6th ECPR General Conference, Political Communication Section; Reykjavik , 25-27 August 2011
Panel: Popular Culture and the Communication of Politics
Chairs: Sanna Inthorn (Media Studies, University of East Anglia, [log in to unmask]), Michele Micheletti (Political Science, Stockholm University, [log in to unmask])
Popular culture is gaining in legitimacy as a focus of study in political science. Films, novels, comic strips, theater plays, music, and television series are increasingly used as the empirical material to study and interpret political agitation, political communication, and political ideology. This observation is neither new nor novel. Historical novels, plays, and films found in all cultures have played such a role in the past. Yet the current role of popular culture in politics seems to be revised and revitalized and to play a stronger role in the understanding of and in engagements in politics. Political leaders and political agitators turn increasingly to popular culture to craft and communicate their messages. The concept of the political found in popular culture is often wide. It can encompass the relationships of power between humans and the natural world and between genders and races, but also the beliefs and practices of leaders and ordinary citizens as well as the governance of these relationships through institutions of the state. The popular cultural texts do so in a serious, interpretative, and, arguably, factual manner, but also in playful and humorous ways. Some observers and actors see in this a dangerous simplification of the political world. Others celebrate it for its potential to broaden the reach of politics, for sensitizing citizens to disturbing political events and developments outside their own experiences, and for gaining the attention of cynical and politically disengaged citizens and, thus, offering a mechanism to mobilize them into politics. Yet regardless of assessment, this development comes at a time when the traditional venues for the creation and transmission of political knowledge are in crisis and when changes in the ways in which we conduct a variety of relations in both the public and private sphere are pushing politics and popular culture closer together. Citizenship is increasingly narrated, created, and performed in venues other than the traditional political ones. Popular culture plays a crucial role here.
This panel invites scholars to critically reflect on the role of popular culture in politics. We welcome papers which explore specific cultural texts, genres and narrative modes, but also papers on audiences as well as activist, government, and industry practice. This includes, but is not limited, to the following themes:
- The representation of citizenship and political power in specific genres, such as science-fiction, comedy, or documentary.
- The role of popular culture for civic participation, including the use of popular culture by political activists, but also the representation of the political responsibility of citizens in popular culture.
- The institutional forces shaping representations of “the political” in popular culture, such as codes of practice, technology, and funding.
- The role of popular culture and popular cultural personas in electoral politics.
- The social, cultural, textual, and psychological conditions through which audiences engage with, and attach meaning to representations of “the political” in popular culture.
- The role of humour as compared to factual knowledge and scientific expertise for political leadership and citizenship.
- The connections between politics in audience talk or media texts and the macro-politics of government policy and legislation.
Further Particulars:
- The deadline for all paper proposals is 1 February 2011.
- The decision on the final allocation of papers will be made by the end of April 2011.
- Papers will be submitted to the ECPR’s live paper proposal system. Further particulars to follow in November 2010
- Information on the ECPR general conference can be found on ECPR's website: http://www.ecprnet.eu/
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