Sent on behalf of Dr. Ming-chin Monique Chu:

Complex Evolutions: Media and Democratization in Contemporary Asia
5-6 September 2014
St Antony's College, University of Oxford
 
CALL FOR PAPERS – DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: 20 April
 
The relationship between mass media and democratization is multifaceted, and such intricacy is particularly prominent in the Asian context, where divergences in media systems co-exist with juxtapositions of different regime types ranging from functional democracies, hybrid polities, to non-democracies. Additionally, a diverse array of media institutions in Asia—ranging from commercial media systems run by multinational corporations or local conglomerates to citizen-based media models to state-owned enterprises—differs in the degree of technological change, commercialization and professionalization. What is, after all, the actual role of mass media as a democratizing agent in the Asian context? Are these media agencies the guardians of the public sphere or lapdogs of the power elite? Are they agents of participatory democracy or purveyors of consumer capitalism? Much of the debate over the actual role of the media in the democratization of various societies in Asia demands a close examination of such questions. At a time when tensions between media and government run high in some Asian societies such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan, the need for empirically grounded explorations of aforementioned issues in different Asian countries is stronger than ever before.
 
The aim of Complex Evolutions: Media and Democratization in Contemporary Asia—a conference organized by The Taiwan Studies Programme (TSP) at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, is to bring together academics and media practitioners to examine the present manifestations of media-democratization relationship in Asia from multiple perspectives and through a variety of country case studies which deal with different patterns of communication and media platforms against the backdrops of diverse political frameworks.
 
Potential papers may focus on topics such as the role of the Internet in regime change; the function of citizen-based media models in performing the normative duties that the watchdog media of the corporate systems are supposed to; the ways in which mass media can (or cannot) lead to democratic consolidation and institutional change. A selection of accepted papers will be considered for publication in either an edited volume or a peer-reviewed journal special issue.
 
Funding for travel and accommodation may be available to authors whose papers are selected. If you wish to present a paper, please submit your name, affiliation, paper title and an abstract of 300 words maximum to: [log in to unmask] with the subject heading ‘TSP Conference Abstract’ by 20 April 2014. The full papers with a maximum length of 8,000 words must be submitted by 20 August 2014.

Convenor: Dr. Ming-chin Monique Chu; Enquiries: [log in to unmask] or tel: 01865-27455901865-274559.

Website: http://www.sant.ox.ac.uk/asian/Taiwan%20Annual%20Conference.html.

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