[ecrea] IAMCR Conference Durban 2012

GENERAL CALL FOR PAPERS
IAMCR Durban 2012
Annual Conference of the
International Association for Media and Communication Research
Durban, South Africa,
July 15-19, 2012

Theme:
'SOUTH-NORTH CONVERSATIONS'

The International Association for Media and Communication Research 
invites submissions of abstracts for papers and panel proposals for the 
2012 IAMCR conference to be held from July 15-19, 2012 at the Howard 
College Campus of the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) in Durban, 
South Africa.
The deadline for submissions is February 14, 2012.
The conference will be held under the general theme, 'South-North 
Conversations'. The theme reflects the asymmetry of global communication 
flows, but without implying the negatives that usually accompany 
discussions of the 'digital divide'. The theme also calls for balanced 
and empowering narratives that do not regard those in 'the South' as 
victims primarily in need of handouts from the more affluent.
The term 'Global South' refers to countries, territories and communities 
that have been excluded from the mainstream of economic, social and 
communication development. In much of the discourse around global 
geo-politics, these countries and communities are still regarded as the 
recipients of economic and technical largesse from more developed 
sources. In this conference, we wish to interrogate this position, and 
to emphasise the communicative empowerment and the positive potential of 
media and communication in and from the 'Global South'.

Conversations among Peers
In choosing the theme 'South-North Conversations', then, the conference 
organisers acknowledge that the 'South' has something to say to the 
'North', and vice versa, and further that the 'North' has something to 
gain from its relationships with the 'South'. The concept of 
'conversations', indicates peer-to-peer equality and dialogue, and a 
more optimistic vision of global engagement.
While the term 'South' may conjure up images of under-development, it 
has long been recognized that within global geopolitics, all countries, 
all institutions and all communities experience varying stages of 
under-development, with some sectors or groups being marginalised on the 
basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, economic status, 
age or health stigma. An important challenge to conference participants 
is to identify the purported attributes of the 'South' in each 
particular location or field of study. What do the marginalised and the 
disempowered within your sphere of research have to say to the powerful 
or to their own peers?
The conference will seek to explore the varied modalities of 
communication, of media flows and of associated identities, images and 
perceptions of the participants. It will examine the diverse forms of 
technology transfers from differently-situated regions of the globe, and 
differently- situated communities within regions, countries or 
organisations.

Selected Issues
Some of the sub-themes that lend themselves to exploration across many 
of the IAMCR Sections and Working groups include:
- Uneven access to technological, political and social capital
- Issues of the so-called 'digital divide' post WSIS
- Asymmetrical news and information flows
- Trend lines and origins of innovations, apps and new media
- The spectre or reality of cultural imperialism
- Fighting back: empowerment of the local, the regional and sustainable 
integration into the global
- Local languages a growth area in media in the north and south
- Media, development, democracy
- Social media, challenge and advocacy
- Users and service providers: north and south
- Communication as a tool of empowerment of the marginalised and the 
stigmatized
- Global media hegemony, regional hegemony and counter hegemony
- Whose story?: competing historical narratives of communication from 
the north and south
- Any other topic related to the general conference theme

Submission of Abstracts:
Each Section and Working Group of the IAMCR will issue its own Call for 
Papers, based on the general thematic outline above. The list of 
Sections and Working Groups and, soon, their respective Calls may be 
found at the IAMCR institutional website, at www.iamcr.org/iamcr2012cfp 
or at the Durban 2012 Conference website http://www.iamcr2012.ukzn.ac.za/
All Abstracts, although to be identified for specific Sections or 
Working Groups, should be submitted only via the central Open Conference 
System (OCS) at www.iamcr-ocs.org

Deadlines
The deadline for submission of abstracts is February 14, 2012. Please 
note that this deadline will not be extended.
The OCS system at http://iamcr-ocs.org will open on December 1, 2011, 
and will close on February 14, 2012.
Decisions on acceptance of abstracts will be communicated to individual 
applicants by their Section or Working Group Head no later than March 
12, 2012.
On the same day, March 12, 2012, conference registration will open for 
bookings by participants.
For those whose abstracts are accepted, full conference papers are to be 
submitted via the IAMCR OCS by June 10, 2011.

Guidelines for Abstracts
Abstracts should be between 300 and 500 words in length.
All abstract submissions must be made centrally via the OCS at 
http://iamcr-ocs.org There are to be no email submissions of abstracts 
addressed to any Section or Working Group Head.
It is expected that for the most part, only one (1) abstract will be 
submitted per person for consideration by the Conference. However, under 
no circumstances should there be more than three abstracts bearing the 
name of the same applicant either individually or as part of any group 
of authors. Please note also that the same abstract or another version 
with minor variations in title or content must not be submitted to other 
Sections or Working Groups of the Association for consideration, after 
an initial submission. Such submissions will be deemed to be in breach 
of the conference guidelines and will be automatically rejected by the 
Open Conference System, by the relevant Head or by the Conference 
Programme Referee. Such applicants risk being removed entirely from the 
conference programme.
Upon submission of an abstract, you will be asked to confirm that your 
submission is original and that it has not been previously published in 
the form presented. You will also be given an opportunity to declare if 
your submission is currently before another conference for consideration.
For further information, please contact the Local Organizing Committee 
(LOC) or consult the Conference Organizers via the website at: 
http://www.iamcr2012.ukzn.ac.za/ or by email at (IAMCR2012 /at/ ukzn.ac.za)

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