Call for Papers
As the thriving conduit of contemporary socialities, ‘New media’ has etched itself firmly as a potent and mesmerizing force. Almost as if it were a sorcerer, new media has also called into being its very own publics – publics that exist virtually in constant response to the unbound mediatic stimulus, but yet remain materially embedded in the larger structural categories and power hierarchies that shape social dynamics. While the term ‘new media’ continues to invite commentary and dialogue, its reality and purchase cannot be denied. In Postcolonial (and neoliberal) countries like India, the place, and effects of media, both new and ‘old’ become even more distinct. Does new media deepen democracy? Does it offer space to challenge and even overcome the barriers of caste? Are new visibilities emergent on the precarities faced by India’s marginalized communities – women, tribal groups, religious minorities, Dalits, migrant and informal sector workers? How inclusive is the horizon of new media? In what ways does it re-inscribe inequality and social prejudice? On the other hand, how has new media offered emancipatory avenues for self-expression and networking?We also need to ask whether new media, particularly social media, can or should function as an alternative or supplement to the larger, structural form of “old” media. One of the important features of the new media is its capacity to remove the demarcation between the producer and the consumer. Does the absence of gatekeepers situate new media as a significant tool of the public sphere for the emancipation of the marginalized, oppressed, ignored or invisibilized or does it make the new media just another unregulated tool for wielding power? Perhaps another debate around new media or Web 2.0A could be concerning its biological interventionist nature. The overwhelming provocation rising before us today is the need/inclination/lack of tools to separate the virtual from the physical. In the middle of political fantasies of total digitalization in developing economies to converting these available technological resources into propagandist and surveillance machines, we are continuously in the throes of ever-evolving algorithms devising, designing, dictating a future for us. Is the paranoid desire to elude digital policing infrastructures the new definition of human beings? Will there be a widespread digital dystopia before we arrive at the Sixth Mass Extinction? How do we find ways to dissociate ourselves from the concreteness of these digitally charged symbiotic relationships? The conference offers a platform for exploring, debating and reflecting on the social challenges thrown up by the digital and technological prowess of new media. We invite proposals that engage these questions and offer stimulating readings of our present from diverse vantage points.
- New and ‘Old’ Media: Negotiations and Mediations
- Representation and New Media.
- Press and New Media.
- Censorship and New Media
- Digital Activism and New Media
- Democracy, Expression and New Media
- Games, Simulation Design and New Media
- Political Campaigns and New Media
- Posthumanism and New Media
- Gender and New Media
- Ontologies of New Media
- Public Health and New Media
- Entrepreneurship and New Media
- Ethics, Morality and New Media
Guidelines for abstract and paper submission • Abstracts within 500 words and a brief bio-note should be sent to newmediapublic24@gmail.com by February 5th, 2024.
Selected papers will be published in an edited volume of a reputed publishing house. Registration Fee Details:
- Faculty Members: INR 1000
- Research Scholars: INR 750
- UG/PG Students: INR 500
Travel allowance and accommodation will be provided by the organizers
Important Dates:
- Deadline for abstract submission: February 12, 2024
- Intimation of Acceptance: February 20, 2024
- Last date for Payment of the Registration Fee for Selected Abstracts: March 5, 2024.
Dr. Asijit Datta
Dr. Sapna Mishra
Dr. Partha Bhattacharjee
