Call for Chapter: International Political Communication edited volume

The impact and significance of global political communication has become unavoidable over the last decade as the war on terrorism played out on the international mass media. Much of the research in this area has been driven by data derived from western and developed countries. It is quite plausible that as the political, economic, and cultural milieu of a nation changes, the form of political communication that is possible there also changes. Considering the growing impact of new communication technology and globalization of media, it is very important for the field to begin looking at the ways in which political communication is divergent as well as comparable in different countries. This edited book will examine the interaction of media and politics in diverse countries by drawing on global scholarship in political communication.

We are soliciting chapters from scholars studying specific regions and countries. The chapters will be designed as case studies that detail the way politics is communicated and talked about through the media in these territories. Authors are asked to focus particularly on theoretical analysis as well as an assessment of the impact of communication technology advances and their impact on traditional modes of communication. One clear example of the change wrought by new technologies has occurred throughout the Middle East. In the case of the Arab Spring, the traditional models of top down communication were largely superseded by the mass use of the internet and cell phones. Furthermore, the effect was heightened by a strong element of cross-fertilization of ideas across the region which was facilitated both through the internet as well as Arabic language mass media. The influence of regional, common-language mass media in these protests was also an indication of the increasing influence of regional content providers as opposed to the traditional impact of English language transnational media.

The juxtaposition of these case studies sets the stage for learning from the way culture, history and media interact to create the particular manifestations of political communication in countries around the world. In addition, the volume is designed to examine the application and validity of popular media theories across different cultural and media contexts. In this case, the emphasis placed on theoretical analysis in the case studies will illuminate the way in which a theory that was created in a Western context can be applied and/or extended through its use in understanding an Asian or African location. In addition, readers would be introduced to theory being constructed in other regions of the world.

If interested, please submit an abstract (500 words) and CV by June 30, 2012. Completed chapters of 4000 – 5000 words will need to be submitted by September 30, 2012.

Please send all abstracts and inquiries to Saman Talib at samantalib1@hotmail.com