The Global Media Policy Working Group of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites the submission of proposals and panels for IAMCR 2023, to be held in Lyon, France, from 9 to 13 July (Lyon23) with an Online Conference Papers (OCP23) component from 26 June to 5 July.
The deadline for submission of proposals is 9 February 2023 at 23h59 UTC.
See the CfPs of all sections and working groups >
Conference themes
IAMCR conferences have a main conference theme that is explored from multiple perspectives throughout the conference in plenaries and other moments, including the programmes of the thematic sections and working groups. Additionally, each section and working group also defines some of its own themes, which are described in their individual calls for proposals. Proposals for contributions to the conference are submitted to the sections and working groups and may focus on an aspect of the main conference theme as it relates to the concerns of the section or working group, or address a theme identified by the section or working group.
Main theme – Inhabiting the planet: Challenges for media, communication and beyond
The main theme for IAMCR 2023 - Inhabiting the Planet: Challenges for Media, Communication and Beyond - is concerned with possibilities for rethinking communication research agendas in the post-pandemic world, which has seen dramatic shifts in the way we interact and understand our physical, social, cultural, political and material environments. IAMCR 2023 will ultimately address fundamental questions: What does it mean to be human in a digital world? What does it mean to build a common future? Interested participants are invited to reflect on those questions by focusing on one or more of identified interconnected sub-themes: Humanity and progress; Democracy; Media, information and communication; Cities and territories; Environmental accountability.
Consult a detailed description of the main theme and its sub-themes
As 2023 IAMCR will focus on the intersections of the global, national and local, addressing shifts and continuities in contexts, it will therefore address a core interest of the Global Media Policy Working Group. Since its inception over 20 years ago, the Working Group has explored the interplay between policies, policy actors, and governance processes between the local and the global. It has offered a space to analyse how these different levels influence each other; how a variety of actors interact within and across the local, national and global; how new norms and practices of regulation emerge; and how borders and boundaries are overcome, and re-established, in the shaping of communication governance.
The pandemic made it more urgent than ever for us to reimagine planetary life, with an accelerated pace of life coming to a tempered halt and the precarity of livelihood opportunities only getting accentuated. Even as post-pandemic realities emerge, we have continued to witness the undeterred push from Big Tech companies that implicate us in extractivist digital practices, the deepening of the gig economy and precarity of labour lives, and the continued consolidation of conservative forces. As these examples demonstrate, understanding the intersection of different levels - between the local and the global - and the interaction of different actors - state, business, civil society, citizens, and affected communities - is essential for understanding contemporary global communication governance.
The Global Media Policy Working Group invites papers that address, amongst else, the following questions:
- What shifts do we see in the making of policies for media and technology today, and how do they relate to the interplay between humanity and digital developments?
- How can communication governance and media policy contend with evolving realities of unequal power distribution, and hold spaces for dialogue and deliberation that draw on plural norms and practices?
- How can we reimagine the study and indeed the making of media and technology policies across the global-local spectrum, gaining a better and more nuanced understanding of intersections across-levels?
- How can we contribute to ushering in policies and practices of care and conviviality that extend to a more-than-human diverse, respectful, equal, peaceful world?
We invite papers that investigate these dynamics in the making and shaping of global communication and media policy, offer new empirical insights, theorise media policy and communication governance in this context; we also invite proposals that contribute to innovate ideas, approaches and/or methodology in addressing the global/local intersection.
Contributing to the conference: Lyon23 and OCP23
There will be two ways of joining IAMCR2023:
- If you are not able to or don’t want to join the face-to-face conference in Lyon but do want to submit an online-only paper, submit your abstract to OCP23 only. If accepted, you’ll later submit your full paper to the online platform, which will be open for discussion from 26 June to 5 July.
- If you do want to join the face-to-face event, submit your abstract to Lyon23 and OCP23. If accepted you’ll submit your paper to the online platform and present it at the face-to-face conference.
Guidelines for abstracts
Abstracts submitted to the Global Media Policy Working Group should have between 300 and 500 words and must be submitted online here. Abstracts submitted by email will not be accepted.
The deadline to submit abstracts is 9 February 2022 at 23h59 UTC.
Early submission is strongly encouraged.
The abstract should describe its main question or research problem; its significance; the theoretical framework; the research method; expected outcomes (or theoretical argument); and its relation with the specific topics addressed in this call.
Submitted abstracts will be evaluated on the basis of their:
- Theoretical and/or research contribution
- Originality and significance
- Sound methodology
- Quality of writing
- Relevance to the work of the Global Media Policy Working Group
It is expected that authors will submit only one (1) abstract. However, under no circumstances should an author submit more than two abstracts as a single author or as the lead author of a co-authored paper and no author will submit more than one abstract to the Global Media Policy Working Group. The same abstract or another version with minor variations in title or content must not be submitted to more than one section or working group. Any such submissions will be deemed to be in breach of the conference guidelines and will be rejected.
The Global Media Policy Working Group (GMP) may co-sponsor sessions with the Communication Policy & Technology Section (CPT).
Proposals are accepted for both single Papers and for Panels with several papers (in which you propose multiple papers that address a single theme). Proposals for panels can only be submitted to Lyon23 and OCP23. Panel submissions must include an abstract for each paper submitted here and a description & supplemental information submitted via this form on the conference website
If your abstract is accepted, you will need to submit your full conference paper (up to 8,000 words) to be published on the conference website.
See important dates and deadlines to keep in mind
Languages
The Global Media Policy Working Group accepts abstracts in English, Spanish, and French though an English translation (even a brief summary) of your abstract will be much appreciated.
For further information about the Global Media Policy Working Group, its themes, submissions, and panels please contact:
Arne Hintz (Co-Chair) hintza@cardiff.ac.uk
Claudia Padovani (Co-Chair) claudia.padovani@unipd.it
Sara Bannerman (Vice-Chair) banners@macmaster.ca
Preeti Raghunath (Vice-Chair) preetimalaraghunath@gmail.com