[Commlist] CFP: Media, Diplomacy and Soft Power

Media Mutations 11 Conference – Call for Papers (deadline approaching: 
January 20th)


"Media, Diplomacy and Soft Power: Exploring the Relations Between 
Emerging Markets and Western Countries"


University of Bologna, Department of Arts, May 20th-21st, 2019

Confirmed keynote speakers:

Rachel Dwyer (SOAS University of London)

Stanley Rosen (University of Southern California)


Organized by

Marco Cucco (University of Bologna), Gertjan Willems (University of 
Antwerp) and Zhan Zhang (Università della Svizzera italiana)

Media products, in particular audiovisual works, have always been used 
both as soft power tools for shaping or branding the image and 
reputation of their producing countries, and as a diplomatic platform 
for facilitating international relations and trade. Soft power 
strategies involve public and private stakeholders working in different 
areas within a wide, complex and well-orchestrated plan. However, due to 
the fundamental role of culture, media always play a crucial role in any 
plan of soft power and strategic marketing.

The conference aims at understanding how media products serve for 
diplomatic and soft power purposes, with a focus on emerging markets. 
While traditional flows of communication moved from the Western world to 
other regions (as in the case of Hollywood films), nowadays the most 
sophisticated and innovative soft power plans are going in the opposite 
direction: from developing countries to Western Europe and the United 
States. Not only do countries like China, India, South Korea and Mexico 
have more and more skillful and powerful media companies and 
professionals, they are also intensively working and negotiating to 
spread their media products and brands abroad and to create 
international co-productions and new media ventures. Within these 
collaborations and expansion strategies, Western Europe and the United 
States also became their targeted markets.

Investigating these dynamics is very challenging for scholars. Soft 
power strategies are often based on “unwritten” political decisions; 
they usually aim at reaching intangible goals, and their analysis 
requires expertise from several research areas (political sciences, 
economics, media studies, etc.). In light of these challenges, the 
conference aims at a better understanding of the role played by media 
products in international diplomacy and as soft power tools of 
developing countries favoring a dialogue between scholars from different 
research fields and geographic areas. In line with its founding 
purposes, the Media Mutations conference series aims to serve as a 
platform for discussing methodologies, sharing expertise and promoting a 
multi-disciplinary approach.

The 11^th  edition of Media Mutations encourages submissions that cover 
the following subjects and topics:

-Mapping of public and private stakeholders involved in soft power 
strategies of emerging markets, with a focus on creative industries;

-The role of media within soft power strategies of emerging markets;

-Case studies of single countries (economic and cultural goals; 
policies; international agreements; development and performance of media 
products, etc.);

-Case studies of particular media companies/organizations for their 
success/failure (corporate strategy, output, markets, economic results, 
etc.);

Case studies of particular media products for their success/failure 
(content design; financing; international distribution/circulation; 
reception in the national market and in foreign markets);

-Soft power and national branding;

-The implementation of soft power into media practices;

-The places of networking for diplomatic and soft power purposes (fairs, 
markets at festivals, etc.);

-Relations between developing countries and international organizations 
(e.g. European Union, World Trade Organization, etc.) in the field of media;

-Methodological approaches for investigating soft power strategies and 
their tangible/intangible results.

The official language of the conference is English. Abstracts (300-500 
words for 20-minute talks) should be sent to 
(mediamutations.org /at/ gmail.com) by January 20^th , 2019. Please attach a 
brief biography (maximum 150 words) and an optional selected 
bibliography (up to five references). Notification of acceptance will be 
sent by February 18^ th . A registration fee will be requested after 
notification of paper acceptance (€60 for speakers and professional 
attendants; free conference admission for students).

This Conference is financially supported by Centro Dipartimentale La 
Soffitta and Dipartimento delle Arti, Università di Bologna, and 
sponsored by the ECREA Film Studies Section.

The CFP is also available on the Media Mutations web site:

https://www.mediamutations.org/about/902-2/


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