Nationalist, populist, sectarian, and schismatic pressures have appeared world-wide since the era of “high globalization” which characterized capitalism in the 1990s and 2000s. China, Russia, India, Brazil, and the UK are powerful states all making new claims on self-determination, independence, and geopolitical influence. Meanwhile, the political fracturing of old national alliances have also accompanied the new geopolitics, with consequences for popular communication and media industries. Taken together, do these transformations mark the beginning of the end of the global?

Media globalization topics of traditional concern to Global Fusion are welcome. We are especially interested in receiving proposals for papers and panels on the following subjects: populism and global media, international popular communication, global media and pandemics, journalism under conditions of authoritarianism, social media and authoritarianism, cyber-terrorism, journalism and social inequality, development communication, media and trade policy, mediated race and ethnicity, and communication rights. We welcome submissions from all theoretical and methodological approaches.

Abstracts of 250 words for conference papers are due on August 15, 2021. Graduate competition papers must full-length and be submitted by September 1, 2021. Email submissions in MS Word to globalfusion2021@tamu.edu. Please put either “abstract submission” or “graduate competition” in your email’s subject header.

This conference will be conducted online over the weekend of October 29-31, 2021.

About the conference: Global Fusion is a 21-year-old, continually held conference consortium of global media researchers from Ohio University, Southern Illinois University, Temple University, Texas A&M University, the University of Texas, and the University of Virginia. Traditionally, it has provided a scholarly forum for graduate students in media and communication studies to present or co-present research, often together with their academic advisors. The conference also welcomes participation from junior and senior scholars from communication fields.

Facebook page for Global Fusion 2021

“Popular Communication in Lockdown: Production, Distribution and Reception in the Age of COVID19”

Call for Papers for a Special Issue of Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture.

Papers addressing the impact of COVID-19 on the production, distribution, exhibition and/or consumption of popular communication (from a variety of methodological and theoretical perspectives) are welcome. And, research on countries and regions traditionally overlooked by academic publications are especially welcome.

Guest Editors for the special issue will invite full-length papers (not to exceed 7,000 words) for peer-review.

Deadlines

Submission of Extended Abstracts: 15 March, 2021 (1,000 words)

Notification of Decision: 15 April, 2021

Submission of final drafts: 1 September, 2021

Anticipated publication date: January 2022

Special Issue Editors

Christian Christensen (Stockholm University, Sweden)

Patrick Burkart (Texas A&M University, USA)

The COVID19 pandemic has altered the production, exhibition and consumption of varying forms of media, and varying forms of popular communication. From TikTok and “Netflix binging” while in lockdown, to the re-discovery of drive-in movies, to socially-distanced comedy programming such as Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show, to the re-imagination of political communication in the form of the 2020 Democratic and Republican national conventions in the U.S., COVID19 has forced niche and mass communication to handle a reduction of mobility. For example, the rise of Streaming Video on Demand has led to a shift in the traditional “windowing strategies” utilized by the television industry, and advertisers are spending more on off-cable platforms like Netflix, TikTok, and Spotify. The double shocks to public health and the world economy have occurred as restrictions on cinemas, live concerts, sports games, theater and other live, in-person events have positioned subscription television and social media apps favorably for reaching large audiences. Meanwhile, “captive” consumers stuck at home present a new source of demand for increasingly scarce audio-visual productions, many of which have been halted.

Please send abstracts to popularcommunication@tamu.edu and please cc: Christian Christensen (christian.christensen@ims.su.se) .