[Commlist] CfP: Communication and Culture Review - "Communication for Social Change"

CfP: Communication and Culture Review - Communication for Social Change

Deadline (abstracts): 1 October 2022

Edited by Samarjit Kachari (Pondicherry University)
M Shuaib Mohamed Haneef (Pondicherry University)

*Communication for Social Change*

Communication for Social Change (CSC) explores the cultural, ethical, 
and critical approaches meant for strategic interventions toward social 
change in collective affairs of social groups and communities, 
conferring a nominal standard of improvement. CSC brings into question 
the issues of class, culture, context, and power to explore the role of 
mediated knowledge not just in developing communities but also within 
the development community itself (Pamment, 2015). Media and 
Communication scholars have continuously investigated the varying modes 
through which public discourse intervenes in social, cultural, economic 
and political life to confirm, reform, or transform the status quo. 
Rather than grappling between the orthodox  'results-oriented, 
institutionalised approaches and the complexity of context,' 
contemporary CSC scholarship apprehends interdisciplinary approaches in 
theory and research vetting prospects of empowerment and social justice 
(Thomas, 2015). CSC has varying scopes when development policies and 
practices accentuate hegemonic domination and unilateral 
decision-making. The critical approaches of development practitioners, 
academics, and activists have created spaces where people, as well as 
communities, can define development on their own and give meaning to and 
claim their fundamental right to life (Haider et al., 2021).

CSC is a broad area and includes different communication applications 
within a continuum that ranges from mainstream to radical (Thomas & 
Fliert, 2014). We have seen various approaches in the field of CSC in 
the past years. Though there is no universally valid and widely accepted 
definition, three conceptualisations have prevailed regarding 
communication for social change (Beltrán, 2008). The first is that 
modernisation can achieve economic growth, and the media can bring this 
change. The second is development support communication, and the third 
is alternative communication for democratic development. CSC has been 
practised under various names such as communication for development 
(C4D), Information, Communication, and Technology for Development 
(ICT4D), learning for social change, social and behavioural 
communication, etc. These different approaches look into various ways of 
directed and non-directed social change.

Today, the leading scholars and the post-structural, postmodern, 
postcolonial tenets oppose logocentric views and universal truths 
(Melkote & Steeves, 2015). Cultural identity, change through human 
agency, deconstruction of the dominant ideology, etc., have been 
encouraged by scholars in the field of communication in directed social 
change. Participatory paradigm and associated models in CSC focused on 
local communities to create development projects to their own 
objectives. However, even in models where participation rates are high, 
Empowerment-related development communication strategies are a core 
construct for social justice. Such communication paradigms require more 
than mere diffusion of information and technical innovations. A platform 
for the discussion of empowerment is needed by considering the concept 
and practice of power and control in social settings.

We are especially interested in papers that address – in theoretical, 
conceptual, methodological, or empirical terms

- Political economy of CSC in the micro, meso and macro level

- Epistemological, methodological and theoretical perspectives on social 
change, Social Justice and Empowerment

- Power inequity, poverty, and the denial of fundamental human rights.

- Discrimination, lack of education, and inadequate employment 
opportunities.

- Critical Approaches to Media, Communication and Development

- Tensions between 'media for development' and 'communication for 
development.'

- The role of communication in social change and transformation

- Participatory communication

- Social accountability and state-citizen relations

- Gender relations and development


*Timeline*

*
*- Abstract submission: October 1, 2022 (Abstract length should not 
exceed 250 words)
- Intimation of selected abstracts: October 15, 2022
- Full Paper submission: December 5, 2022 (Full paper should not exceed 
8500 words)
- Notification of selected papers for peer review: December 10, 2022
- Intimation of final acceptance/correction/rejection: December 30, 2022
- Publication of the issue: January 15,  2023


No payment from authors is required. More information on the call at 
http://www.communicationandculturereview.in/ 
<http://www.communicationandculturereview.in/>

For further queries, please contact the editor at (shuji22 /at/ pondiuni.ac.in) 
<mailto:(shuji22 /at/ pondiuni.ac.in)>


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