New Media and Citizenship in Asia: 

Researching the Practices, Functions, and Effects of the New Media in Asian Politics

2013 International Communication Association Preconference

June 15, 2013, London, UK

The role of new communication technologies—such as the internet, social media, and mobile phones—in political and civic engagement has generated significant interest not only from scholars, but also organizations, politicians, and ordinary citizens. While recent events in parts of the world, such as the Middle East, help recognize the potential of new communication media as an agent contributing to macro-level political changes, these new communication tools are also actively utilized in more traditional political processes, such as electoral campaigns. Also important is  everyday use of new communication technologies, which research has uncovered as providing an opportunity to encounter public affairs news and discourse, enhance understanding of issues, and get involved in civic and political opportunities.

This preconference aims to showcase innovative scholarly work examining various subjects concerning the role of social media, mobile phones, and other new communication technologies in the formation of democratic citizenship writ large—in Asia. The preference seeks studies that address relevant topics in a particular Asian county, and comparative research on Asian countries or Asian and non-Asian countries is also welcome. In particular, the preconference welcomes research on recent national elections in Asian countries, which presents a theory-driven analysis of the role of social media in real-world, offline civic and political action. The preconference encourages researchers to explore diverse topics, and possible areas of topics include (but are not limited to): use of social media, mobile phones, and other new communication technologies in elections; influence of new media on citizen choices, participation, and knowledge; political elites’ use of new media; use of social media by civic and grassroots groups; social media and civic engagement; new media and community; political talk and social media; patterns of new media use and political and civic consequences; trends in social media; cloud computing and collective action; changes in new consumption.

Submission: Abstracts of no more than 500 words will be due on November 26, 2012. Please send your abstract to <ica2013London@umich.edu>. The authors of accepted abstracts will be notified by 20th of December. Final papers will be due by April 1, 2013.

Publication: Selected papers focusing on national elections in Asian countries will be considered for publication in a special issue of a journal.

Travel Grants: The preconference has a modest amount of funds to provide travel grants for participants, particularly those who are from developing/transitional countries that appear in Tiers B and C on the ICA country tier chart (country of residence, not of origin). All graduate students who are first authors or presenters will be provided with a travel grant. For a paper with multiple authors, the travel grant will be provided for only one author. Those whose abstracts are accepted will be provided with further information about how to apply for a travel grant.

Organizers:

Nojin Kwak, Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies, University of Michigan, U.S.A.

Marko Skoric, Assistant Professor, Division of Communication Research, WKW School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Scott Campbell, Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies, University of Michigan, U.S.A.

Junho Choi, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Information, Yonsei University, Korea

Sponsors:

Nam Center for Korean Studies, University of Michigan, USA

Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Department of Communication Studies, University of Michigan, USA

Political Communication Division, ICA