[Commlist] CfP - Communication and Capital(ism), Ljubljana

Call for papers:

Communication and Capital(ism)

Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, 28-30
August 2025

Mid-term conference of the European Sociological Association, Research
Network 18 – The Sociology of Communications and Media Research

The small-scale and focused mid-term conferences of the European
Sociological Association's Research Network 18 seek to ensure that the
sociological investigation of media and communications is given full
focus, distinguishing its work from that of large international
associations, which provide important forums for communications and
media research but do not have especially sociological concerns.

The challenges facing societies today seem daunting even by the most
volatile historical standards. These include deepening economic
inequalities, class antagonisms, the rise of radical right-wing
authoritarianism around the world and violent wars that may soon erupt
into even wider international conflicts. Generative AI is increasingly
reshaping virtually all relations, and digital tech giants are running
amok along with their increasingly unhinged owners. Somewhere behind all
this, looming on the horizon, is an ecological crisis. While many of
these issues are intricately interlinked and, among other things, speak
volumes about the deepening power imbalances and crises of liberal
institutions, their causes and trajectories may be divergent and
contradictory, with outcomes that seem difficult to predict.

As the conference title suggests, no social issues can be addressed
without recourse to communication or capitalism. For Hanno Hardt,
critical scholar and former professor in Ljubljana, communication could
be considered "the sine qua non of human existence" (1979, 1). In this
sense, the study of communication must always be the first stepping
stone, but one that is now influenced and shaped in various ways by
digital giants and media-as-industries. Similarly, critical authors have
historically regarded capitalism as a system that cannot be ignored in a
holistic social analysis. Sociologist Wolfgang Streeck has, for
instance, asserted "that contemporary society cannot really be
understood by a sociology that makes no reference to its capitalist
economy" (2012, 1). In other words, the sociology of communications and
media must inevitably include or address these two of the most
fundamental social relations in its research.

In line with these premises, the conference will feature a plenary round
table on digital platforms and labour and plenary talks by critical
scholars who have addressed the dynamic between communication and
capitalism throughout their careers:

Kylie Jarrett (University College Dublin, Ireland)
Graham Murdock (Loughborough University, UK)
and Slavko Splichal (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia).

The Communication and Capital(ism) conference aims to bring together
contributions that explore the unpredictable and unstable social terrain
in the era of digital capitalism. It seeks to critically engage with
these issues and their consequences by focusing on the role of social
communication, media, and journalism. We are looking for theoretical and
empirical submissions that may include, but are not limited to, the
following topics:

Theoretical reflections on political economy and cultural studies;
The role of critique and criticality for the sociology of media;
Digital capitalism, imperialism and colonialism;
Digital platforms and tech giants;
Labour and platformisation of working conditions;
Capital, class, gender, and race;
Global media corporations and media-as-industries;
Capitalism and journalism;
Sociology of news;
The material and ideological impact of advertising;
Transformations in political communication;
Democracy and democratic transformations;
The public sphere;
(Re-)presentations in journalism and the media;
Possible alternatives to the existing political/economic malaise and
digital capitalism.

Abstract submission

Abstract submission deadline: 15 April 2025
Notification of selected abstracts: 15 May 2025
Conference dates: 28-30 August 2025
Abstracts should be sent to: Conference Organising Committee,
(rn18esasubmission /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(rn18esasubmission /at/ gmail.com)>

Abstracts should be sent as an e-mail attachment (400-600 words
including title, author name(s), email address(es), and institutional
affiliation(s)). Please insert the words "ESA RN18 Submission" in the
subject. Although we do not provide a template for the abstract
submission, we expect abstracts that include a rationale, research
question(s), theoretical and/or empirical methods applied, and potential
results and implications. Each abstract will be independently reviewed
by two members of the ESA RN18 Board based on the call for papers.

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