[Commlist] CFP for Preconference: Exclusions in the History & Historiography of Communication Studies

    Exclusions in the History and Historiography of Communication Studies


      /International Communication Association Remote Preconference/

/May 27, 2021/

*Organizers:*David W. Park, Jefferson Pooley, Peter Simonson

The broader field of communication studies is in a moment when we are—or 
should be—intensively interrogating patterns of exclusion and hegemony 
that have continued to constitute it: around global region 
(de-Westernizing, theory from the South, persistent patterns of American 
influence/hegemony), race (#communicationsowhite), gender (#metoo, 
#gendercom, Matilda effects,), and indigeneity/colonization 
(postcolonial and decolonial initiatives). To frame these exclusions as 
constitutive is to head off any easy solutions in terms of greater 
inclusivity, though that needs to be part of the mix; rather, it is to 
invite us to consider all of the ways in which these and other 
exclusions have functioned to center certain problems, theories, 
methods, languages, nations, social identities, and publication venues; 
and to exclude or marginalize others that are cast as differentially 
less valuable, lower status, Other, and more. To frame them as 
constitutive is also to draw attention to how those exclusions are 
performatively enacted on an ongoing basis through the full range of 
practices, social and epistemological, through which the field 
(re)produces itself.

It is time to animate our histories of communication and media studies 
with similar problematics, recognizing the patterns and performances 
through which the field(s) has organized itself around constitutive 
exclusions and continues actively to do so in its historiography. How 
have particular geopolitical locations (including but not limited to 
nations) achieved centrality, established standards and status 
hierarchies, and accumulated advantages and various forms of capital 
through marginalization and exclusion? How has colonialism and its 
persistent structural effects fueled communication study around the 
globe, and how does our historiography maintain that form of dominance 
and exclusion? How have gender/patriarchy, race/racism, and ethnicity 
fueled analogous processes? What forms of resistance and 
counter-hegemonies have arisen or persisted?

We invite papers that address these and related questions through 
historical registers. Examples might include:

  * Decolonial or postcolonial approaches to the history of the field
  * Histories that focus on regions and geopolitical contexts that have
    traditionally been marginalized in the main body of English-language
    writing—particularly those from the Global South, the former Soviet
    bloc, and East Asia
  * Feminist historiography of the field as well as efforts to recover
    overlooked or forgotten women researchers and educators
  * Communication research and education conducted by, aimed at, or
    otherwise connected to indigeneous peoples around the globe
  * Histories of the very recent past that investigate patterns of
    constitutive exclusion that implicate the contemporary moment
  * Histories that document, or challenge, the center-periphery patterns
    that have characterized the field’s first century
  * Papers in a more theoretical register that interrogate the
    communicative and sociological patterns through which exclusions,
    marginalizations, and the hegemony of normative patterns have
    constituted the received historiography of the field

Reflecting both the conference’s original location in Denver and ICA’s 
efforts to encourage participation from Latin American researchers, the 
preconference will make a particular effort to emphasize Latin America 
as a region. To that end, the preconference organizers are committed to 
trying to secure Spanish/Portuguese/English interpretation capacities 
for the video conference and other ways of promoting South-North dialogue.

Abstracts of 300 words (maximum), in Spanish or English, should be 
submitted no later than 20 December 2020. Draft papers will be 
pre-circulated in advance of the preconference, with all participants 
expected to read in advance. Send abstracts to the pre-conference 
organizers at: (exclusionsinhistoryofcomm /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(exclusionsinhistoryofcomm /at/ gmail.com)>

Authors will be informed regarding acceptance/rejection for the 
preconference no later than 10 January 2020. There will be a modest 
registration fee required to help offset the costs of simultaneous 
interpretation.

Papers will be considered for publication in a special section of the 
forthcoming open access journal /History of Media Studies/ 
(hms.mediastudies.press <https://hms.mediastudies.press>).


---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------