CALL FOR PAPERS:
Rethinking Dialogue in the Age of New Challenges and Opportunities
Journal of Dialogue Studies
http://www.dialoguestudies.org/
Abstracts submission deadline: 15th of June, 2020
In its forthcoming issue, the Journal of Dialogue Studies invites papers addressing ‘dialogue’ through the lens of the challenges and opportunities, brought about by the current age of new technologies, populism and new dialogue spaces.
ABSTRACT
The world has always been in an orbit of change, generating new meanings in a perpetual cycle. Our current time and age have seen various changes, and regeneration of meaning(s) is perhaps the biggest challenge of our and next generations. The phase of change has created gaps (of time and context) within gaps, in which not only meaning but also the nature of being is lost and is fast becoming what Heidegger calls, ‘das Mann.’ This is further complicating the state of ‘dialogue,’ and any meaningful exchange.
As a result of the phase of change and the gaps caused by this, new spaces, in which ‘meaning’ itself has been in constant transformation, are also created that allow and require new types of dialogue. In other words, the question is not just about how to make meaningful exchanges, but about how to make meaningful exchanges when meanings and realms of exchange are competing.
We are in the heyday of the biggest gaps in meaning and new spaces. ‘Populism’ arguably creates one of these gaps. It is on the rise across the world and presents a serious obstacle for meaningful dialogue. It harbours racism and breeds xenophobia, polarising people, creating fractions and hostility. Yearning for the past, making nations ‘great again’ has become the cry of the masses.
The erosion of open and meaningful dialogue is also evident even in non-conflict settings. Concepts like multiculturalism, diversity and even democracy have not only been consumed but also loaded with negative connotations within the ‘gaps.’
Nonetheless, we are also in an age of opportunities for rethinking and expanding dialogue. The emergence/creation of new ‘spaces’ allows us to generate and exchange meaning to begin to close the gaps, and this has become faster and easier than ever before. New tools for conversation and dialogue have emerged from the explosion of new technologies, creating spaces for discussion and debate. Here, people belonging to different faiths, social, cultural, political and professional groups can engage in meaningful dialogue and generate conversations.
In view of the abstract above, contributors are invited to consider questions such as the following:
- In the face of the rise of populist rhetoric around the world, how can dialogue be used to address the negative outcomes of populism?
- How can dialogue be utilised to deflate tensions in non-conflict situations?
- In the case of new dialogue spaces, in what ways can dialogue be beneficial and instrumental for various means, for instance, when we consider online communications tools, such as social media platforms? How does dialogue factor into new VR technologies and online gaming?
- What are the challenges of doing dialogue in new spaces, e.g. on online/virtual platforms communication channels?
- What are the fresh challenges brought about by the current pandemic, Covid-19, which has driven people to online platforms?
Contributors are invited to reflect on these and similar questions and critically analyse any published work and field study on these subjects and make their own original contributions to the field.
Those selected papers are going to be invited for a workshop in London to present their papers on 26 November 2020. In case the workshop is moved to an online platform given the current circumstances, participants will be informed beforehand.
SCHEDULE FOR SUBMISSIONS:
- Abstracts: by 15th of June (200-300 words maximum) and CVs (maximum of 2 pages, including any personal statement and/or listing of publications or work experience)
- Shortlisting Abstracts: By editorial boards and papers invited by 30th of June
- Full papers: Papers by 31st of August 4,000 words minimum – 8,000 words maximum, excluding bibliography
- Review: Papers reviewed by the Editorial Board and classed as: Accepted – No Recommendations; Accepted – See Recommendations; Conditional Acceptance – See Recommendations; Not Accepted. By 30th September
- Final Papers: by 15th of October
Papers should be submitted by email attachment to: journal@dialoguesociety.org and must be received by 31st August 2020 in order to allow sufficient time for peer review. Manuscripts should be presented in a form that meets the requirements set out in Journal’s Article Submission Guidelines, provided here, and Style Guide, provided here.
Please send any queries to the Editorial Team via journal@dialoguesociety.org