[Commlist] Call for Abstracts: Narratives of COVID-19 in China and the World

Call for Abstracts: Narratives of COVID-19 in China and the World

https://cdcs.asc.upenn.edu/call-for-abstracts-narratives-of-covid-19-in-china-and-the-world/

As COVID-19 spreads across the globe and poses multiple crises to 
nations and humanity, our previous assumptions of community, mobility, 
personhood, and even society itself are called into question. Widespread 
border closure and travel disruptions have rendered conventional forms 
of sociality difficult. Lockdown, social distancing and work-from-home 
orders have affected different social groups in vastly different ways, 
with clear adverse impact on women, racial minorities, and the working 
poor. Pandemic narratives proliferate on social media and news networks. 
Individuals in different world regions articulate different if not 
conflictual meanings of self, community, justice, and the nation in 
relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. Political elites in some nations 
propagate narratives of virus nationalism and populism and violently 
exclude and stigmatize certain social groups.

In a world troubled by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative for 
researchers to rework our theoretical assumptions and frameworks as we 
embark on new empirical and theoretical inquiries. The Center on Digital 
Culture and Society at the University of Pennsylvania seeks to bring 
together a group of scholars for an interdisciplinary workshop to 
examine these important issues and explore new research agendas. We 
particularly welcome empirical research which takes historical, 
critical, cultural, and political-economic approaches to the study of 
the following topics:

-New and radical practices and visions of technologies in the COVID-19 
pandemic
-Changing narratives of borders, communities, and mobility
-The resurgence of racism and right-wing nationalism
-Gender and the crisis of social reproduction
-Evolving patterns of media/tech activism and surveillance, and their 
implications for future social   movements
-Narratives of identity, solidarity, emotions, personhood, social 
justice, and nationalism
-Artificial intelligence, automation, and other technologies in 
economic, political and social processes
-Comparative studies of risks, vulnerabilities, and pandemic narratives 
across time and space

Please submit extended paper abstracts of 500-800 words in English to 
(cdcs /at/ asc.upenn.edu) before September 1, 2020 with “COVID Workshop” in the 
subject line. The authors of accepted proposals will be invited to 
present the full paper at a workshop on March 26, 2021 hosted by the 
Center on Digital Culture and Society. Depending on the pandemic 
situation, the workshop may be virtual or in-person. If in-person, the 
workshop will be held at the University of Pennsylvania and organizers 
will cover the invited authors’ travel and accommodation. If the 
workshop is held virtually, organizers will pay an honorarium to invited 
speakers. Presented papers will be published in a special journal issue 
and/or as an edited book. The workshop will be co-sponsored by the 
Center for the Study of Contemporary China at the University of 
Pennsylvania.
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