[Commlist] Call for papers: Democracy and Digital Disintegration: Actors, Platforms, Citizens

Democracy and Digital Disintegration: Actors, Platforms, Citizens


Call for papers for a special issue of /Nordicom Review/ and Invitation 
to Symposium at Stockholm University, 10 November 2022

Editors:

Andreas Widholm, Stockholm University ((andreas.widholm /at/ ims.su.se))

Mattias Ekman, Stockholm University((mattias.ekman /at/ ims.su.se))

Important dates

  * Deadline for extended abstracts: 1 September 2022
  * Notification of acceptance to symposium (attendance voluntary): 15
    September 2022
  * Symposium at Stockholm University: 10 November 2022

  * Invitation to submit full paper: 24 November 2022
  * Full paper submission: March 2023
  * Peer review process: Summer/Autumn 2023
  * Expected publication (Open Access): January 2024

The Digital Human Sciences Research Hub and the Department of Media 
Studies at Stockholm University and Nordicom invite scholars from a 
broad range of disciplines to

submit extended abstracts for a special issue of /Nordicom Review/, 
focusing on the

political, social, cultural, and juridical implications of digital 
technologies for a sustainable democratic information environment.

Accompanying the call, we welcome interested scholars to a symposium 
with the theme “Democracy and Digital Disintegration”. Our goal is to 
facilitate dialogue between researchers of various disciplines and 
create opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration.

The symposium will take place in the Film House in Stockholm and is free 
of charge. Acceptance of a paper for the special issue is not dependent 
upon participation in the symposium. Coffee, lunch, and dinner on the 
evening of 10 November is included for all participants. After the 
symposium, selected papers will be considered for the special issue.

Background and aim

The rapid and profound transformations associated with contemporary 
media systems have severe consequences for democracy and public debates. 
Social media play an increasingly central role for political 
participation, especially among young citizens, and digital platforms 
have significantly changed how political parties operate strategically 
to mobilise voters and influence public opinion. Furthermore, activists 
and social movements have access to new digital tools to raise awareness 
about their causes and to coordinate protests. Digital platforms have 
also become central venues for the distribution and circulation of news 
– by legacy media institutions as well as new alternative or “fake” 
media organisations. Hence, today’s citizens find themselves in a hybrid 
information environment, where the boundaries of traditional journalism, 
hyper-partisan news, political propaganda, and strategic 
(dis)information have become increasingly blurred.

Digital platforms are drivers of change towards a more globalised, 
interconnected, and socially integrated world. However, platforms 
simultaneously contribute to the /disintegration/ of the citizenry. 
While algorithmic content recommendation systems may help people more 
easily navigate abundant information flows online, concerns have been 
raised that they may also contribute negatively to information 
diversity, prioritising content that corresponds to the worldviews and 
ideological preferences of individual users. Moreover, in addition to 
benefits such as facilitating public debate and mobilisation, the 
economic and technological infrastructure of social platforms have 
proved to fuel political polarisation, racism, and affective language 
use, making democracies increasingly vulnerable and open to manipulation 
and antidemocratic influences.

This global information environment raises questions related to 
algorithmic transparency, regulation of information, digital censorship, 
and freedom of expression online, reflected most recently in the 
European Union’s ban of RT and Sputnik, two of Russia’s most influential 
global propaganda channels. Elon Musk’s potential acquisition of Twitter 
as an alleged act of “securing free speech” is a harbinger of future 
changes, also in need of scholarly attention.

We aim for a collection of contributions with a clear interdisciplinary 
relevance for the Nordic region and beyond. We welcome contributions 
with longitudinal and/or comparative perspectives, as well as specific 
case studies that inform the Nordic and global context. We particularly 
welcome contributions employing innovative methodological approaches 
(qualitative as well as quantitative). Topics may include but are not 
limited to the following areas:

  * Political news in mainstream and alternative media
  * Political communication, activism, and digital propaganda strategies
  * Integrative, transnational, and boundary-crossing aspects of digital
    media

  * Affective platforms and politics of emotion
  * Populism, racism, polarisation, and disintegrative aspects of
    digital media
  * Practices of disinformation, manipulation, and “deep fakes”
  * Discourses of disinformation (in politics, journalism, and other
    contexts)
  * Fact-checking and source criticism

  * Free speech, censorship, and regulation of information online
  * The democratic challenges of algorithms and artificial intelligence
  * Young citizens and digital media literacy

Procedure

Those with an interest in contributing should write an extended abstract 
(max. 750 words) where the main theme (or argument) of the intended 
paper is described. How the paper fits with the overall theme of the 
issue and symposium should be mentioned.

Send your extended abstract to (digdis /at/ ims.su.se)

Scholars invited to submit a full manuscript (7,000–9,000 words) will be 
notified by e-mail after the symposium and after the abstracts have been 
assessed. All submissions should be original works and must not be under 
consideration by other publishers.

Contact

Questions about Digital Human Sciences Research Hub (DHV), the special 
issue, and related November symposium can be addressed to Andreas 
Widholm ((andreas.widholm /at/ ims.su.se)) or Mattias Ekman 
((mattias.ekman /at/ ims.su.se)).

About /Nordicom Review/

/Nordicom Review/ adheres to a rigorous double-blind reviewing policy 
and articles are published Open Access with no processing charges for 
authors. /Nordicom Review /includes research with relevance for the 
Nordic context and welcomes interdisciplinary submissions from a 
worldwide authorship, including both empirical and theoretical articles.

Read more about Nordicom Review here:
https://www.nordicom.gu.se/en/publications/nordicom-review 
<https://www.nordicom.gu.se/en/publications/nordicom-review>

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