*CFP* "COMMUNICATION, CAPITALISM AND CRITIQUE: CRITICAL MEDIA SOCIOLOGY IN THE 21ST CENTURY", ESA RN18 MID-TERM CONFERENCE 2020

Communication, Capitalism and Critique: Critical Media Sociology in the 21st Century

ESA RN18 Mid-Term Conference 2020

Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy

10-12 September 2020

European Sociological Association (ESA) ‐ Research Network 18: Sociology of Communications and Media Research in cooperation with the:

• Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning 
• (DIST) of the Polytechnic University of Turin and the University of Turin 
• Italian National Sociological Association (AIS) – Section: Cultural 
• Processes and Institutions 
• Italian Scientific Society of Sociology, Culture, Communication (SISCC) 
• Antonio Gramsci Piedmont Institute Foundation

We live in times of deepening economic, political, social, ideological and ecological crises that are expressed in widespread precarious labour, the commodification of (almost) everything, the rise of new nationalism, populism and authoritarian forms of capitalism, and ecological destruction. The display of power and counter-power, domination and spaces of power struggles, and the commons and the commodification of the commons characterise modern society. Contradictions and antagonisms between the haves and the have-nots shape contemporary Europe and beyond. Media and communication are fields of conflict in this power struggle: they are power structures and sites of power struggles, able to support both the expansion and the commodification of the commons.

On reflection of the conference place, Turin was the city where Gramsci lived, was politically active and where he set up the weekly newspaper ‘L’Ordine Nuovo’ and acted as editor of the newspaper ‘Il Grido del Popolo’. Gramsci exerted influence on the study of culture and communication in society. ESA RN18’s mid-term conference in Turin is an occasion for media/communication/cultural sociologists to ask: What is the relevance of Gramsci and other approaches and thinkers inspired by Marx for the study of communication and society today?

ESA RN18 calls for contributions that shed new light on theoretical and analytical insights that help to shape critical media sociology in the 21st century, in particular, but not exclusively, addressed to any of the following:

1. Critical Media Sociology and Capitalism 
2. Critical Media Sociology and Critical Theory 
3. Critical Media Sociology and Critical Political Economy of Media, Information and Communication 
4. Critical Media Sociology, Gramsci and Hegemony 
5. Critical Media Sociology and Ideology Critique 
6. Critical Media Sociology and Cultural and Communication Labour 
7. Critical Media Sociology and Digital Labour 
8. Critical Media Sociology, New Nationalism and Authoritarianism 
9. Critical Media Sociology, Consumption and Production in Urban Processes 
10. Critical Media Sociology, Patriarchy and Gender 
11. Critical Media Sociology, Social Inequality, Identity and Subjectivities 
12. Critical Media Sociology, Ecology and Climate 
13. Critical Media Sociology, Democracy and the Public Sphere 
14. Critical Media Sociology and the Left 
15. Critical Media Sociology, the Commons and Alternatives

Abstract submission

Abstract submission deadline: 1 April 2020

Notification of selected abstracts: 15 May 2020

Conference dates: 10-12 September 2020

Abstracts should be sent to: Conference Organising Committee, rn18esasubmission@gmail.com

Abstracts should be sent as an e-mail attachment (400-600 words including title, author name(s), email address(es), and institutional affiliation(s)). Please insert the words “ESA RN18 Submission” in the subject. Although we do not provide a template for the abstract submission, we expect abstracts that include a rationale, research question(s), theoretical and/or empirical methods applied, and potential results and implications. Each abstract will be independently reviewed by two members of the ESA RN18 Board based on the call for papers.

Conference fees

• 90 Euro for ESA RN18 members / 110 Euro for non ESA RN18 members (conference dinner included) 
• 60 Euro for ESA RN18 members / 80 Euro for non ESA RN18 members (without conference dinner) 
• 25 Euro for students (Bachelor and Master) (without conference dinner) / 
• 55 Euro (conference dinner included)

The registration details, including the registration form, will be available on the conference website in spring 2020.

You can become a member of ESA RN18 by joining the ESA and subscribing to the network. The network needs material support, so we encourage you to join or renew your membership. The network subscription fee is only 10 Euro.

Participation support for 4 PhD students and/or independent researchers will be available. This will not cover all costs, but part of them (accommodation and full conference fee). Preference will be given to presentations that suit the overall conference topic.

If you want to apply for participation support, please send an extended abstract (600 - 800 words), biographical information (up to 250 words) and indicate this in your abstract submission by adding the sentence ‘I want to apply for participation support for PhD students / independent researchers’.

The notifications about participation support will be sent out together with the notifications of acceptance or rejection of presentations. Additional information to prove your position as a PhD student or independent researcher will be requested.

Conference venue

The conference will be hosted by the Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning. The Department is located at the Castello del Valentino, Viale Mattioli 39, 10125 Turin, Italy (see: ).