[Commlist] CFP: Reimagining the field of Media, War and Conflict in the age of information disorder

*Reimagining the field of Media, War and Conflict in the age of 
information disorder 
<http://www.warandmedia.org/Spaces/reimagining-the-field-of-media-war-and-conflict/> 
*

Call For Papers: Pre-conference at the International Communication 
Association conference, *25 May 2023*, Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel.

The deadline is *31 January, 2023*. Accepted participants will be 
notified by 28 February 2023.

As editors of the journal /Media, War and Conflict 
<https://journals.sagepub.com/home/mwc>/ we propose that this is the 
ideal time to assess how new actors, technologies, and global power 
struggles have challenged the relationship between media and conflict in 
the 15 years since our first issue was published in April 2008. 
Disinformation and propaganda studies have moved into the sphere of 
mainstream media and politics, where extant research in the field of war 
and media has not always been acknowledged. Journalistic institutions 
face continued pressures on their authority as the leading interpreters 
of unfolding events, while reporters on-the-ground are threatened, 
jailed or murdered with apparent impunity. The images and videos 
captured on ever-present smart devices not only serve as ‘weapons’ in 
the legitimation of military and political actions, they also transform 
the aesthetic and moral understandings of war for observing citizens. 
Notions of ‘participative war’ (Merrin 2018) and ‘radical war’ (Ford and 
Hoskins 2022) proffer new characterizations of the current era, 
understanding digital connectivity as intertwined with the conduct of 
war and the precarity of security (human, food, climate, national, 
transnational).

It is important to remember the human lives at the center of these 
broader technological and conceptual shifts, raising questions regarding 
how (dis)information mobilizes and impacts the communities involved. 
Human rights organizations and open source investigation teams employ 
forensic techniques with a diverse range of imaging and computational 
technologies to expose war crimes and advocate for those seeking justice 
(Ristovska 2021; Smith and Watson 2022). Documentaries and creative 
research methods can bring activists, filmmakers and scholars together 
to raise awareness and generate solidarity for those facing insecurity 
and violence. But whose voices are being mobilized in processes such as 
these, why and how? Ordinary people are also using new technologies in 
unprecedented ways, bringing to question the relationship between agency 
and power, and yet inequalities persist. We encourage critical questions 
about the inequalities of war including the gendered nature of war, 
intersections of body and space, and the limitations and discriminations 
for expressions of voice and visibility enabled by supposedly 
democratizing communication technologies. Does accessibility to diverse 
‘voices’ and counter-narratives actually have any discernable impact on 
decision-making and accountability in war planning and conduct?

This pre-conference intentionally does not refer to specific wars or 
locations, and encourages research from regions that traditionally 
receive less scholarly and media attention.

The /Media, War and Conflict /journal has a thriving community of 
contributors, many of whom participated in a 5^th anniversary conference 
in London, a 10^th anniversary conference in Florence, and we would use 
this 15^th anniversary conference in Toronto to expand this community by 
bringing in new and early career scholars. ICA 2023 will be a milestone 
in this continuing journey.

*Potential subjects for papers could include:*

-The visual economy of war, photojournalism, and emergent digital visual 
cultures

-Mediated forensics (Smith and Watson 2022), open-source intelligence 
(OSINT), surveillant technologies, and crowdsourcing in the 
visualization of war

-Grassroots and alternative media challenges to official narratives of 
war and peace

-The gendered and/or ethnocentric nature of war reporting

-Frameworks for understanding the new ecologies of war: ‘everywhere war’ 
(Gregory 2011), ‘participative war’ (Merrin 2018), ‘radical war’ (Ford 
and Hoskins 2022)

-Disinformation, ‘fake news’ or falsified imagery in war and conflict 
situations

-How the climate crisis is associated with conflicts around the world in 
media discourse

-How media platforms (TikTok, Telegram) are reimagining the way citizens 
encounter war experiences

-Creative, narrative and visual methods in war and peace research

-Artistic, film, performance and practice projects

-Decolonizing the field of war and media

-Witnessing, ethics and spectatorship

-Memory, commemoration and archives

-Strategic narratives and legitimation of war/peace

-Media coverage of political violence, uprisings, riots and terrorism

-Reporting of military scandals, abuse, and war crimes

We intend this pre-conference to be a welcoming space to forge new 
interdisciplinary collaborations across visual communication, journalism 
studies, digital culture, international studies, and beyond. We are keen 
to hear about artistic, film, performance and practice projects in 
addition to news and social media studies, and encourage research on 
conflicts and political violence from regions that traditionally receive 
less scholarly and media attention.

_Two types of in-person participation are invited: _

*10 minute paper or practice presentation*: We are interested in 
scholarly and practice contributions that speak to the above themes. 
Prospective presenters should submit an abstract of up to 300 words. 
Submissions will be selected by the conference committee on the basis of 
originality and relevance to the conference theme, and to ensure a 
diversity of viewpoints and geographic origins. Presentation submissions 
are open to people at any stage of career. Due to time constraints, 
practice-based submissions should primarily be spoken presentations 
about the practice (with possible clips or images). We hope to further 
promote practice work through our associated preconference website 
<http://www.warandmedia.org/Spaces/reimagining-the-field-of-media-war-and-conflict-2/>.

**

*Poster presentation*: PhD researchers and early career scholars are 
also invited to submit an abstract of up to 300 words for a poster 
presentation addressing the preconference themes. This can be ‘work in 
progress’. The poster session will allow for feedback from an assigned 
mentor and other pre-conference participants and organisers.

We will be prioritizing in-person participation but can look into remote 
options if needed. The AV equipment provided at the hotel does not cover 
hybrid participation.

Abstracts, indicating which type of participation is requested (paper or 
poster), should be emailed to the organisers at: (k.j.parry /at/ leeds.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(k.j.parry /at/ leeds.ac.uk)> . The deadline for receipt of abstracts 
is *31 January, 2023*. Accepted participants will be notified by 28 
February 2023.

**

*Five travel bursaries *of up to $120 will be available to qualifying 
participants. Bursaries will be available for participants from Tier B 
and C countries and ECRs to encourage a diversity of experience and 
expertise. Priority will be given to those from Tier B and C countries, 
before ECRs from Tier A. The /Media, War and Conflict/ Journal, and the 
ICA Visual Communication Studies Division sponsor these bursaries. 
Details of how to apply for a travel bursary will be provided to 
accepted poster or paper presenters upon notification of acceptance. 
Bursary recipients will have to pay for registration, and the bursary 
will act as a waiver retrospectively. If this causes any problems, we 
can discuss with recipients.

Provisionally, all presentations will be considered for inclusion in a 
special anniversary issue of /Media, War & Conflict/*. *

Registration will be via the ICA website 
<https://www.icahdq.org/BlankCustom.asp?page=ICA23-Reimagining> and will 
open in March 2023. Non-participating delegates will be accepted within 
the capacity limitations of the venue. Registration fee will be $120 to 
cover the two refreshment breaks and lunch provided by the on-site 
conference hotel.

Note: you do not have to be an ICA member to attend a pre-conference, 
nor do you need to register for the main conference. Attendees will need 
to create an ICA profile to register.

*Organisers: *

Katy Parry, University of Leeds (lead contact: (k.j.parry /at/ leeds.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(k.j.parry /at/ leeds.ac.uk)>)

Piotr Cieplak, University of Sussex

Sarah Maltby, University of Sussex

Dina Matar, SOAS, London

Tanner Mirrlees, Ontario Tech University

Ben O’Loughlin, Royal Holloway, London

Holly Steel, University of Leeds

Sponsors: This pre-conference is sponsored by the /Media, War & 
Conflict/ Journal (SAGE) and the ICA Visual Communication Studies 
Division. It is also affiliated with the ICA Journalism Studies division.


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