[ecrea] Call for Abstracts -- Africa, Media, and Globalization

Call for Abstracts - ICA Journal Communication, Culture & Critique 
(Deadline: August 15, 2014)

Special issue on Africa, Media and Globalization
Guest editor: H. Leslie Steeves, University of Oregon, USA

Consulting editors: Herman Wasserman, University of Cape Town, South 
Africa; Audrey Gadzekpo, University of Ghana, Ghana; John Hanson, 
Indiana University, USA
Globalization is not new to Africa, as histories of global conquest and 
colonial/postcolonial intervention have shaped the continent in recent 
centuries: the exploits of European explorers, traders and missionaries 
leading to the so-called ʽscramble for Africaʼ and the division of the 
continent at the Berlin conference of 1884-85; post-independence 
alignments during the Cold War; and post-Cold War colonization via 
ideological and political economic processes and structures. However, to 
the extent that globalization is a process of neoliberal integration of 
economies and cultures, sub-Saharan Africa has lagged behind other 
regions of the world and the overwhelming majority of Africans have not 
benefited from the spread of the global economy. Scholars today argue 
that Africaʼs continued marginalization and exploitation are sustained 
by new hegemonic powers in Asia that benefit from Africaʼs resources. 
Chinaʼs emergence as an economic superpower and its enormous and 
escalating investment in Africa must be included in analyses of Africa 
and globalization, as Africaʼs global integration is no longer 
determined predominantly by Western interests. In her popular TED talk 
Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Adichie speaks eloquently of Africaʼs 
ʽsingle storyʼ of victimization, a narrative that contributes to 
Africaʼs enduring erasure in Western media via homogenization, denial of 
agency, and economic dependence. At the same time, an overarching 
ʽsingle storyʼ discourse overshadows the production and distribution of 
media content by and for Africans. Further, the historic global 
movements of African peoples and cultures suggests many untold and 
under-told stories of globalization, stories unfolding at a rapid pace 
with growing technology and internet access. The spread of technology 
raises many questions, such as: in what ways do technologies impose 
alien values on African communities and/or extend indigenous values?

This special issue of CCC on Africa seeks diverse studies that 
critically address and illuminate 21st century stories about media and 
globalization relevant to Africa at multiple levels of observation and 
analysis. CCC is primarily a qualitative journal of the International 
Communication Association that publishes critical and interpretive 
research in media, communication, and cultural studies. Articles may 
focus primarily on phenomena relevant to one country, group or region, 
or may be comparative (one example might be the mediaʼs contemporary 
role in evangelism and homosexuality legislation). Articles may address 
any aspect of media and globalization, including discourses, practices 
and structures of: journalism; popular culture (film, television, music, 
celebrity philanthropy, tourism promotion, beauty pageants, etc.); 
information and communication technologies (ICTs); foreign aid; and/or 
infrastructure investment, particularly in telecommunications.

Theoretical and methodological approaches may vary consistent with the 
guidelines of the journal 
(http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1753-9137/homepage/ForAuthors.html) 
as long as they contribute to our knowledge and conceptual understanding 
of media and globalization and relate directly to Africa.

Authors should email an abstract (500 words) to Leslie Steeves 
((lsteeves /at/ uoregon.edu), (lesliesteeves /at/ gmail.com)) by August 15, 2014. The 
editor and consulting editors will review all submissions and successful 
authors will be invited to submit a full manuscript. Abstracts and 
manuscripts must be in English. Authors of selected abstracts will be 
notified of acceptance by October 15, 2014. Full papers will be subject 
to anonymous peer review, and full papers are due by February 15, 2015.


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