[Commlist] Call for papers: Nordic Journal of Media Studies (Vol.5). Preliminary title: The Return of Propaganda

*CALL FOR PAPERS*: *Nordic Journal of Media Studies **(Vol. 5)*

*Preliminary title:*The Return of Propaganda

*Editors: *

  * Göran Bolin (Professor, Södertörn University)
  * Risto Kunelius (Professor, Helsinki University)

*Contact:  *

  * Göran Bolin: (goran.bolin /at/ sh.se) <mailto:(goran.bolin /at/ sh.se)>
  * Risto Kunelius: (risto.kunelius /at/ helsinki.fi)
    <mailto:(risto.kunelius /at/ helsinki.fi)>

*Important dates: *

  * Deadline for extended abstracts: 15 February 2022
  * Deadline for full submissions: 1 September 2022
  * Peer review: October 2022–December 2022
  * Expected publication: Spring 2023

*Background and aim*

Digitisation has brought with it increased opportunities for 
individuals, organisations, and loosely formed groups to produce and 
disseminate information. This new infrastructure has undermined 
traditional gatekeepers and led to a more plural landscape of 
information and opinions, creating a media landscape where quality 
control and accuracy of disseminated knowledge and facts has become 
increasingly difficult to maintain. At the same time, the potential 
power to control datafied flows in the platformed media environment of 
communication has become more centralised and opaque, raising questions 
about “networked propaganda” and data as a source of social and 
political power. In recent years, we have witnessed new forms of foreign 
interventions through social media in national elections, as well as the 
spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories during times of 
military and civil crises, for instance, the Ukranian–Russian war and 
the Covid-19 pandemic. Legacy news media have increasingly come under 
attack from populist movements at the same time as authoritarian 
political forces are using digital media and datafied techniques to 
question key democratic institutitions in society. Global tech companies 
have not only become incredibly rich, but have also acquired 
unprecedented power to control communication networks and flows.

This twin process of fragmentation of communication infrastructures and 
centralisation of their control capacity coincides with the rise of new 
social political movements (on both sides of traditional left–right 
divides) and formation of new political divisions and identities.

A number of neologisms have thus entered into the vocabulary of research 
and public debate – such as “fake news”, ”misinformation”, 
“disinformation”, and “post-truth” – which has revived discussions on 
persuasion, strategic communication, strategic narratives, soft power, 
information management, and other concepts for what was once termed 
propaganda.

The current moment (conjuncture) calls for a collective and critical 
reflection by the community of communication scholars. This effort 
demands robust empirical evidence of the dynamics changing information 
environments and new methodological innovations for better analysis of 
data-driven communication, but also a reinvigorated conceptual debate.

At the same time – as the history of the field (communication research) 
is intimately intertwined with the social and political power of media 
and communication – this points to the need for reengaging with earlier 
theories of propaganda (for example, contributions by Harold Lasswell, 
Jaqcues Ellul, Edward Berneys, Hanna Arendt, and Noam Chomsky), paradigm 
encounters (in the field of communication research) around media power 
and effects, as well as theoretisations about earlier transformative 
moments.

How can we read contemporary discussions in the light of previous 
thinking about political, state, or commercial propaganda and related 
phenomena? What lessons can be learned from earlier theories, formed in 
different political and cultural conjunctures and media landscapes? How 
are new media technologies adopted for strategic purposes, and what does 
that mean for theorising communication? What new evidence is there of 
the “return” of propaganda in the digitalised, conflictual, and 
networked media landscape? What are most promising and innovative 
methods that could harness communication research with better tools to 
take part in these debates?

We invite scholars around the world to address these questions in 
scholarly reflections that can be descriptive, analytical, as well as 
normative, and can relate to topics including, but not limited to, the 
following:

  * Conceptual discussions of propaganda, strategic communication,
    misinformation, soft power, and adjacent terms
  * The relationship between authoritarian and populist movements and
    newer forms of propaganda
  * The role of hacking and algorithms in manipulation of information
  * Historical accounts of the development of strategic communication
    technologies
  * Historicizing of the phenomenon of propaganda (strategic
    communication, PR, etc.)
  * Analysis and accounts of national and regional characteristics of
    propaganda (e.g., Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa)
  * Propaganda and ideology: The propaganda model revisited
  * Propaganda and digital information management
  * Empirical analysis of (past or present) dis/misinformation campaigns
  * Analytical and/or methodological approaches to propaganda
  * Propagandistic representations in fiction and documentary

*Procedure *

Those with an interest in contributing should write an extended abstract 
(max. 750 words)  where  the main  theme (or argument)  of the intended 
article is described. The abstract should contain the preliminary title 
and five keywords. How the article fits with the overall aim of the 
issue –* to critically reflect on the dynamics changing information 
environments, propose innovative methodological approaches for analysing 
data-driven communication, and reinvigorate the conceptual debate around 
propaganda* – should be mentioned. **

Send your extended abstract to Göran Bolin ((goran.bolin /at/ sh.se) 
<mailto:(goran.bolin /at/ sh.se)>) and Risto Kunelius 
((risto.kunelius /at/ helsinki.fi) <mailto:(risto.kunelius /at/ helsinki.fi)>) by 15 
February 2022.

Scholars invited to submit a full manuscript (6,000–8,000 words) will be 
notified by e-mail after the extended abstracts have been assessed. All 
submissions should be original works and must not be under consideration 
by other publishers. All submissions are submitted to Similarity Check – 
a Crossref service utilising iThenticate text comparison software to 
detect text-recycling or self-plagiarism.

  * Visit Crossref to learn more about Similarity Check
    <https://www.crossref.org/services/similarity-check/>

After the initial submission and review process, manuscripts that are 
accepted for publication must adhere to our guidelines upon final 
manuscript delivery. You may choose to use our templates to assist you 
in correctly formatting your manuscript.

  * Download a manuscript template (docx, 31 kB)

<https://www.nordicom.gu.se/sites/default/files/Nordicom-manuscript-template_1.docx>
  * Read the full instructions for authors

<https://www.nordicom.gu.se/en/publications/publish-with-nordicom/instructions-authors>

*About Nordic Journal of Media Studies*

Nordic Journal of Media Studies is a peer-reviewed international 
publication dedicated to media research. The journal is a meeting place 
for Nordic, European, and global perspectives on media studies. It is is 
a thematic digital-only journal published once a year. The editors 
stress the importance of innovative and interdisciplinary research, and 
welcome contributions on both contemporary developments and historical 
topics.

  * Read the aims & scope of NJMS

<https://www.nordicom.gu.se/en/publications/nordic-journal-media-studies>

*About the publisher *

Nordicom is a centre for Nordic media research at the University of 
Gothenburg, supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers. Nordicom 
publishes all works under a Creative Commons 
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives  4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence,  
which  allows for non-commercial, non-derivative types of  reuse  and 
sharing with proper attribution.  All works are published Open Access 
and are available to read free of charge and without requirement for 
registration.  Authors retain copyright. 

  * Read our editorial policies

<https://www.nordicom.gu.se/en/publications/publish-with-nordicom/editorial-policies>
  * Visit Creative Commons to learn more about our CC licence
    <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode>

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