CfP: IAMCR 2012, Durban 15-19 July 2012

The International Association for Media and Communication Research, IAMCR, invites submissions of abstracts for papers and panel proposals for its conference to be held 15-19 July 2012 in Durban, South Africa.

Deadline for submissions is 14 February 2012.

The conference will be held under the general theme, ‘South-North Conversations’. The theme reflects the asymmetry of global communication flows, but without implying the negatives that usually accompany discussions of the ‘digital divide’. The theme also calls for balanced and empowering narratives that do not regard those in ‘the South’ as victims primarily in need of handouts from the more affluent.

The term ‘Global South’ refers to countries, territories and communities that have been excluded from the mainstream of economic, social and communication development. In much of the discourse around global geo-politics, these countries and communities are still regarded as the recipients of economic and technical largesse from more developed sources. In this conference, we wish to interrogate this position, and to emphasise the communicative empowerment and the positive potential of media and communication in and from the ‘Global South’.

For more information see the conference site or the full call for papers.