The Russian Cyberspace Journal invites contributions for its 2 Issue
From Comrades to Classmates:
Social Networks on the Russian Internet
The deadline for submissions is 1 July 2009.
At the beginning of 2009, the Communist party of the Russian Federation
had approximately 150,000 members, while there were over 20 million
users of Odnoklassniki.ru, a social networking site for former
"classmates". Russia's dominant political party, "United Russia,"
commands some 2 million members; however this pales in comparison to the
18 million active members of the popular networking platform
Vkontakte.ru. While political activity in party organizations is
certainly different from the spontaneous, informal, and often apolitical
participation in social networks on the web, these comparisons demand
inspection. Over the coming decade, sociologists predict a general shift
from formal to informal organization of social groups and communities.
Undoubtedly, this shift will be shaped by contemporary networking
technologies.
The issue aims to examine the structure, taxonomy, function, and
significance of social networks on the Russian Internet. What role do
these new web-based forms of socializing play in contemporary Russia,
particularly given the paradoxical stereotypes of Russian society as
collectivistic on the one hand, and amorphous and apathetic on the
other? Does social networking in Russia represent a cultural form
specific to post-Soviet Russia, or is it only an unreconstructed and
uncritical adaptation of "Western" net practices?
The Russian Cyberspace Journal seeks contributions that approach social
networks as a critical component of politics, society, culture,
education, and economics. We are interested in exploring a number of
questions, including: Have new social networks replicated and/or
replaced Soviet traditions of social mobilisation? What is the role of
social networks in maintaining Russia's regional integrity and binding
together the widely-dispersed Russian- speaking diaspora? What can we
learn about post-millennial everyday practices-dating, business
associations, public relations-from the operation of Russian social
networks?
Guidelines
Text-based academic entries in English, German or Russian, and/or
submissions in other genres, styles and form, reflecting the nature of
the medium, by scholars, politicians, artists and cultural practitioners
are welcome and will be considered for publication.
For more information, please visit
http://www.russian-cyberspace.com/forthcoming-issue_call-for-submissions
.php?lng=English
The Russian Cyberspace Journal is an online publication that appears
twice per year. The issues are organized thematically, focusing on
timely issues and topics related to the study of Russian, Eurasian and
Central European new media. Articles from scholars from a variety of
academic backgrounds as well as artists' contributions, interviews, book
reviews, comments, and discussions are invited. The journal is published
in three languages, English, German, and Russian. The journal is a
multi-media platform, celebrating cyberspace as a variety of information
flows. The journal editors and the advisory board are comprised of young
but distinguished academics and net practitioners from across the globe.
Editorial team:
Vlad Strukov (London)
Henrike Schmidt (Berlin)
Robert Saunders (New York)
Ellen Rutten (Amsterdam)
Ekaterina Lapina-Kratasyuk (Moscow)
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