*CFP* "BEYOND THE ECHO CHAMBER – THE TACTICAL USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS", SPECIAL ISSUE, SOUTH ATLANTIC QUARTERLY

We invite proposals for essay submissions for a thematic issue of South Atlantic Quarterly focusing on the tactical and political uses of social media in struggles for radical social change. In this issue, we want to push past the well-worn tropes of the network and the echo chamber to consider how a range of social movements are making use of social media platforms in their social change efforts and with what consequences. Outside of their role as platforms for networked communication, recent scholarship has identified the important role played by social media as “discourse laboratories” and sites for collective identity construction. Social media platforms have become central tools and contested terrains not just for social justice movements but for those of the far Right as well. While much attention has been focused on the way that movements for social justice have deployed social media as a key tool for communication and mobilization, we also want to consider the ways that movements of the reactionary and radical Right make use of this digital infrastructure.

This issue will consist of contributions examining movements across the political spectrum and their use of social media in the context of their tactical repertoires and the political goals they seek to achieve. Beyond questions of communication, coordination, and mobilization, how are contemporary movements entering into these digital ecologies and how are they being affected by them? This timely collection aspires to contribute to the critical conversation about movements, social justice, free speech, and digital communicative infrastructure at a moment of surging activity across all these registers.

We invite prospective contributors to send via email a title, abstract (300 words maximum), and brief author note (150 words maximum) in a single Word file to issue editors Alex Khasnabish (Alex.khasnabish@msvu.ca) and Rhon Teruelle (rteruell@pnw.edu) by July 1, 2021. We particularly invite contributions from members of oppressed and marginalized communities and those whose scholarship focuses on under studied movement and struggles. Inquiries can be directed to the issue editors at the emails above.