Archive for 2022

[Previous message][Next message][Back to index]

[Commlist] ECREA Online pre-conference –  Mediatization 3.0? The future of the research field

Tue Jun 07 12:08:02 GMT 2022






*Call for Abstracts **– ECREA Online pre-conference Mediatization 3.0? The future of the research field October 12, 2022 (submission deadline: June 30, 2022)*

Since its inception, mediatization has been a contested term within media and communication research that includes different perspectives on the interrelation between technological and socio-cultural change. While it can be argued that mediatization as a meta-process is an omnipresent part of human history, mediatization research is primarily a response to the progressing digitization and datafication of society and its consequences for human interaction and sense-making. The mediatization approach is characterized by different perspectives: constructivist, institutional, material and cultural as well as critical giving academics the possibility to discuss theoretically and methodologically socio-technological change. Where traditional communication research focused on media as independent entities, mediatization research contributed by highlighting interrelations and the interweaving of media and practices within different fields of human interaction.

However, as technology and society change, many of the claims that set early mediatization research apart have become self-evident in the light of the ubiquity of technical gadgets, social networks, and a sprawling digital infrastructure. As computers of different shapes and forms have not only become part of all symbolic operations, they have also evolved into “smart” infrastructures that act as gatekeepers between humans and the reality they live in, affecting us on a deeper level. What was once theorized and studied within specific communities and practices is now a widely accepted fait accompli that touches every aspect of everyday life.

Through all of this, mediatization has remained a useful yet broad concept that offers various points of contact for researchers from different disciplines. At the same time, mediatization has become an all-encompassing umbrella term for studying social and technological change. Its proponents find themselves targeting and discussing their research within more specialized, thematically relevant contexts. With core issues of mediatization research being widely discussed in various contexts, the boundaries and benefits of mediatization research are at risk of becoming diluted, raising the question of what makes this approach unique and compelling for future research?

Mediatization approach, theory and field have met with many critical objections over the past years, to which valuable answers have been formulated. At the same time, however, the dynamics of change in the media environment have accelerated further; giving way to datafication, algorithmization, platformization, and the growing influence of artificial intelligence. This raises questions about the status of the research field of mediatization; the relationship between processes and meta-processes; and fundamental definitional issues about what media and communication are now in the context of complex technological processes (the importance of big data and the analysis of users’ data and behaviour), new economic conditions (data capitalism, forecasting and surveillance) and new socio-cultural conditions, including pandemic and post-pandemic reality.

We want to invite researchers to discuss the past and the future of mediatization research as a broad yet unifying approach. Hence, this call addresses both established mediatization theorists, senior researchers, and early-career academics, from different backgrounds utilizing the concept of mediatization. We hope for theoretical and empirical ideas of how mediatization is currently understood and how the concept inspires future research.

More information regarding the online pre-conference on October 12, 2022, and the submission of abstracts (max. 300 words until June 30, 2022) can be found here: https://bit.ly/3IyP71e <https://bit.ly/3IyP71e>

---------------
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/ commlist.org)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------




[Previous message][Next message][Back to index]