[Commlist] Call for Papers: “Beyond Californian Ideology? Tech Communities and Alternative Imaginaries of Deep Mediatization”

“Beyond Californian Ideology? Tech Communities and Alternative 
Imaginaries of Deep Mediatization”

Call for Papers for a Thematic ​Issue in the International Journal of 
Communication

Guest-edited by:

·      Prof Dr Andreas Hepp, University of Bremen, ZeMKI 
((ahepp /at/ uni-bremen.de))

·      Prof Nathan Schneider, University of Colorado Boulder 
((nathan.schneider /at/ colorado.edu))

·      MA Anne Schmitz, University of Bremen, ZeMKI 
((a.schmitz /at/ uni-bremen.de))

++Overview++

In their 1996 publication of the same name, Richard Barbrook and Andy 
Cameron characterized what they called the “Californian ideology” as a 
combination of “the free-wheeling spirit of the hippies and the 
entrepreneurial zeal of the yuppies” (Barbrook & Cameron 1996: 44). At 
its core, this Californian ideology is defined by the notion of a 
society characterized simultaneously by libertarian markets, alternative 
ideas of community and individual freedom—shaped by technology more than 
other social forces. Such notions were driven by networks such as those 
that emerged around the Whole Earth Catalog, and later, Wired magazine 
(Turner 2006), which communicated these ideas far beyond the American 
West Coast. Many of today’s platforms and digital infrastructures, which 
drive the current “deep mediatization” (Hepp 2020) of society, were 
created in the spirit of such an ideology, supported by ideas of “global 
scalability” of once found "technical solutions”.

At the same time, there were groups early on that seem to be opposed to 
such ideas. Examples of this are the Hacker, Open Source, or Civic 
Hacking movements, which are interested in critically questioning 
tendencies of commercialization. Such groups exert their influence by 
developing alternative “sociotechnical imaginaries” (Jasanoff & 
Sang-Hyun 2015) about possible futures – thus creating a space of 
possibility. However, if one also looks at emerging communities today 
such as the Maker, Quantified Self, or Biohacking movements, it becomes 
evident that many “alternative” imaginaries are closely interwoven with 
the Californian ideology. On closer inspection, the boundaries do not 
appear to be so easily drawn; there are manifold connections, fractures, 
affinities, and differences in the various communities.

Against this background, the aim of this special issue is to look at 
different technology-oriented communities and to ask what “alternative 
imaginaries” of a deeply mediatized society they develop as well as what 
their possible impact on future developments might be.

Submissions should address questions like these:

-       What imaginaries of possible futures are tech communities 
developing?

-       In which areas are they experimenting and which future 
developments are they opening up?

-       Where is a Californian ideology reproduced in the practices and 
discourses of these communities?

-       How does the departure to other models and concepts of 
technological development succeed?


++Formatting and Requirements++

To be considered for this collection, a paper should range between 6,000 
and 8,900 words (all-inclusive, which includes the abstract, keywords, 
images with captions, footnotes, references, and appendices, if any) 
must be submitted by October 31, 2021 to the editors and adhere to the 
following formal requirements:

-       Formatting according to the most recent version of the APA 
style-guide (including in-text citations and references).

-       Any endnotes should be converted to footnotes.

-       Papers must include the author(s) name(s), title, affiliation 
and email-address. (Your paper will subsequently be anonymized for 
double-blind peer review.)

-       All articles should include an abstract of 150 words.

-       All spelling must be rendered in American English. To change 
British or Commonwealth spellings to their American equivalents, please 
see the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary.

-       See “Author Guidelines/Submission Preparation Checklist” at 
https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/about/submissions#authorGuidelines

Any papers that do not follow these guidelines will not be submitted for 
peer review.

The International Journal of Communication is an open access journal 
(ijoc.org). All articles will be available online at the point of 
publication. The anticipated publication timeframe for this Special 
Issue is October 2022.


++Contact Information++

All submissions should be uploaded to 
https://cloud.medlab.host/s/pt43t39ZrHtXcnD by October 31, 2021. Late 
submissions will not be included for consideration.

No payment from the authors will be required.

Download the Call for Papers here: 
https://www.uni-bremen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/fachbereiche/fb9/zemki/media/photos/publikationen/special-issues/Call-Californian-Ideology_final.pdf
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