Information

NEWS OF POTENTIAL INTEREST

Ethnicity, Race and Nationalism in European Media: Rights, Responsibilities, Representations
International Conference
23-25 May 2013
the U of Manchester, UK

Update: Following our recent call for papers, we are pleased to report that we now have an extensive and exciting conference programme in place, including 5 excellent keynote speakers.

For full details: http://www.russtvethnic.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/events/documents/Conferenceprogramme.pdf

We can still accommodate a limited number of extra papers. If you are interested, please email your proposals (250 words) for papers of up to 20 minutes in length and your one-page CVs to the conference organisers (Prof Stephen Hutchings, Prof Vera Tolz and Dr. Elisabeth Schimpfossl) at RRRMediaConference@manchester.ac.uk.

Conference Theme

The recent explosion of migration flows across the world, the crisis in which established models of multiculturalism find themselves in Europe and elsewhere, and the current global financial and economic crisis have combined to raise the prominence of issues of ethnicity, race and nationalism in most countries. Speeches made in 2011 by Angela Merkel and David Cameron, and controversies over the expulsion of gypsies and the wearing of religious attire in public places in France, indicate a common crisis in European tolerance. Eastern Europe demonstrates similar difficulties in managing ethnic diversity in the face of global mass population movements, of which the shocking outbreak of racial violence in Moscow in 2010 is just one example.

The European media play a crucial role both in exacerbating the tensions which inter-ethnic relations arouse (the spread of racial hate language and nationalist extremism on the internet; the use of ethnic profiling and racial stereotyping in crime reporting), and in fostering inter-ethnic cohesion and harmony (national policies on promoting diversity and equality in broadcasting). This conference aims to facilitate a cross-cultural, comparative study of the impact of media and film on the playing out of the “crisis of multiculturalism” in West and East European societies, and to analyse the similarities and differences in media and cinematic approaches to ethnic cohesion issues throughout Europe.

Key Notes

• John Downing: Reflections on racisms, ethnicities and media in a brand-new post-racist Europe?

John Downing is Professor Emeritus at the Department of Radio-Television, Southern Illinois University, USA. One of the preeminent scholars in media studies, Prof. Downing is co-author with Charles Husband of the highly influential Representing Race: Racism, Ethnicity and the Media (London: Sage, 2005). He has also worked on alternative and social media, and on the media in post-communist societies.

• Marie Gillespie: Comedy and ethnicity in European media and film Marie Gillespie is Professor in Sociology, The Open University, UK.

Author of pioneering books on ethnicity and television, media and diaspora communities, transnational audiences, and media and the politics of security, Professor Gillespie is Director of media research at the ESRC Centre for Research on Socio-cultural change.

• Henri Nickels: Combating racism, xenophobia and related intolerances – The roles and responsibilities of the European Union Dr. Nickels is Programme Manager for Research (Social Science) at the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in Vienna. Dr. Nickels analyses racism and xenophobia, combining research and policy work. He has published on media coverage of ethnic minorities in European societies.

• Sabrina P. Ramet: Solving the mystery of ethnic history: remembering the Yugoslav past?

Sabrina P. Ramet is Professor of Political Science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway. Prof. Ramet is the author of twelve books and numerous articles on the history and current developments in the Balkans, where among other things she explores the role of ethnic relations and nationalist ideologies in the region.

• Richard Stone OBE.: Media in the United Kingdom: The difficulties in challenging racism in a liberal democracy Dr. Stone was a panel member of the 'Stephen Lawrence Inquiry' into racism in policing (1997/99) as Adviser to the judge Sir William Macpherson. He is currently writing a book called 'Hidden stories of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry - how the agenda of a major Inquiry gets undermined'.

The conference will address questions such as:

* In what senses are various types of media, including those reliant on new communication technologies, aggravating inter-ethnic tensions in Europe?

* How serious a threat to social cohesion in European societies are extremist websites, blogs and other new media forms of global and national provenance?

* Are ethnic and racial minorities accorded appropriate rights to representation in national broadcasting systems?

* To what extent are representations of ethnicity, race and nationhood, and the coverage of issues pertaining to ethnic cohesion,dependent on national context?

* What are the conceptual frames to which journalists and film-makers in various European societies resort when covering this area and what are their origins and consequences?

* How are European broadcasters with national responsibility dealing with the rise of the anti-immigration, Islamophobic right on one hand, and with the loss of faith in official multicultural policies on the other?

* What role does non-news broadcasting (drama serials; documentary programming; situation comedy; light entertainment genres) play in the representational process?

* How have cinematic imaginations of national and European identity refracted the shifting consensus on values of ethnic diversity?

It is intended that selected papers from the conference will form the basis for special issues of one or more prominent journals in the field.

We already have an initial agreement with Europe-Asia Studies.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Please visit ERIC's website for more news and information on news relating to ERIC's research agenda and career development.