[Commlist] CFP: 'Community and Activist Media: Resistance and Resurgence' - JOACM Theme Issue

*/Call for Papers/*

*/Special Issue - Journal of Alternative and Community Media/*

*/
/*

*/Community and Activist Media: Resistance and Resurgence /*

*//*

*/Guest Editors: /*

*//*

/Tanja Dreher, University of New South Wales, Australia /

/Pieter Maeseele, University of Antwerp, Belgium /

/Susan Forde, Griffith University, Australia /

The/ Journal of Alternative & Community Media/ (/JOACM/) publishes 
research that helps explain the shifting media environment, and the ways 
in which people use alternative forms of media and communication. Issues 
of concern to the journal include the nature and distribution of media 
power; access to and participation in media; media practices of 
communities and social movements; and the possibilities of emerging 
technologies and new media.

This special issue of the/Journal of Alternative and Community Media 
<https://www.intellectbooks.com/journal-of-alternative-community-media> 
///is inspired by papers from the OURMedia gathering in Brussels, 2019; 
and the planned (but cancelled) post-conference to the ICA 2020, to 
submit papers on the theme, ‘*/Community and Activist Media: Resistance 
and Resurgence’./**//*Planned publication is*September, 2021*.

We call for academic papers alongside contributions from alternative 
media practitioners who will contribute to a special section, ‘Essays 
from the Frontline’.

*Context *

**

 From the resurgence of white supremacy and authoritarian rule to 
rapidly changing technologies and the rise of social media; and from the 
precarious state of journalism to state crackdowns on dissent and the 
‘free press’, community and activist media face multiple ‘disruptions’ 
and challenges. While the 21^st century media environment offers 
increasing opportunities for ‘voice’, the challenges for community and 
activist media are practical, political and fundamental. At the same 
time that this is occurring in community and activist media, scholars in 
this field are often working at the intersection of research and 
activism, a theme explored in the 2019 OURMedia gathering.

This special issue will bring together engaged scholars to explore the 
challenges and opportunities for community and activist media at a time 
of unprecedented pressures – considering new resurgences, and enhanced 
opportunities for resistance. Additionally, paper proposals at the 
intersection of research and activism are most welcome; and by 
extension, papers which draw connections between scholarly activism 
(scholactivism) and media activism, emanating from a key theme of the 
OURMedia conference, are also sought.

Key questions to be explored include:

  * What is the role of activist and community media in contemporary
    social justice struggles – including anti-racist work in the context
    of resurgent racisms, and intersectional work in the context of
    anti-feminist backlash? What are the possibilities for resistance
    and transformation?
  * How can we best analyse and respond to white supremacist and
    far-right media?
  * How do community and alternative media enable voices that are
    marginalized or excluded from the ‘mainstream’ to be heard – what
    can we learn (or not) from their practices?
  * What is the role and value of established ‘community’ media when
    social media platforms enable a proliferation of voice?
  * What have we learned from the legacy of platforms such as Indymedia,
    and how can it inform our structures, agendas and goals for the future?
  * How does one integrate activism and scholarship? What are the
    tensions between the ‘scientific’ needs of research and commitments
    to social change and social justice?
  * What is the state of news and current affairs – including news
    journalisms and issues-based talks programming – at a time of both
    technological and professional ‘disruption’?
  * What does ‘community’ or ‘alternative’ media mean in the current
    digital media environment, which features a proliferation of
    non-mainstream voices?
The special issue welcomes participation from researchers and 
practitioners across community and activist media very broadly defined – 
including alternative media in all its guises, community media 
interventions, alternative journalism initiatives, citizens media, media 
activism and more. No APCs are charged.

Media activist and other practitioners who wish to contribute should 
contact Susan Forde directly ((s.forde /at/ griffith.edu.au) 
<mailto:(s.forde /at/ griffith.edu.au)>) to discuss an alternative ‘Essays from 
the Frontline’ format to complement the suite of academic papers to be 
published in this special issue.

*Timeline *

Abstracts due October 1, 2020

Full papers due December 10, 2020

Reviews sent to authors February 15, 2021

Revised manuscripts due April 30, 2021

Paper acceptances notified June 30, 2021

Publication September 2021

*Please send your abstracts to the Guest Editors: *

*Tanja Dreher,**(t.dreher /at/ unsw.edu.au)* <mailto:(t.dreher /at/ unsw.edu.au)>**

*Pieter Maeseele,**(pieter.maeseele /at/ uantwerpen.be)* 
<mailto:(pieter.maeseele /at/ uantwerpen.be)>**

*Susan Forde,**(s.forde /at/ griffith.edu.au)* <mailto:(s.forde /at/ griffith.edu.au)>**


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