[Commlist] 25th DiscourseNet Conference - From #DigitalRevolution to the #NewSilkRoad

25th DiscourseNet Conference on Global Dispositives
 From #DigitalRevolution to the #NewSilkRoad
12-15.11.2020
University of Tyumen
https://discourseanalysis.net/en/DN25

25th DiscourseNet Conference on Global Dispositives (#DN25, November 
12-15 2020) deals with the processes of social change that are 
discursively driven and supported by technological infrastructures and 
new cultural, economic and political relations. In the context of 
globalization, they affect transformations in all social domains  – from 
economy to culture, including media and education, (digital) technology, 
industry and environment, politics and governance.

Global Dispositives can be recognised in popular examples of social 
change. First of all, the global political and economic projects, i.e. 
the discourses evolving around the Belt and Road Initiative, new 
infrastructural development of the Arctic region, Eurasian Economic 
Union but also on small-scale and in semi-official or informal 
organisations such as the Three Seas Initiative, Visegrad Group or 
countries within the mini-Schengen integration project. Secondly, global 
dispositives can be tied to discourses of technology, security and 
warfare. Examples are not only projects such as the Internet itself (or 
rather the entire World Wide Web), but also discourses bound up to its 
structural changes like the implementation of 5G internet technology, 
balkanization of the internet, various concepts of IoT or surveillance 
etc. And finally, the discourses tied to the consequences of various 
kinds of transitions such as the transforming regulations of global 
migration (based on causes such as war or environment), an emerging 
post-liberal global trade system based on nationalism(s), global 
political upheavals and new struggles over postnational identities 
(especially among youth cultures). The DN25 on Global Dispositifs aims 
to attract researchers who explore (inter)cultural, economic, 
technological and political processes of global change on various 
levels, from a range of disciplinary perspectives in the broad field of 
discourse studies.

Hosted by the Cultural Trends Lab, situated at the Institute of Social 
Sciences and Humanities (University of Tyumen, Siberia, Russia) and 
organised in cooperation with China Media Observatory (Università della 
Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland) and the School of Government and 
Public Affairs (Chinese University of Communication, Beijing, China), 
this conference endeavors to devote special attention to Belt and Road 
Initiative as a unique example of a global dispositive. The launch of 
the Belt Road Initiative (BRI, previously known as One Belt, One Road) 
in 2013, promised new imaginaries of a multipolar world and an 
alternative model of globalisation. It came into play in the form of 
cross-country mega infrastructure projects, new regulating mechanisms 
and bilateral agreements. These material infrastructures, together with 
their legal, political and economic dimensions, cultural and educational 
interconnections, and new media and telecommunication standards 
represent a chain of social ensembles which create completely new 
setting. However, integrating processes often ensue discursive struggles 
and conflicting narratives regarding a number of social changes in 
important fields such as economy and trade, progress and technology, 
geopolitical cooperation and competition, domestic and foreign culture, 
political and national systems. Although some aspects of it have been 
investigated in specific disciplines such as political economy, media 
and communication, anthropology, linguistics, human geography, area and 
(inter)cultural studies, the dialogue across these disciplines rarely 
takes place. Therefore, there is a strong need for BRI and other global 
dispositives to be mapped and described from the perspective of social 
sciences and humanities. One of the aims of this conference would be to 
develop on theoretical and methodological interdisciplinary approaches 
which will help grasp some of the issues of global dispositives. 
Furthermore, we want to reflect on media discourses dealing with BRI as 
an alternative globalisation model. Critical, affirmative and neutral 
perspectives should be discussed in both national and regional contexts. 
The perspectives take place in the broad spectrum from imaginaries to 
strategies or political doctrines. The question about the representation 
and positioning is of course connected to the interests of the various 
actors within the discourses which correspond and define respective 
dispositifs.

In the context of forces which drive the global cultural scene, this 
conference wants to consider the role of the in-between regions or 
rather those regions outside the global centres in the contemporary 
culture. Within the scope of the Cultural Trends Lab’s central project 
‘Elsewhere’ (which concentrates on mapping digital streams of culture 
emerging both autonomously from and partly depending on the models of 
the centres), this conference is interested in all those contributions 
discussing, investigating and researching the digital forms of culture 
and sociality preferably outside the global centres. The idea of culture 
in transit regions as an element of both the New Silk Road or Arctic 
region is indivisible from the discussion about the existing and new 
telecommunication infrastructures and data flows. However, new cultural 
and social practices of digital and non-digital domains (or the actors 
that will shape such practices) continue to merit the discussion.

We welcome all contributions that investigate phenomena tied to the 
digital transformation, people’s cultural understandings of global 
political-economic imaginaries (such as the BRI) by utilising the 
conceptual and analytical toolkits of discourse studies, e.g. power, 
subjectivity, critique, identity, context, language use etc. As the 
field of discourse studies are inherently interdisciplinary, we invite 
authors from disciplines as varied as media and communication studies, 
sociology, linguistics, anthropology, ethnography, cultural and 
political studies or law. Furthermore, we also invite guests outside of 
academia, such as activists, NGO and public intellectual scene 
representatives, to contribute to our topics. Likewise, we seek to 
provide a forum for discussing methodological and theoretical questions.



Covid19 disclaimer

We are well aware of the Covid19-pandemic. However, we hope and believe 
that by mid November the danger will be over. Also, we do not want to 
stop 'doing science'. In case of a different, unwanted, development, we 
will be able to offer alternatives concerning either the time or the 
format of the event (e.g. online). We therefore invite you to send in 
your paper, panel and poster proposals. We will take into account all 
the recommendations of the authorities and health experts.

https://discourseanalysis.net/en/DN25

The list of possible topics includes (but is not constrained) to the 
following:

(Inter)cultural connectedness
New communication infrastructures
Digitization, digitalization, digital transformation
Technologisation of society
Discourses of Imaginaries
History of Digital Technology and Imaginary
Chinese-European Media
Critical approach to suffering in digital age
Education in the Digital Age
Environmental Sustainability and Development of Global Periphery
Apparatuses of global political economy
Ethnographic approach to transcultural phenomena
Global media analysis about BRI
Cultural traditions across media changes
Intercultural communication in polycentric world
The physical traces of BRInfrastructure
Dispositives of New Digitality
Ideological and political constructions
 From anthropology to ethnography of global dispositifs
Gender and class
Transnational identities
Subjectivities in a global context
Cultural and discursive political economy
(Re)Standardization of the societies
Centre and periphery discourses
New global constellations
Social role of material infrastructure
The governance of the internet in the age of its balkanization/sovereignty
Political and economic alliances and ruptures
Global gaps and digital divides, global exclusion and invisibilities

***

All abstracts fitting one or more of the aforementioned themes are 
welcome. We also invite interesting panel proposals and presentations 
relevant to the overall conference topic. Check the Ideas page on our 
website for inspiration:
https://discourseanalysis.net/en/DN25


Preliminary list of special guests, keynotes and topics:

University of Tyumen (UoT), Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities 
(SocGum), Cultural Trends Lab (CTL), DiscourseNet Association (DNA), 
Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI), China Media Observatory (CMO), 
China University of Communication (CUC), School of Government and Public 
Administration (SoGaPA)



Globalised spaces of academic discourse
Johannes Angermuller, Open University Milton Keyes, UK  DNA



Chinese-European Media
Zhan Zhang, Università della Svizzera Italiana /USI, Switzerland  CMO



History of Digital Technology and Imaginary
Gabriele Balbi, Università della Svizzera Italiana /USI, Switzerland CMO



Global media analysis about BRI
Zhou Ting, Communication University of China, China  CUC



Critical approach to suffering in digital age
Benno Herzog, Valencia University, Spain DNA



Economic Expert Discourses in Globalised Societies
Jens Maeße, Giessen University, Germany DNA



Ethnographic approach to Transcultural Phenomena
Jaspal Naveel Singh, The University of Hong Kong, HKSAR China DNA



Philosophy of Globalisation
Igor Chubarov, University of Tyumen, Russia SocGum



Dispositives of New Digitality
Jan Krasni, University of Tyumen, Russia DNA, CTL, SocGum

----- ------ ----- ------- --------- --------------

Abstracts and Registration

Please submit your 250 word abstracts at the conference registration 
service on dn25.sciencesconf.org <http://dn25.sciencesconf.org>. Keep 
the following important dates in mind:

Deadline for uploading abstracts for DN25: May 15th, 2020

(If you need to plan your trip in advance, please contact us for a 
faster review of your abstract. Deadline for those who do not need visa 
will be extended)

Notification of acceptance for abstracts: June 20th, 2020

(If you need visa, please let us know so we would take care of it earlier)

Registration will be complete upon payment.
Payment deadline: October 1st, 2020. A confirmation email will be sent 
after the deadline for payments has passed.

All the abstracts are vetted by a blind review. The reviewers belong to 
the committee selected from our 5000 members. This secures the 
scientific quality of the presentations.
---------------
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
---------------