[Cadaad] DN25 - 25th DiscourseNet Conference - From #DigitalRevolution to the #NewSilkRoad - Commlist post

Sun Apr 12 14:12:12 UTC 2020

25th DiscourseNet Conference on Global Dispositives
>From #DigitalRevolution to the #NewSilkRoad
12-15.11.2020
University of Tyumen
https://discourseanalysis.net/en/DN25

25th DiscourseNet Conference on Global Dispositives (#DN25, November 12-15
2020) deals with the processes of social change that are discursively
driven and supported by technological infrastructures and new cultural,
economic and political relations. In the context of globalization, they
affect transformations in all social domains  – from economy to culture,
including media and education, (digital) technology, industry and
environment, politics and governance.

Global Dispositives can be recognised in popular examples of social change.
First of all, the global political and economic projects, i.e. the
discourses evolving around the Belt and Road Initiative, new
infrastructural development of the Arctic region, Eurasian Economic Union
but also on small-scale and in semi-official or informal organisations such
as the Three Seas Initiative, Visegrad Group or countries within the
mini-Schengen integration project. Secondly, global dispositives can be
tied to discourses of technology, security and warfare. Examples are not
only projects such as the Internet itself (or rather the entire World Wide
Web), but also discourses bound up to its structural changes like the
implementation of 5G internet technology, balkanization of the internet,
various concepts of IoT or surveillance etc. And finally, the discourses
tied to the consequences of various kinds of transitions such as the
transforming regulations of global migration (based on causes such as war
or environment), an emerging post-liberal global trade system based on
nationalism(s), global political upheavals and new struggles over
postnational identities (especially among youth cultures). The DN25 on
Global Dispositifs aims to attract researchers who explore (inter)cultural,
economic, technological and political processes of global change on various
levels, from a range of disciplinary perspectives in the broad field of
discourse studies.

Hosted by the Cultural Trends Lab, situated at the Institute of Social
Sciences and Humanities (University of Tyumen, Siberia, Russia) and
organised in cooperation with China Media Observatory (Università della
Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland) and the School of Government and
Public Affairs (Chinese University of Communication, Beijing, China), this
conference endeavors to devote special attention to Belt and Road
Initiative as a unique example of a global dispositive. The launch of the
Belt Road Initiative (BRI, previously known as One Belt, One Road) in 2013,
promised new imaginaries of a multipolar world and an alternative model of
globalisation. It came into play in the form of cross-country mega
infrastructure projects, new regulating mechanisms and bilateral
agreements. These material infrastructures, together with their legal,
political and economic dimensions, cultural and educational
interconnections, and new media and telecommunication standards represent a
chain of social ensembles which create completely new setting. However,
integrating processes often ensue discursive struggles and conflicting
narratives regarding a number of social changes in important fields such as
economy and trade, progress and technology, geopolitical cooperation and
competition, domestic and foreign culture, political and national systems.
Although some aspects of it have been investigated in specific disciplines
such as political economy, media and communication, anthropology,
linguistics, human geography, area and (inter)cultural studies, the
dialogue across these disciplines rarely takes place. Therefore, there is a
strong need for BRI and other global dispositives to be mapped and
described from the perspective of social sciences and humanities. One of
the aims of this conference would be to develop on theoretical and
methodological interdisciplinary approaches which will help grasp some of
the issues of global dispositives. Furthermore, we want to reflect on media
discourses dealing with BRI as an alternative globalisation model.
Critical, affirmative and neutral perspectives should be discussed in both
national and regional contexts. The perspectives take place in the broad
spectrum from imaginaries to strategies or political doctrines. The
question about the representation and positioning is of course connected to
the interests of the various actors within the discourses which correspond
and define respective dispositifs.

In the context of forces which drive the global cultural scene, this
conference wants to consider the role of the in-between regions or rather
those regions outside the global centres in the contemporary culture.
Within the scope of the Cultural Trends Lab’s central project ‘Elsewhere’
(which concentrates on mapping digital streams of culture emerging both
autonomously from and partly depending on the models of the centres), this
conference is interested in all those contributions discussing,
investigating and researching the digital forms of culture and sociality
preferably outside the global centres. The idea of culture in transit
regions as an element of both the New Silk Road or Arctic region is
indivisible from the discussion about the existing and new
telecommunication infrastructures and data flows. However, new cultural and
social practices of digital and non-digital domains (or the actors that
will shape such practices) continue to merit the discussion.

We welcome all contributions that investigate phenomena tied to the digital
transformation, people’s cultural understandings of global
political-economic imaginaries (such as the BRI) by utilising the
conceptual and analytical toolkits of discourse studies, e.g. power,
subjectivity, critique, identity, context, language use etc. As the field
of discourse studies are inherently interdisciplinary, we invite authors
from disciplines as varied as media and communication studies, sociology,
linguistics, anthropology, ethnography, cultural and political studies or
law. Furthermore, we also invite guests outside of academia, such as
activists, NGO and public intellectual scene representatives, to contribute
to our topics. Likewise, we seek to provide a forum for discussing
methodological and theoretical questions.

Covid19 disclaimer

We are well aware of the Covid19-pandemic. However, we hope and believe
that by mid November the danger will be over. Also, we do not want to stop
'doing science'. In case of a different, unwanted, development, we will be
able to offer alternatives concerning either the time or the format of the
event (e.g. online). We therefore invite you to send in your paper, panel
and poster proposals. We will take into account all the recommendations of
the authorities and health experts.

https://discourseanalysis.net/en/DN25

The list of possible topics includes (but is not constrained) to the
following:

(Inter)cultural connectedness
New communication infrastructures
Digitization, digitalization, digital transformation
Technologisation of society
Discourses of Imaginaries
History of Digital Technology and Imaginary
Chinese-European Media
Critical approach to suffering in digital age
Education in the Digital Age
Environmental Sustainability and Development of Global Periphery
Apparatuses of global political economy
Ethnographic approach to transcultural phenomena
Global media analysis about BRI
Cultural traditions across media changes
Intercultural communication in polycentric world
The physical traces of BRInfrastructure
Dispositives of New Digitality
Ideological and political constructions
>From anthropology to ethnography of global dispositifs
Gender and class
Transnational identities
Subjectivities in a global context
Cultural and discursive political economy
(Re)Standardization of the societies
Centre and periphery discourses
New global constellations
Social role of material infrastructure
The governance of the internet in the age of its balkanization/sovereignty
Political and economic alliances and ruptures
Global gaps and digital divides, global exclusion and invisibilities

***

All abstracts fitting one or more of the aforementioned themes are welcome.
We also invite interesting panel proposals and presentations relevant to
the overall conference topic. Check the Ideas page on our website for
inspiration:
https://discourseanalysis.net/en/DN25

Preliminary list of special guests, keynotes and topics:

University of Tyumen (UoT), Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities
(SocGum), Cultural Trends Lab (CTL), DiscourseNet Association (DNA),
Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI), China Media Observatory (CMO),
China University of Communication (CUC), School of Government and Public
Administration (SoGaPA)

Globalised spaces of academic discourse
Johannes Angermuller, Open University Milton Keyes, UK  DNA

Chinese-European Media
Zhan Zhang, Università della Svizzera Italiana /USI, Switzerland  CMO

History of Digital Technology and Imaginary
Gabriele Balbi, Università della Svizzera Italiana /USI, Switzerland CMO

Global media analysis about BRI
Zhou Ting, Communication University of China, China  CUC

Critical approach to suffering in digital age
Benno Herzog, Valencia University, Spain DNA

Economic Expert Discourses in Globalised Societies
Jens Maeße, Giessen University, Germany DNA

Ethnographic approach to Transcultural Phenomena
Jaspal Naveel Singh, The University of Hong Kong, HKSAR China DNA

Philosophy of Globalisation
Igor Chubarov, University of Tyumen, Russia SocGum

Dispositives of New Digitality
Jan Krasni, University of Tyumen, Russia DNA, CTL, SocGum

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Abstracts and Registration

Please submit your 250 word abstracts at the conference registration
service on dn25.sciencesconf.org. Keep the following important dates in
mind:

Deadline for uploading abstracts for DN25: May 15th, 2020

(If you need to plan your trip in advance, please contact us for a faster
review of your abstract. Deadline for those who do not need visa will be
extended)

Notification of acceptance for abstracts: June 20th, 2020

(If you need visa, please let us know so we would take care of it earlier)

Registration will be complete upon payment.
Payment deadline: October 1st, 2020. A confirmation email will be sent
after the deadline for payments has passed.

All the abstracts are vetted by a blind review. The reviewers belong to the
committee selected from our 5000 members. This secures the scientific
quality of the presentations.
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