[Commlist] CfP The media we refused to use: The non-use of media and disconnection through the ages

*CFP:*

*The media we refused to use: *The non-use of media and disconnection 
through the ages

Media and Communication Research is characterized by a strong focus on 
the impact of media and communication (technologies) on societies and 
social life on the one hand and the consequences of use and 
appropriation of media on an individual level on the other. Less common 
is a focus on what it means for people to willingly abstain from usage 
of media in general or particular technologies and practices 
respectively. That media, once established in society, will also be used 
and further diffused into usage is kind of a normalized view in media 
and communication research. Non-use, on the contrary, was often 
interpreted as a hindrance to diffusion, caused by laggers who need to 
be convinced or educated to use or by structural obstacles that prevent 
use and should be overcome.

Only in recent years has the interest in abstention from using media, 
mainly in the context of willful disconnection from digital 
technologies, grown: a vivid area of research has addressed digital 
disconnection for ideological reasons, as a means of political protest 
or as a lifestyle choice and commodity. However, the historical 
persistence of objecting to the use of media for a variety of reasons 
and individual or collective choices has so far found less attention in 
this growing area of disconnection research. For this issue of 
/medien&zeit,/ we invite historically grounded and informed research on 
the media we refused to use. We also invite research on the motives and 
consequences of non-use as well as public discourses that revolve(d) 
around the rejection of particular media. The special issue asks for 
contributions which illuminate continuity and change in the non-use of 
media, the recurring or evolving arguments against use and hopes, as 
well as visions for social life that were pursued or idealized through 
non-use. The historical scope of the issue is not limited to the recent 
decades of digitalization and apparently ubiquitous media, but is open 
to contributions concerned with all aspects and media technologies and 
innovations since the beginning of mass communication. Submissions 
addressing the historical evolution of non-use in the age of 
computerization and digital media technologies, however, are 
particularly welcome.

The special issue is open for all original contributions in the subject 
area, including theoretical and methodological reflections and case 
studies on particular media technologies and practices. Topics to be 
addressed include, but are not limited, to the following:

-Non-use and disconnection in the focus of media and communication 
research:  From the digital divide and pathologizing non-use to the 
disconnective turn and the luxury of choice to ‘digitally detox’.

-Boycott, protest and refusal for political ends: when and how did 
protesters, social movements and activist object to the use of media in 
general or particular media corporations (e.g., the feud between the 68 
movement and the Springer Presse in Germany, populist activism against 
public service broadcasting, Boycott Facebook and other social media, 
critical data activism, etc.)?

-Disconnection for protection: submission in this trajectory may range 
from educational arguments and pedagogical or political efforts for 
avoiding the harmful influence of media (e.g., mis- and disinformation) 
to authorities suppressing allegedly politically disobedient or socially 
deviant contents for the purported protection of the people.

-Resistance to new technologies in diverse contexts: the first computers 
in the workplace were not welcomed by all; skepticism, fear and anxiety 
were closely linked to the emergence and invasion of new technologies. 
Similarly, in educational contexts or the family home, new media were 
and new technologies have not been and are not simply welcomed as an 
expansion of possibilities, but have also been met with resistance from 
the first radio receivers, through television and the Internet, to smart 
technologies. Research into arguments for and practices of resistance is 
welcome for submission.

-Non-use and avoidance of news: being an informed citizen is considered 
an important prerequisite for participating in democratic society, but 
news avoidance is more than just a recent phenomenon. We are interested 
in practices, motives and consequences of news-avoidance in various 
historical settings as well as in the alternatives people turned to when 
avoiding traditional news.

-Non-use as lifestyle and commodity: ’digital detox’ and digital- free 
tourism have become growing branches of commercializing the non-use of 
technologies. How has this particular branch evolved over time and what 
precursors can be found, if any?

-Non-use as a media topic: media discourse on the perils and benefits of 
using or not using particular media, and the constructed normality of 
users and uses related to it, as well as narratives and images of non-users.

-Researching non-use and non-users as a methodological challenge: 
investigating what people do not do is methodologically tricky, 
especially when the non-use is to be addressed in historical 
perspective. What methodological approaches, sources and research 
designs can help illuminating the historical non-use or practices of 
disconnection in the past, which material or communicative traces allow 
approaching historical non-use?

Submissions in English or German language are welcome. Submissions of 
abstracts (no more than 500 words and a tentative title) outlining a 
prospective submission will be subjected to review by the academic 
editors of the issue. Based on this, authors will be invited to develop 
full papers (6,000 words including title, abstract, tables, figures, and 
references list). All full papers will undergo rigorous double-blind 
peer review. During a potential revisions stage, after peer-review, 
authors can extend the article length to a maximum of 8,000 words in the 
light of reviewers’ and editors’ suggestions. /medien&zei/t is fully 
open access and does not charge Article processing fees from its authors!

*Submission of Abstracts: 30.11.2021*

*Submission of Full Papers: 30.4.2022*

*Publication of Issue: Early as issue 1 of 2023*

Special issue editors: Diotima Bertel, Julia Himmelsbach, Gaby Falböck 
and Christian Schwarzenegger

Please submit abstracts to Christian Schwarzenegger per email:

(christian.schwarzenegger /at/ uni-a.de) <mailto:(christian.schwarzenegger /at/ uni-a.de)>

/medien&zeit (//https://medienundzeit.at/ <https://medienundzeit.at/>/) 
/is a media and communication studies journal with a focus on media and 
communication history. Founded in 1986, the journal is undergoing a 
transformation starting with its 38 volume and will be affiliated with 
the University of Vienna as a fully peer-reviewed and open access 
journal starting with issue 1/2023/./ This will be the first issue in 
the new format.

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