[ecrea] cfp: From Here to Ubiquity: Critical and International Perspectives on Mobile and Ubiquitous Media

> From Here to Ubiquity: Critical and International Perspectives on Mobile and Ubiquitous Media

Extended call for chapters

This is an extended call for the submission of chapter proposals for the 
edited volume From Here to Ubiquity: Critical and International 
Perspectives on Mobile and Ubiquitous Media. The purpose of this edited 
collection is to try to develop a clearer definition of, and theoretical 
grounding for, ubiquitous media by assembling a collection of chapters 
by established experts and emerging scholars from around the world. 
Chapters should critically and creatively interrogate “ubiquitous media” 
in the hopes of developing an overarching understanding of the meaning, 
processes, and ramifications of the term.

The term "ubiquitous media" has been deployed to characterize platforms 
such as television, social media, and mobile media; systems such as 
algorithms, apps, and augmented reality; concepts such as commerce and 
surveillance, and issues such as privacy, politics, and neocolonialism. 
Phrases like IoE (the “Internet of Everything”) are increasingly 
mentioned in academic and the popular press and framed as an 
inevitability. Universities have laboratories dedicated to the study of 
ubiquitous media, and marketing companies aggressively tout their 
ability to target consumers through a ubiquitous media presence 
(including one company simply called “Ubiquitous Media” which 
“specializes in targeting consumers throughout their daily routine”).

In short, the phrase “ubiquitous media” is, well, ubiquitous. There is 
little discussion, however, of what the term “ubiquitous media” actually 
means. Indeed, individual definitions of “ubiquitous media” are often 
assumed to be just a ubiquitous as media themselves and, as a result, 
there is no large-scale theoretical framework through which we can 
understand the term. With this in mind, we specifically welcome chapters 
that promise to develop a critical theoretical framework for 
understanding ubiquitious media.

In addition, a portion of this volume will be dedicated to a specific 
exploration of mobile technologies as a key precursor – if not central 
element – of a ubiquitous media environment. This could include past and 
current mobile technologies, from pagers to PDAs, and cell phones to 
modern smartphones and wearables, provided they contribute to an 
understanding of ubiquitous media as both a technical and discursive 
reality for individuals around the world. Representing global 
perspectives is also central objective of this volume. An international 
perspective is important to the development of a comprehensive 
understanding of what “ubiquitous media” means and the prospectively 
heterogeneous implications of this development.

Possible approaches/frameworks for these investigations include:

• Theories of ubiquitous media
• Mediatisation
• Political economy
• Space, place and time
• User-experience design
• Business models and start-up culture
• Financial/transactional data and services
• App-centric media
• Digital labour and work-life balance
• Surveillance
• Ubiquitous media and digital literacy
• Ubiquitous media and narratives
• Coding and platforms

Abstracts of 300-350 words (for chapters of approximately 8,000 words) 
should be emailed to co-editors Dr. Michael S. Daubs at 
(michael.daubs /at/ vuw.ac.nz) and Dr. Vince Manzerolle at (vmanzero /at/ uwindsor.ca) 
by 15 May 2016. Chapters selected for publication will be notified by 15 
June 2016, with full chapter drafts due by 15 September 2016.



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