[ecrea] CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTERS MAPPING THE ALTERNATIVE MEDIA IN TURKEY

Dear colleagues,

The Call for Book Chaptpers for "MAPPING THE ALTERNATIVE MEDIA IN
TURKEY" is extended. The new deadline is January 1, 2013.
There will be no further extension.

Bar?s, Çoban & Bora Ataman

......................................................................................................................................................

DEADLINE EXTENSION: CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTERS: "MAPPING THE ALTERNATIVE
MEDIA IN TURKEY"

Editors: Bar?s, Çoban & Bora Ataman

Extended Submission/Proposal Deadline: January 1, 2013.

Please visit http://alternativemediamap.net/ to view the call for chapters.

We aim to map the alternative media in Turkey, which is varied in
form, structure and working styles such as "cracks", "rhizomes" and
"fronts". Similarly to what has occurred with the mainstream media,
both large and small examples of the alternative media, alongside
their widespread prevalence inside the country, have also already
transcended the national borders. We argue that mapping the
alternative media, embracing  newspapers, radio and television
channels, cinemas, blogs, forums and platforms, essentially the full
range of conventional and new media organs and vehicles, is one of the
most useful research approaches to comprehending the nature of
alternative politics in Turkey.
The alternative media works as a source of memory and an archive
helping to understand the historical and current structure of
alternative politics in Turkey. IT also gives voice to alternative
ideologies and politics and makes their political activities visible.
In addition, the alternative media, which mainly represents the
"otherised", oppressed and marginalised groups, forms the vanguard of
struggle against the hegemony and barbarism of the oppressive,
globalized neo-liberal society.
Alternative media, as an umbrella term, applies to those media organs
which are typically bottom up organisations. In principle, their
organizational structures and decision making processes are
democratic, participatory, polyphonic and dialogic. Their opposition
to the mainstream media finds its roots, in its form and content, in
social and political struggles and is based in radical ideologies such
as anarchism, radical democracy and Marxism. The existence of
alternative media indicates the struggle to construct a truly
democratic and free sphere of communication from a number of broad
perspectives, varying from the idea of simply being independent from
either the state or capital, to being completely opposed to them. In
this context, it is also possible to claim that every organ of the
alternative media, as a centre of subaltern resistance, is part of a
greater alternative communication network.
This so-called alternative network (or networks) is/are the voice of
different political or social groups, communities, minorities or even
individuals at the grassroots level. Thus, they open the way for these
groups to actively participate in political and social life, as either
real "agents" or as "spectacles" in the field of symbolic struggle.
Therefore, individuals or groups can find opportunities to get
involved in both real and symbolic struggles for hegemony, not only as
consumers, but also as producers; as active agents.
Therefore, alternative media institutions either on the micro- or
macro-scale cannot be considered as combatants solely at  the
informational level. In addition to their struggle to gather, record
and spread news and ideas concerning local, national and transnational
problems, they also provide a response to the establishment through
real political actions. It is not unusual to see their active
participation in protests, or even note that they hold the leadership
positions in the organisation of some of these dissident political
actions. Therefore, their active struggle with the hegemonic powers
can also be considered as an effort to create alternative political
forms. More commonly however, alternative media operate as the
symbolic production centre of alternative politics and as an
incubation ground for the intellectual and ideological constructs of
social movements.
Alternative media, along with other dissident institutions, are seen
as paving the way for a brighter and more just future by being the
voice of the voiceless and contributing to the imagining of a
different world. Threatening so-called representative democracy by
supporting participatory social, cultural and political activities is
also deemed useful to this end. By engaging in such activities, they
may be able to cause the transformation of political culture in
general. More importantly, however, the ways in which subordinate
constituents of the society interpret politics and their own means of
participation could change in a positive manner. Moreover, such
efforts may also lead to the construction of efficient counter-public
spheres alongside the more common examples of alternative spaces.
Diverse anti-systemic, reformist and revolutionary ideological
orientations, varied political discourses and different modes of
action constituting the alternative media landscape mostly open up an
opportunity for the "oppressed" to actively participate in these
alternative political spaces that are, to a certain extent, diverse,
colourful, vivid and, most importantly, innately dialogic.
In this context, we argue that the "duty" of academia should be to
understand these alternatives without stigmatizing them as the source
of conflicts within the prevailing social system. After all, we as
editors, would like to study these initiatives since the imagining of
an alternative world may only be possible by embracing the oppressed
and their voice, even though the world around us is not particularly
welcoming.
Abstracts of papers are sought on topics such as:
*       Radical media (Struggling within legal parameters to push the limits
of the existing system
*       Radical- militant media (affiliated with revolutionary 
organizations)
*       Identity and rights-based media (Human rights, labour and
trade-union rights, gender, environment, ethnicity, struggles based on
faith or denomination
*       Transnational and diaspora-based alternative media
*       Independent, objective, opposition media
*       Dissident voices, "cracks" in the mainstream media

However, it should be noted that the categories above do not refer to
independent categories with clear differences. It is possible to say
that; most examples of the alternative media operating in Turkey can
be included under more than one of the rubrics mentioned above.
Nevertheless, the alternative media organs in Turkey, despite a degree
of permeability in the boundaries that separate them, may be seen as
belonging more to one or another of the above-mentioned
classifications, therefore, these categories will constitute the
book's chapters.
Furthermore, we are mainly interested in the case studies (comparative
if possible) and empirical research possessing theoretical and
methodological clarity, and focusing on at least one of three basic
dimensions of media studies; such as "Production", "Text", or
"Audience", without missing the multi-layered and intertwined
relationships between these dimensions.
Abstracts of a maximum of 250 words in Turkish and English outlining
the topic, theoretical and methodological approach as well as the
research question, should be submitted to either Bar?s, Çoban
((bcoban /at/ dogus.edu.tr) <mailto:(bcoban /at/ dogus.edu.tr)>) or Bora Ataman 
((bataman /at/ dogus.edu.tr) <mailto:(bataman /at/ dogus.edu.tr)>) until
January 1, 2013.

Announcement of the abstracts selected will be made by February 1 2013.

The deadline for full paper submissions is August 1, 2013

The editors are planning to publish book in Turkish and English and
have made an agreement with Yordam, to publish in January 2014.

After the evaluation of the abstracts, negotiations with foreign
publishing houses will begin for the English version.

Bar?s, Çoban & Bora Ataman (Eds.)

Extended Submission/Proposal Deadline: January 1, 2013.