*CFP* "CHINA, MEDIA AND INTERNATIONAL CONFLICTS", EDITED VOLUME

This edited volume aims to contribute to the studies of complex, fluid and dynamic media-conflict relationship through the lens of China. Studies of mediatized conflict in the digital age is still very much a Eurocentric research area, which requires to be de-Westernized. As McQuail (2006) claims, ‘Western “communication science” does not offer any clear framework for collecting and interpreting observations and information about contemporary war situations’ and has ‘largely neglected were the colonial wars of post-Second World War and the many bitter conflicts that did not directly impinge on western interests or responsibilities’. In a sense, McQuail’s statement still stands today. The existing researches in media and conflict are mostly confined to the Western democracies and interests.

With China showing growing and controversial power and influence on the world’s stage, on the one hand, the East Asian power faces its own security issues due to crises in the Asia-Pacific region that have escalated and intensified such as Sino-Indian border crisis, South China Sea disputes, North Korea nuclear crisis and the Senkaku/Diaoyu-islands disputes. On the other hand, China as one of the five permanent members in the UN Security Council has more and more involvement and interests in the seemingly isolated international conflicts such as Afghanistan war, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Libyan and Syrian crisis.

The media and conflict studies are multi-leveled and multi-faceted. Thus, we invite scholars to explore and study media-conflict relationship either from the view of China or conduct comparative analysis between China and other nation-states. Here media can be mass media (TV, films, newspapers, magazines, posters, etc.), digital and/or social media at local, national, regional or global levels. International conflicts include but not limited to Sino-Indian border crisis, South China Sea disputes, North Korea nuclear crisis, the Senkaku-Diaoyu islands disputes, Afghanistan war, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Libyan and Syrian crisis.

The proposed chapters can be either theoretical, empirical or comparative work. Authors are welcome to explore and address the following questions and go beyond.

1. What roles do media (both traditional and new media) play in the conflicts that directly or indirectly involve China? 
2. What is the media-conflict relationship in China and in the Asia-Pacific region more broadly? 
3. How is China represented in the media and what is the image and the role of China in the international conflicts? 
4. What are the changes and continuity of media representation of China in the international conflicts? 
5. Do Chinese media practice peace or war journalism? How? 
6. How are international conflicts mediated in China within its particular historical and cultural contexts? 
7. How do the local, national and global audience receive and perceive China’s role in international conflicts? 
8. What are the impacts of information and communication technology (ICT) on the media-conflict relationship in China?

 

Please send your abstracts (max. 300 words) by 1 February 2021 to Shixin Zhang (Shixin.zhang@nottingham.edu.cn) and Altman Peng (altman.peng@ncl.ac.uk).