Martina Topić (Leeds Beckett University) and Niamh Kirk (Dublin City University) are seeking chapters on Media and Nationalism in the Network Society.
According to the network society theory eloquently elaborated by Van Dijk and Castells, in an age of hyper-connectivity and blurred cultural boundaries, those who are not part of the network society are becoming unemployable and thus turn to national as opposed to global and cast so-called protest votes. Thus, the past decade has witnessed an upsurge of nationalism in the West, with the rise of the Far Right movement. This eventually resulted in victories for nationalist parties; national sovereign governance as opposed to transnational collaborations; seclusion as opposed to connectivity and inclusion; the demise of equality and diversity policies; the demise of identity politics; and criticism of women’s rights and feminism, etc.
While many see events in the UK and the US (the Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s victory) as new and problematic victories of the Far Right and the upsurge of nationalism masked under the term patriotism or conservativism, this movement started much earlier with the Far Right winning national elections in many European countries not all of Western origin and culture. For example, in Austria Jorg Heider won elections and joined the Austrian Government as a coalition partner in 2000. In post-Communist Europe, nationalist parties gained power after the fall of Communism and they advocated a return to tradition and enforced nationalist policies.
While there has been lots of work published on media and nationalism, new events deserve a new consideration. The question is no longer whether the media push an agenda because agenda studies have demonstrated so for decades. The question is how nationalism is conceptualised and how nationalist policies and ideas are being promoted? How traditional media promote these particular policies and what this means for current media landscape? What is the role of social media in promoting nationalism and nationalist candidates? How candidates reach out to potential voters and which media are driving these new nationalist movements? Is there a strong generational divide and how different generations respond to different policies? Have traditional media embraced a stakeholder orientation and started to produce content that their readers want to read? If so, what does this mean for the future of journalism? How have editorial policies changed over time and how editorial policies affect political divides? If social media activism is influencing the publics, what is the role of traditional media, to join in and continue producing content for SEO enhancement or insist on their traditional role to report the truth and be impartial? What is the role of SEO in current media landscape and has SEO influenced changed in current journalism?
The questions this book aims to tackle are therefore,
- Which platforms do nationalists use and how they promote their work, and achieve popular support?
- What is the role of traditional media in promoting nationalistic policies?
- Have media turned towards stakeholder orientation (advocated predominantly by the Left) and started to produce content that their readers want to read, which helped the Far Right agenda? If so, how this happened, i.e. is it because of changed nature of journalism and the need to follow user-generated content such as comments, blogs, vlogs, SEO strategy, etc.?
- How is it possible that two diametrically opposite political candidates use social media to promote their policies (Obama vs Trump) in a very similar way?
- What media Diaspora reads, and what is their role in national elections?
- Is there a generational divide when it comes to nationalism, and if so, how is this negotiated in network society? Who is networking and in which way? Which platforms people use and for which purposes?
- How is SEO changing journalism?
- Changes in editorial policies and their influence on political divides
Abstracts should not be longer than 500 words, and the completed chapters should be no more than 7000 words. Extensive theoretical introductions are not necessary in chapters because an introductory study will provide an overview of existing work and debates surrounding the position of women in the media. Case study context should be explained in each chapter.
Abstract should be sent to both editors - Martina Topić (M.Topic@leedsbeckett.ac.uk) and Niamh Kirk (niamh.kirk4@mail.dcu.ie) - by 1 March.
Dates
Abstract due: 1 March
Acceptance notices: 15 April
Full papers due: 1 SeptemberThe editors will look for a publisher once we receive all manuscripts. We aim to publish the book in the UK or the US, with one of mainstream academic publishers.
