CFP – MEDIA AND HISTORY: CRIME, VIOLENCE AND JUSTICE |

July 10-13, 2017 – PARIS, FRANCE

XXVII conference of the INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR MEDIA AND HISTORY

Hosted by the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research and Analysis of the Media (CARISM) and the French Press Institute, Pantheon-Assas University, Paris (France), the conference marks the 40^th anniversary of IAMHIST as well as the 80^th anniversary of the French Press Institute.

MEDIA AND HISTORY: CRIME, VIOLENCE AND JUSTICE is the main topic of the conference and a special section will also deal with international and comparative approaches to media history. Workshops for younger scholars will be organized.

Call for papers

The relations between media and the acts or representations of crime, violence and justice are evolving through history. The openness of this call for papers is voluntary chosen in order to receive diverse and critical proposals dealing with this broad topic. Most of the time, it is through media that we encounter conflicts and violence; from news formats to fictional accounts; from traditional media such as newspapers, film, radio and television to ‘newer’ interactive media. Such media coverage is very frequently linked to debates on law and order. How can an open society react to crime and violence? Often, the relationship between conflict and crime and their representation can cause various conflicts.

First, media can become tools of propaganda, war and discrimination. They are then not only ways to communicate information but they are also part of performativity and action. Second, media can become a target of violence themselves, whether or not in totalitarian states or countries where the freedom of speech is restricted. Third, in each historical context, ‘new’ media inventions can produce an atmosphere of fear and violent contest or censorship, especially when they disturb existing (political) power patterns or structures. Fourth, media and communication technologies are also an essential part of social movements and political activism by offering spaces of visibility and instruments of contestation aimed at social change that can lead to situations of conflict and confrontations within the public sphere.

These various relations of media to crime, violence and justice are not new. Numerous scholars work or have worked on this topic by focusing on media and law, politics, journalism, media activism, war, (cultural) diplomacy or likewise the narration and mediatization of war, conflicts, punishment, violence, crime and justice. The latter are not only an essential part of news and the journalistic, political agenda, but they are also essential when it comes to fictional formats such as film or television series. Depending on historical, political and cultural premises, the signification and definition of crime and violence in media and law texts ask the question of the circulation and understanding of these concepts in society. This conference aims to (re)think the historical relations between media, crime, violence and justice also in order to offer new insights into more recent forms of this very complex interplay. Scholars and practitioners from various disciplines and approaches (history – media and communication studies – law – politics, gender, queer and feminist studies – sociology – anthropology – economy etc.) are welcome to submit papers and panel proposals that deal critically with the following topics:

– Historical representation/mediatization/definitions of crime, violence and justice in news or informational formats, film, documentaries, television drama or radio plays

– Historical approaches to media events related to crime, violence and justice.

– The production and reception of news and fiction dealing with crime, violence and justice

– Media historical approaches to symbolic and physical violence

– The crime scene, the criminal and the victims in news and fiction

– Historical (media-) constructions of the judge, the lawyer or secret service agents

– ‘New’ media inventions as aggregators of fear, conflict or censorship

– The historical role of media and technologies in social and political protest, movements and activism, leading sometimes to conflicts and violence

– The historical (international) relations of legal public entities, diplomacy, the police and the military with journalists and media institutions

– Media as targets of violence and crime

– The role of media archives for the historiography and memory of crime, violence and justice

– Media, history and criminology

– The history of cybercrime

– Legal actions attacking or protecting media content and their producers or audiences/users

There is also one special area dedicated to the question of international approaches to media history. Panel and paper proposals in this field are warmly welcome. The idea is to have space for epistemological, theoretical, practical and also comparative discussions on how media history is thought and experienced in different cultural areas: what kinds of archives are accessible, in creation or needed, the place of media history in academia etc.

How to submit a paper or panel proposal

Please send your proposal to the iamhist2017@gmail.com until December 15^th by inserting your text directly in the body of the mail or by attaching a WORD-file. PDF documents will NOT be accepted. Members of the scientific committee will peer-review the proposals anonymously.

Panel proposals: three paper presentations for each panel (a general outline of max. 400 words and a 500 words-abstract with title for each paper, a short biography)

Individual paper proposals: a title, an abstract of 500 words, a short biography

Proposals for presentations of artistic or (multi-)media projects are also welcomed.

Agenda

. September 15^th: Launch call for abstracts for papers and panels

~~. December 15^th, 2016:~~ Extended deadline:

Last day to submit abstracts January 20th, 2017

. February 15^th, 2017: notification of panel and abstract decisions

. end of February, 2017: registration period begins

Registration fees for conference speakers and participants

. iamhist members (students): 130 Euros 
. iamhist members: 150 Euros 
The fees include breakfast (Tuesday – Thursday), coffee breaks, lunch, the 
Monday evening reception and the conference package.

.non iamhist members (students): 165 Euros
.non iamhist members: 195 Euros
The fees include a one-year iamhist membership, breakfast (Tuesday – Thursday), breaks, 
lunch, the Monday evening reception and the conference package.

Student travel grants
Limited funding is available for graduate students on a competitive basis. Please specify in your proposal if you wish to candidate for the grant. Ten grants of 200 Euros each will be available for the best abstracts. Funded postgraduate students will have to attend the whole conference, the conference activities, workshops and the student lunch. The travel grant will be offered in form of a reimbursement of travel fees after the conference.