Please send chapter proposals of 500-800 words and a short author bio
(or CV)
to Nadia Kaneva ([log in to unmask]) by MAY 20, 2009.


CALL FOR CHAPTER PROPOSALS:

The Branding of Post-Communist Nations
(Edited Volume)

In the aftermath of the communist system's collapse, Central and Eastern
European countries were faced with the need to re-define themselves.
This
was equally daunting for previously established nation-states and for
newly-formed ones emerging after the dissolution of the Soviet Union,
Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia.  New pressures from global political,
economic, and cultural forces, combined with the unraveling of internal
social structures, exacerbated the identity crises of former communist
nations. These countries needed new ways to assert themselves on the
global
map and new narratives of national unity at home.  Furthermore, as they
strived to emulate the capitalist West, former communist countries
needed to
disentangle their national identities from the ideological heritage of
communism and recast them in terms of the new mantras of "democracy" and
"markets."

In a wider context, the historical realities of post-communist
transitions
unfolded alongside processes of globalization and EU enlargement, which
were
accelerated, at least in part, by the demise of a bi-polar division of
the
world enforced by the Cold War.  One crucial dimension of globalization
concerns the proliferation of media technologies, discourses, and
institutions that transcend national boundaries.  The global media
environment emerging after the end of the Cold War allowed information
to
flow to and from former communist countries in an unprecedented way.  At
the
same time, these countries found themselves exposed to the vagaries of
global
and commercially-oriented media that traded in commodified symbols and
meanings and operated according to a logic quite different from that of
state-controlled media.

In this context, nation branding, a set of ideas rooted in Western
marketing
and management, gained popularity in the post-communist world by
promising a
quick fix for the identity malaise of "transitional" societies.  Since
1989,
almost every country in Central and Eastern Europe has engaged in nation
branding initiatives of varying scope and sophistication, often creating
a
chaos of messages.  Although, post-communist countries are certainly not
the
only ones investing in nation branding, the particular socio-historical
challenges and conditions they face set them apart and merit closer
examination.  This is one of the central goals of this volume.

In addition, while a growing body of literature on nation branding has
emerged in the past decade, most published studies adopt applied or
descriptive approaches and offer little by way of critical analyses.
Thus,
another goal of this volume is to address this gap by bringing together
studies that examine the discourses and practices of nation branding in
the
post-communist context by drawing on critical theoretical traditions.

From this vantage point, this volume aims to address questions that fall
within three main areas, as follows:

.  Who are the key actors involved in the spread of nation branding
discourses and practices in post-communist Europe and what are their
stakes
in this process?  What local political and cultural conditions enable
nation
branding to capture the imaginations of post-communist national elites?
What
is the relationship of nation branding to struggles over power both at
national and the extra-national levels?

.  What kind of images for post-communist nations and/or regions emerge
through, or are obscured by, the particular lens of nation branding?
How do
the discourses and practices of post-communist nation branding relate to
processes of globalization, mediatization, and commodification?

.  What may be the cultural, political, and social implications of
re-imagining post-communist nations as brands?  How may the study of
post-communist nation branding inform the broader study and critique of
post-communist transitions?

Proposals that address these or related questions are invited. Ideally,
chapters should be both empirically grounded and theoretically informed.
Proposals should clearly indicate how the work is situated in relation
to
critical theoretical traditions. Chapters may focus on one ore more
countries. Various methodological and disciplinary approaches are
welcome;
interdisciplinary work is particularly encouraged.

Please send chapter proposals of 500-800 words and a short author bio
(or CV)
to Nadia Kaneva ([log in to unmask]) by MAY 20, 2009.

If accepted, completed chapters (about 8,000 words) will be due by
NOVEMBER
1, 2009.

Nadia Kaneva, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Mass Communications & Journalism Studies
School of Communication
University of Denver
2490 S. Gaylord St.
Denver, CO 80208
Office: (303) 871-4574
Fax: (303) 871-4949
E-mail: [log in to unmask]