Call for Papers ‘Social Media and Democratic Discourse’ National Seminar

Call for Papers
National Seminar
on
‘Social Media and Democratic Discourse’
(30 – 31 October, 2014)
EFL University, Shillong Campus
organized by
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
in partnership with UNICEF Assam
Call for Papers:
Communication is seen as a fundamental social process, a basic human need, and the
foundation of all social organization. It is central to the Information Society. Everyone everywhere should have the opportunity to participate and no one should be
excluded from the benefits offered by the Information Society (Declaration of
Principles Building the Information Society, 2003).
Since the 1970’s, the contemporary world has been experiencing the Digital
Revolution, the change from mechanical and electronic technologies to high tech,
digital technologies. Central to this revolution is mass production and the widespread
use of digital logic circuits and its derived technologies, including: computers, digital
cellular phones, fax machines, and other devices. The use of computers and the
Internet is rapidly transforming societal interactions and the relationships among
citizens, private businesses, and the Government.
The Information Age brought about significant changes not only in how people
communicate with each other, but also to the broad political landscape. In the new
wired world, collections of widely scattered individuals with a common interest or a
shared concern about a specific social issue quickly form and make their collective
voice heard. Such communication could not have existed only a few years ago.
Politicians and political parties are using new information and communications
technologies to an unprecedented degree, as are citizens, with potentially profound
impacts on democracy and representative institutions.
Informed discourse is central to democratic government. Theories of deliberative
democracy posit that informed argument and rhetoric will lead to rational decision
making Alternatively, some ―social choice‖ theorists suggest that such unfettered
discourse is often a source of disequilibrium and may, in the end, result in confused
and chaotic decision making and irrational outcomes.
Social Networking Sites such as Facebook and MySpace are very new and little
research is available on their use in democratic discourse. Political candidates have
populated these social sites in earnest and utilize these sites for collecting funds,
disseminating messages, creating groups, and initiating collective activities. Many
researchers have focused on the creation and maintenance of ―social capital‖ in social
networking environments and have noted that social networks tend to be hemophilic.
New technologies are often greeted with political optimism. The Internet was thought
to herald new possibilities for political participation, if not direct democracy, even in
large and complex societies, as ―electronic democracy‖ might replace the mass-media
democracy of sound-byte television. However, the high hopes for electronic
democracy seem to have faded, as critics such as Cass R. Sunstein and Andrew
Shapiro have come to argue that central features of the Internet and computermediated communication generally undermine the sort of public sphere and political
interaction that are required for genuine democratic deliberation. Whatever the
empirical merits of such criticisms, they do point to and as yet unclarified problem in
discussions of electronic democracy: we still lack a clear understanding of how the
Internet and other forms of electronic communication might contribute to a
historically new kind of public sphere and thus to a potentially new form of
democracy.
The democratic potential of the Internet cannot be satisfied by listing its positive or
intrinsic features—for example, its speed, its scale, its ―anarchic‖ nature, its ability to
facilitate resistance to centralized control as a network of networks, and so on. The
same is true for its negative effects or consequences, such as its well-known
disaggregative character or its anonymity.
The seminar will seek to pose pertinent issues related to Social media and the
democratic discourse. This potential transformation of democratic institutions shows
the fruitfulness of thinking about cyberspace in political terms that are related to the
sort of publicness that it generates. On the other hand, such a potential public sphere
can be secured only through innovative institutions.
The Call for papers will provide a scope to raise the issue of Social media and
Democratic Discourse through active participation at the seminar and
submissions of thematic papers.
The thematic rubric of the seminar is as mentioned below:
1. Social media and performing democracy.
2. Digital Democracy and its Challenges.
3. Social Media and Representation.
4. Civil Society and Social Media: Conflicts and Contestations.
5. Civil Society and Social Marginality: Voices of the disenfranchised.
6. Social Media, Civil Society and Child Rights.
7. Social Media, Civil Society and Public Sphere: Concerns of Gender.
The abstract for the presentation should not exceed 250 words. Kindly give at least 3
keywords for your abstract in an alphabetical format. Along with the abstract kindly
send your Name, Designation, Institutional affiliation, Office address, email id and
phone number.
The language of the seminar will primarily be in English and participants are
welcome from disciplines such as Journalism, Social Science and Humanities
background.
Academicians, Faculty members, media practitioners, social media professionals,
interested research scholars and post graduate students are encouraged to participate
and send their abstracts on or before 21 September, 2014 to chime.jmc@eflushc.ac.in
(Please give the subject as Abstract for CHIME 2014 National Seminar)
There is no registration fee for the National Seminar. Selected paper presenters will
be provided with a fixed amount of travelling allowances and twin sharing
accommodation during the seminar.
The Communication In charge of the seminar will communicate with you during the
entire process of this national seminar through email and telephone.
Important Dates:
1. Last Date for Abstract submission: 21 September, 2014 (Sunday)
2. Acceptance notification of shortlisted abstract: 26 September, 2014 (Friday)
3. Last date for registration and confirmation for participation: 10 October, 2014
(Friday)
4. Full Paper Submission of the selected abstract: 25 October, 2014 (Friday)
5. Seminar Commences: 30 – 31 October, 2014
Coordinator:
Mr. Alankar Kaushik
alankar@eflushc.ac.in
Hello me @ +91-9612951275
Assistant Coordinator:
Mr. Abir Suchiang (abir@eflushc.ac.in)
Associate Coordinators:
Dr. Caroline Wahlang (caroline@eflushc.ac.in)
Ms Santidora Nongpluh ( nongpluh@eflushc.ac.in)