*CFP* "PSA AT 70: RE-IMAGINING POLITICS", 70TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE POLITICAL STUDIES ASSOCIATION

Political Studies Association, 70th Annual International Conference

6 - 8 April 2020, Edinburgh International Convention Centre and Sheraton

Grand Hotel & Spa, Edinburgh, #PSA20

The PSA Media and Politics Group invites members to submit paper abstracts or panel proposals for the PSA Media and Politics stream at the PSA Annual International Conference 2020.

Papers may be related to the conference theme, Re-imagining Politics, but other topics from across the disciplinary and methodological traditions are also welcomed.

Please submit abstracts (max. 300 words) and panel proposals by email to James Dennis: James.Dennis@port.ac.uk by Monday 7 October (please note that this is an earlier deadline than the direct individual submission to the PSA). We also welcome emails earlier than this date to ask for our advice on potential panel proposals.

On all submissions, please include an email address for the corresponding and the institutional affiliation. Please also indicate if you are a postgraduate student.

If you wish to propose a panel, please note for following stipulations from the organising committee:

Panel proposals should include a panel overview (max. 300 words), outlining the title, synopsis, and chair details.

Panels usually consist of three to four papers and a chair. A discussant is optional.

Panels should aim to reflect the diversity of the profession, and all-male panels will not be considered.

Paper-givers are required to register and physically attend the conference and only in exceptional circumstances will this be waived, such as for health- or mobility-related issues.

Theme and further details:

PSA at 70: Re-imagining politics

As the PSA turns 70, politics faces multiple uncertainties. The international liberal order is being challenged by new security threats and domestic nationalist resurgences. The nation-state has lost its normative supremacy, facing authority claims from above and below. Established party systems are disintegrating as trust in representative democracy diminishes. Confronted with a climate emergency, traditional policies of growth and consumption are under increased scrutiny. Ours is also a time of democratic institutional innovation, path-breaking constitutional experiments and vibrant bottom-up practices of inclusive decision-making.

Against this backdrop of change, falling back on well-tested theories and practices seems less and less productive. Radical and accelerating transformations call for new ways of understanding, explaining and intervening in the political world.

PSA's 70th anniversary provides us with a double opportunity: to take stock of these transformations and to re-imagine both the study and practice of politics. Revamping concepts and methodological tools can help us to grapple with multi-layered, highly complex and dynamic political processes. Held in the Scottish capital, itself a site of democratic innovation and mobilisation, the 2020 meeting of the PSA aims to provide a propitious arena for kickstarting processes of re-imagining politics.

While the main theme of this conference is Re-Imagining Politics, the Media & Politics Group operates an open and inclusive policy, and empirical, theoretical, and practice-based research dealing with any aspect of media and politics is welcomed. This may include areas of political communication and journalism, but also includes a broader view of the political within such areas as online media, television, cinema and media arts, both factual and fictional.

Possible areas include:

• How have our understandings of media and politics been changed by recent political and economic crises? 
• How useful are seminal theories for understanding contemporary political communication? 
• The methodological challenges of researching media and politics in a changing environment 
• The role of affect, emotion, and authenticity within political communication 
• Disinformation, misinformation and threats to democratic health 
• The opportunities and challenges of digital campaigning 
• The media's changing role in political communication practices and/or public diplomacy 
• Datafication and challenges to democracy 
• The rise of alternative political media and changing public attitudes towards mainstream media 
• The media's role in reporting terrorism 
• Identifying discourses of authoritarianism/populism/racism 
• Regulation possibilities for social media platforms 
• Climate change and the media 
• Activism, social movements and the media 
• The power of political satire, cartoons and memes 
• The politics of representation across media genres 
• The role of political communication scholars in a changing world 
• Media, communication and inequality 
• Political fandom and re-imagining citizen engagement

Information on registration fees and conference location.

Information on the PSA Media and Politics Group and details on how to join.

Follow the PSA Media and Politics Group on Twitter.

PSAMPG Convenors Dr Jen Birks (University of Nottingham), Professor Alec Charles (University of Winchester), Dr James Dennis (University of Portsmouth), Dr Emily Harmer (University of Liverpool), Dr Katy Parry (University of Leeds)