[Commlist] CfP: Media and Activism ­ WPCC Journal: 14.1

MEDIA ACTIVISM issue: Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture 
journal
Call for abstracts, papers.

In a time of political upheaval with the extreme right on the rise 
globally, and the techniques of fascism (populism, propaganda and fake 
news, hate speech and rise of hate crimes) dominating discourse around 
societal and political issues, what is the potential for progressive 
activists to use the media to enable resistance and open up space for 
alternatives? This special issue emphasises the importance of collective 
action and media visibility (Meikle, 2018; Tilly & Wood, 2013; Melucci, 
1996) in generating positive change.

We define ‘activism’ as ‘the widest range of attempts to effect social 
or cultural change’ (Meikle, 2018: iii), while ‘the media’ includes a 
broad range of communication platforms, from traditional journalism to 
digital networks.

We welcome papers on the subject of (but not limited to):

– Algorithmic activism

– Novel ways of adaptation of the long established repertoire of 
activist tactics to the Internet, preferably based on recent case studies

– Hashtag activism

– Tactical media (e.g. the use of established media to disrupt the 
discourse, or the new media that are specifically crafted for activism)

– Anti-hate activism

– Changing the frame. The application of psychological insights that 
fuel both online and offline strategies, for example countering those 
frames that 'other’ refugees and trigger values of fear and anger

– (Post) Feminist activism

– Environmental activism

– Activism in restricted media environments

– Active and re-active activism

– Whistleblowers and journalistic activism

– Imagining a post-Brexit activism, addressing the crisis in democracy

This special issue invites the most recent theoretical interventions and 
empirical research that explores how media activism across the globe 
opposes the current crises in Western democracies and beyond.

Co-editors: Michaela O’Brien, Assistant Head of School of Media and 
Communication; Dr Anastasia Denisova, Lecturer in Journalism, 
Communication and Media Research Institute, University of Westminster

Deadline for abstracts:

Please submit a 250 words abstract by 21 January 2019. You will receive 
feedback from editors shortly after.

Deadline for full papers:

Full papers are expected by 25 March 2019. All papers will go through 
double peer-review.

Publication date: June-July 2019

WPCC is an open access journal and there are no fees for contributors. 
Published by the University of Westminster Press in conjunction with 
CAMRI. All content in this issue and in its archive is available free to 
read.

www.westminsterpapers.org

REFERENCES

Meikle, G. 2018(ed.) The Routledge Companion to Media and Activism. 
Abingdon: Routledge

Melucci, A. (1996). Challenging Codes: Collective Action in the 
Information Age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Tilly, C. and Wood, L. J. 2013. Social Movements, 1768-2012 (3rd ed.) 
Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.


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