Mediatization: Digital Revolution and the Chinese Setting*
*Call for Papers*
The 2016 International Communication Association Post-Conference and
14th Chinese
Internet Research Conference (CIRC), with the theme of “Mediatization:
Digital Revolution and the Chinese Setting”, will be held on June 14 to 15,
2016, in the Journalism School of Fudan University.
*Theme and Content*
The convergence of digital technologies, including the Internet and mobile
media, has reconfigured communications and social relationships, resulting
in the dramatic transformation of Chinese society. This trend started
initially at a macro social level, reforming and recombining social
relationships, but has created a ripple effect with profound consequences,
changing people’s daily lives and bringing about mediatized lifestyles.
New media have changed every aspect of Chinese society. The Chinese
government has actively promoted its most recent technology campaigns in
new and traditional economic sectors, through slogans such as “Internet
thinking” and programs such as “Internet plus”. Digital media have become a
priority in China’s grand strategy and policymaking. Stimulated by such
forces, the further rise of new media and the deepening of social
transformation are foreseeable with tremendous consequences for China,
Asia, and the world.
From sociological and cultural studies perspectives, we understand media as
more than technologies or particular modes of organizing and/or presenting
content. They also constitute a vital social institution and space for
interactions. As media technologies and mediated communication embed
themselves deeper and deeper into people’s daily lives, and involve
themselves more with the holistic construction of a society and a culture,
the mediatization processes emerges. Mediatization not only re-structures
the past but also introduces a novel social form, instigating new social
cultural imagination in various aspects of modern life, in politics,
culture, religion, education, and other institutionalized social practices.
More than applying or testing the existing mediatization theories, this
conference is designed to re-construct mediatization theory. In China, the
latest development of digital technologies affords a unique real-life
setting. On one hand, as we look across the world, the social changes in
China brought by new media are some of the most rapid, drastic and thorough
around the globe. On the other hand, the digital revolution prevailing in
China has produced a lot of new aspects which present western theories have
not covered, where new critical facets of mediatization theory still wait
to be explored.
New media research rooted in Chinese experience presents precious
opportunities to broaden our conceptual scope and spur fresh theoretical
conversations. For instance, WeChat, a mobile application that has
attracted over 400 million active users, integrates mass communication,
Internet and interpersonal communication, while embedding itself deeply in
Chinese social networks. WeChat brings Chinese from all over the world
closer to each other and creates a unique mode of mediated communication.
Novel communication forms such as WeChat not only drive a new round of
digital transformation for traditional media, they also push governments,
businesses, academic institutions, civic and grassroots organizations to
create their own WeChat presence.
Exciting scenarios unfold in China’s new media contexts, where
mediatization involves much more than media organizations and the
communication processes they initiate. Personal and mobile communication
tools are equally important, if not more. So is the convergence of various
social processes and modes of communication. The communication practices
through new media constitute new ways of everyday life, new modes of being,
reconfiguring time-space.
We intend to enrich and expand the theoretical meaning of mediatization
theory, accentuate communication as mediating practices that connect humans
to the world, and thereby promote a new “communication turn” that enables
communication – including all acts of communication by all communicators–
rather than the exclusive category of media organizations to become the
cornerstone of Chinese society and humanity.
Therefore, we set the theme of this conference as: “Mediatization: Digital
revolution and the Chinese context”. We welcome submissions from different
theoretical and methodological traditions that address a wide range of
topics in various Chinese contexts including, but not limited to, the
following:
1) Mediatization: New media and the governance of Chinese society
2) Mediatization: New media and the convergence of news industry
3) Mediatization: New media and urban communication in China
4) Mediatization: New media, public opinion and discursive competition
5) Mediatization: New media and public communication
6) Mediatization: Global network and China’s interactions with the world
7) Mediatization: New media and everyday life
*Organizer*
Journalism School, Fudan University
Center for Information and Communication Studies, Fudan University
*Organizing Committee*
Minghua Yin, Professor and Dean, Journalism School of Fudan University
Wei Sun, Professor and Deputy Dean, Journalism School of Fudan University
Dan Huang, Professor and Director, Center for Information and Communication
Studies, Fudan University
Shuanglong Li, Associate Professor and Deputy Dean, Journalism School of
Fudan University
Baohua Zhou, Professor and Assistant Dean, Journalism School of Fudan
University
Jack Linchuan Qiu, Associate Professor of Chinese University of Hong Kong
and steering committee member, Chinese Internet Research Conference
*Venue*: Journalism School, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
*Time*: June 14 to June 15, 2016
*Language*: The official conference languages are English and Chinese
*Fees**: *There is no registration fee for this conference. The host will
sponsor participants’ meals and hotels during the conference. Participants
will cover their own travel costs.
*Best Student Paper Award**: *Following a CIRC tradition, Best Student
Paper Awards will be presented at the conference. To be eligible, all
authors of the paper must be students. Winning papers will be selected by
the CIRC steering committee.
*Abstract Submissions*
Scholars and graduate students of journalism and communication, humanities
and social sciences, computer science and other relevant disciplines are
welcome to submit a paper abstract (500 words in English or 1000 words in
Chinese) or panel proposal (1000 words in English or 2000 words in Chinese)
in Word format to ica2016@163.com. To facilitate the double-blind review
process, please write a separate cover sheet with the paper title and
author(s) information and omit the personal information in the abstracts
and proposals.
*Deadlines*
· Submission of abstracts: February 1st 2016
· Notification of acceptance: March 10th 2016
· Final paper submission: June 1st 2016
Mark Carrigan 