extent can we 
collaborate with traditional or alternative media ? How can we express 
our solidarity with progressive social movements, and more importantly, 
take inspiration from them and embed our work in their campaigns ? Can 
we be part of the “counter-power” ? We ask specific experiences that 
foster innovative research approaches and question established 
methodological practices. The goal of the conference is to make a link 
between mediactivism and scholactivism. How can we foster cooperation 
between scholars, activists and media-practitioners ? How can we justify 
the social engagement of academia and deactivate the assumption that 
researchers (and professional journalists) are supposed to have a 
“neutral point of view” ?

Looking at the Arab Spring, the Occupy Wall Street Movement or the 
Indignados, the anti-TTIP movements or the more recent climate marches, 
and the influence of Facebook and Twitter on those movements, it may 
seem that social media are at the core of contemporary counter-hegemonic 
communication strategies, in the realm of digital activism. This is the 
fourth theme of the conference. In this regard, social media are not 
always used by the same kinds of activists. Extremist right-wing 
political trolls seem to have found online the perfect space to bully 
professional politics and shape the agenda towards intolerance and hate. 
Are social media really helping us to structure social movements and 
effectively changing political power imbalances ? Is the political 
economy of social media being critically discussed and assessed when 
used ? For this crucial discussion, both media practitioners and 
scholars can exchange experiences and knowledge regarding the effects of 
social media platforms, their interfaces and algorithmic mechanisms in 
the hope to gain knowledge on how to use or distance oneself from these 
online services. Finally, research and debate among scholars today are 
generally focused on online communication. Is there still a place for 
offline activism and offline media ? How can one develop alternative 
media without social media, the internet or digital technologies ? Are 
face-to-face discussions and the quite old-fashioned leaflets still 
useful ? We welcome contributions on the offline side of mediactivism.

Organizing committee

The conference program committee consists of Amaranta Cornejo Hernandez 
(Centro de Estudios Superiores de México y Centroamérica), David Domingo 
(Université libre de Bruxelles), Pieter Maeseele (Universiteit 
Antwerpen), Dimitra Milioni (Cyprus University), Ana Lucia Nunes de 
Sousa (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), Robin Van Leeckwyck 
(Université Saint-Louis – Bruxelles), Pantelis Vatikiotis (Kadir Has 
University).

The local organizing committee consists of Roel Coesemans (Vrije 
Universiteit Brussel), David Domingo (Université libre de Bruxelles), 
Stijn Joye (Universiteit Gent), Florence Le Cam (Université libre de 
Bruxelles), Pieter Maeseele (Universiteit Antwerpen), Steve Paulussen 
(Universiteit Antwerpen), Maud Peeters (Universiteit Antwerpen), Ike 
Picone (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Robin Van Leeckwyck (Université 
libre de Bruxelles/Universiteit Antwerpen), Victor Wiard (Université 
libre de Bruxelles ; Université Saint-Louis – Bruxelles).

The conference has the support of FWO (the Flemish research fund), FNRS 
(the French community research fund), the research center ReSIC-ULB and 
the research center Department of Communication Studies – UAntwerpen.

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