matthew fuller on Fri, 4 Aug 2006 20:10:25 +0200 (CEST)
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<nettime-ann> CFP: Electronic Journal of Communication (EJC) Special Issue: Communicative Ecologies
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- To: nettime-ann@nettime.org
- Subject: <nettime-ann> CFP: Electronic Journal of Communication (EJC) Special Issue: Communicative Ecologies
- From: matthew fuller <fuller@xs4all.nl>
- Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2006 13:56:06 +0200
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CALL FOR PAPERS
Electronic Journal of Communication (EJC)
Special Issue: Communicative Ecologies
http://www.cios.org/www/ejc/calls/hearnfoth.htm
We invite the submission of conceptual or empirical (quantitative or
qualitative) work on the theme of communicative ecologies in any
place-based setting. The special issue is scheduled for publication
in mid 2007. Deadline for completed manuscripts: 31 Oct 2006.
Submissions should be electronic (.doc or .rtf format only, please
avoid .pdf and .html). Inquiries about possible topics are welcome.
Submissions and inquiries should be directed to the guest editors:
see below.
The concept of ecology has a lot to offer communication research. We
can define a communicative ecology as a milieu of agents who are
connected in various ways by various exchanges (Tacchi, Slater, &
Hearn, 2003). Broadly, it refers to the context in which the
communication process occurs. Such an ecology can thus be thought of
as comprising a number of mediated and unmediated forms of
communication. In this context, use of the term is closely aligned to
research in the field of media ecology, and is thus informed by the
early work of Christine Nystrom (1973) and, more recently, David
Altheide's "The Ecology of Communication" (1995). Our particular
interest in the concept stems from our study of people in particular
places with access to many different media. For example, we have
studied communication patterns in inner-city apartment buildings and
communities in rural areas. Thus we conceive of a communicative
ecology as having three layers. A technological layer which consists
of the devices and connecting media that enable communication and
interaction. A social layer which consists of people and social modes
of organising those people - which might include, for example,
everything from friendship groups to more formal community
organizations, as well as companies or legal entities. And finally, a
discursive layer which is the content of communication - that is, the
ideas or themes that constitute the known social universe that the
ecology operates in.
Using an ecological metaphor opens up a number of interesting
possibilities for analyzing place-based communication (e.g., in
neighbourhoods, apartment buildings, or - on a larger scale - suburbs
and cities). It can help us to better understand the ways social
activities are organized, the ways people define and experience their
environments, and the implications for social order and organization
(Altheide, 1995, p. 9). For example, in analyzing an apartment
complex, an ecological metaphor might suggest first examining the
features of the population in the apartment and mapping the patterns
of engagement within that population. In addition we could ask how
people relate to different places within the apartment, and how this
interaction is mediated by the use of technology. Do different groups
form around a coffee shop? Do email or cell phone connections define
other ecologies? Then we might also be able to study transactions
between different ecologies. The ecological metaphor focuses on whole
of system interactions. It also enables us to define boundaries of
any given ecology, and to examine how the coherence of that boundary
and the stability of each ecology is maintained. What topics of
conversation define insiders and outsiders in the ecology? Finally,
it also opens up the question of the social sustainability of a
communicative ecology. Similar sorts of questions could of course be
asked of any human communication phenomena in any place-based context.
Guest Editors:
Professor Greg Hearn
g.hearn@qut.edu.au
Dr Marcus Foth
m.foth@qut.edu.au
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