[Commlist] CFP - Special Issue on Conspiracy Theories in Digital Environment

call for papers to a special issue of Convergence Journal on Conspiracy 
Theories in Digital Environment.


CFP: “Conspiracy Theories in Digital Environments”
Deadline for Abstracts: 1 May 2021
Expected date of print publication: August 2022
Special Issue of Convergence: The International Journal of Research into 
New Media Technologies Guest editors: Dr. Jing Zeng (University of 
Zurich, Switzerland), Prof. Mike S. Schäfer (University of Zurich, 
Switzerland) and Prof. Thaiane Oliveira (Federal Fluminense University, 
Brazil)

“Conspiracy theories”, once perceived as harmless phenomena that are 
“silly and without merit” (Keelley, 1999, p.109), have garnered 
increased attention among scholars, in news media and public discourse. 
Factors contributing to the current prevalence of conspiracy theories 
are manifold. From the rise of populist politics (Bergmann & Butter, 
2020) and science-related populism (Mede & Schäfer, 2020) to the current 
pandemic, societal and political upheaval are associated with an 
increase in conspiracy theories. For researchers of new media 
technologies, one factor rendering conspiracy theories particularly 
worthy of interrogation is their close interplay with information and 
communication technologies. These technologies can amplify the 
visibility of conspiracy theory-related content and its promulgators 
(Bessi et al., 2015; Hellinger, 2018). Digital platforms are also 
congregation points for conspiracy theorists, risking polarisation of 
these “epistemologically isolated networks” (Sunstein & Vermeule, 2009, 
p. 204). Digital platform logics (Van Dijck & Poell, 2013) may 
exacerbate the problem of conspiracy theories, which has led to the 
recent trend of the deplatformisation (Rogers, 2020) of conspiracy 
theorists. As a result, many conspiracy theorists and their followers 
have migrated to fringe platforms such as Gab, Parler, and BitChute.
Despite the recent expansion of scholarship about conspiracy theories, 
more academic attention is required to systematically and 
comprehensively interrogate the role of new media technologies in 
shaping, disseminating, but also potentially mitigating conspiracy 
theories. Cross-cultural and cross-platform perspectives are 
particularly needed in order to investigate the full scope of the topic.
This requires not only methodological innovation but also new 
theoretical ideas and conceptual heuristics. This special issue aims to 
assemble scholarship from different disciplinary perspectives that offer 
conceptual reflections, methodological advances, and in-depth 
discussions of conspiracy theories in digital environments.
We particularly welcome submissions investigating this topic in 
countries or regions in the Global South.

The editors welcome contributions that explore, or go beyond, questions 
such as:
● Which actors propagate conspiracy theories in digital environments, 
how prevalent are conspiracy theories in public discourse, which users 
contribute to this reach, and in what ways does it affect them?
● To what extent do the communication and social functions of online 
conspiracy theories differ across cultural contexts? How do conspiracy 
theories operate online in different political systems?
● What conceptual and theoretical approaches are needed to analyze 
conspiracy theories in digital environments - in how far do existing 
concepts and theories have to be adapted or are novel concepts and 
theories needed?
● What methodological approaches are suitable for 
cross-platform/cross-lingual/cross-national analysis of conspiracy theories?
● How do platform affordances influence conspiracy theories in digital 
environments, especially in the case of emerging or “fringe” platforms 
(such as TikTok, 8kun, Gab or Parler)?
Please send a 500-word abstract and a 100-word bio to guest editors: 
(j.zeng /at/ ikmz.uzh.ch) <mailto:(j.zeng /at/ ikmz.uzh.ch)>, (m.schaefer /at/ ikmz.uzh.ch) 
<mailto:(m.schaefer /at/ ikmz.uzh.ch)>, and (thaianeoliveira /at/ id.uff.br) 
<mailto:(thaianeoliveira /at/ id.uff.br)> by 1 May 2021.
Authors of accepted abstracts will be contacted by 4 June and invited to 
submit full contributions by 1 September 2021.
https://journals.sagepub.com/page/con/collections/call-for-papers-index


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