Call for Book Chapters
Topic: Accented Blogging: Reconceptualizing the role of blogs in an international context
Book edited by: Adrienne Russell (American University in Paris/USC Annenberg Center for Communication) and Nabil Echchaibi (University of Louisville)
The proliferation of the American blogging model around the world, with its norms, practices and modes of operation, represents to many the liberating potential of a new cultural product, created and distributed globally through digital tools and networks. Others, however, might see the phenomenon as a contemporary example of media imperialism. The upsurge of blogging worldwide presents an opportunity to understand the development of network culture and technology, in particular, the ways context is shaping the act and content of blogging and the varying aims and effectiveness of bloggers around the world. The editors of this book are seeking articles that explore the political, social, cultural, and technological contexts under which bloggers operate in various international settings. Preference will be given to contributions that offer an empirical and theoretical examination of one or more of the following themes:
- The usefulness and limitations of American-exported media activist tools and practices and their applicability in different local and national contexts;
- Media hegemony as it relates to one-way transfers of new media technology, even when the technology appears in the form of tools of resistance;
- The impact of the blogosphere on nationalism;
The roles the blogosphere plays in developing and sustaining transnational networks and diasporic communities; - The role of blogging in creating an effective public sphere and enhancing civic responsibility and activism;
- The impact of blogging on traditional political institutions and its ability to challenge conventional political legitimacy;
- The relationship between traditional mainstream media and the blogosphere.
Submissions that address other aspects of blogging from an international perspective will be considered.
Prospective contributors are invited to submit proposals by 31 January 2007. Proposals should include the following:
- 800 word abstract
- List of key references
- 150 word bio of each author
- List of any relevant articles published
Please send inquiries or submit material electronically (Word attachment) to the editors at: arussell@annenberg.edu and n0echc01@louisville.edu
