[Commlist] CFP: Rizoma Journal [Thematic Issue]: Media Narratives for Social Change

Call for Papers (CFP) Rizoma v. 15 n. 2 (2026)
Thematic Issue: Media Narratives for Social Change

Editors:
Camila Hartmann (Unisc)
Carla Rodrigues Cardoso (Lusófona University)
Dora Santos-Silva (NOVA FCSH)

Media narratives play a central role in the production of meaning about 
the world, articulating representations, affects, symbolic disputes, and 
projects for the future. By mediating and mediatising individual and 
collective experiences, the media not only reflect social dynamics but 
also actively participate in processes of social transformation, whether 
by making inequalities visible and reinforcing specific regimes of 
truth, or by producing counter-narratives and challenging exclusion. 
Social transformation, in this context, is understood as a set of 
changes – gradual or disruptive – in the structures – being cultural, 
political, economic, communicational, or otherwise – that organise 
social life.

The centrality of digital environments fosters new forms, agents, and 
strategies within media narratives. Journalism, advertising, audiovisual 
production, activist practices, cultural production, and algorithmic 
performances coexist and compete for attention, legitimacy, and 
narrative authority. This complex ecosystem challenges traditional 
analytical models and calls for theoretical and methodological 
approaches capable of understanding media as a privileged space of 
conflict, negotiation, and, ultimately, social transformation.

Inserted within the scope of Rizoma journal, this thematic dossier aims 
to bring together contributions that investigate the relationships 
between media narratives and social transformation in their multiple 
tensions, privileging interdisciplinary approaches articulated within 
the field of Communication. Empirical, theoretical, or methodological 
studies are welcome, including discourse analysis, digital 
ethnographies, case studies, digital methods, and applied research.

This thematic dossier welcomes contributions on the following topics, 
among others:

*Media narratives (journalistic, audiovisual, advertising, 
institutional, or AI-generated) and their impacts on processes of social 
transformation;

*Impacts of sociotechnical agents, such as platforms and algorithms, on 
social transformation;

*Processes of mediatization, circulation, and transformations in modes 
of collective action;

*Uses of Artificial Intelligence across different types of narratives 
and their effects on the production of meaning;

*Journalistic practices oriented toward social transformation;

*Counter-narratives, symbolic resistance, and discursive 
reconfigurations within the media ecosystem;

*Media in contexts of social and community vulnerability;

*Activist discourses, political engagement, and struggles for visibility 
in the contemporary public sphere;

*Populism, polarisation, and narrative strategies in the media;

*Cultural and creative industries and transformative media narratives;

*Digital influencers, identity performances, and social transformation;

*Audiovisual production oriented toward social critique.

Manuscripts may be submitted until *April 30, 2026*, through the 
journal’s electronic submission system. Submissions are accepted in 
Portuguese, Spanish, or English and must comply with the submission 
requirements and author guidelines available on the journal’s website: 
https://seer.unisc.br/index.php/rizoma 
<https://seer.unisc.br/index.php/rizoma>. The dossier is scheduled for 
publication in July 2026.

Rizoma is a publication of the Department of Business Management and 
Communication and the Graduate Program in Letters of the University of 
Santa Cruz do Sul. *Fees are not requested for submission or processing*.

For further information, please contact: (revistarizoma /at/ unisc.br) 
<mailto:(revistarizoma /at/ unisc.br)>
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