Call for Papers

Critical Studies in Media Communication
FORUM – A Century of Propaganda Studies: From Pen and Sword to Surveillant Smartphone
https://t.co/IZ2qDU7ime

Editors:
Emma L. Briant, Ph.D., Monash University, Australia
Marc O. Jones, Ph.D., Northwestern University, Qatar

Submission deadline: December 13, 2024

This Forum marks what has been, arguably, a century since the birth of modern Propaganda Studies: the flurry of scholarship that followed as a reaction to the rise of fascist and Stalinist propaganda use in Europe at a time of developing mass media. Propaganda is the deliberate use of organized communications to influence an audience or audiences to achieve political, or other, goals of a propagandist. Among propaganda’s features, the powerful political interests it often serves, and their often self-interested purposes, remain a constant: spreading ideologies or shifting behaviors to advance the ambitions of governments, corporations, political ideologues, authoritarians, fascists, imperialists, and even democrats, across every continent. However, contemporary propaganda and its global contexts have also seen rapid transformation during this century. Firstly, the industries, technologies, techniques and media used have progressed at an accelerating pace, from radio and TV to today’s AI generative media, social media and data-driven microtargeting. Secondly, there has been transformation in propaganda’s sociotechnical, geopolitical and economic and even individual contexts – with important trends for example in the political economy, globalization, professionalization, datafication, personalization and commercialization of propaganda. Together these trends have also shaped newer debates over lexicon (with synonyms including ‘fake news’ and ‘disinformation’ rising and falling in popularity) and advancing theory shifting priorities in the academic field. Propaganda Studies has also evolved from a field dominated by white, Anglo-American and male scholars of security producing its dominant perspectives, toward one that is growing increasingly diverse in its scholars, ideas, and focus – and in terms of region, positionality and epistemology. We thus envisioned this CSMC Forum to consider what we have learned from this century of propaganda’s scholarship and practice, and indeed what we still need to learn. This Forum therefore asks ‘whither Propaganda Studies?’ as we hurtle toward its future.

We are especially interested in scholarship on:

• Propaganda theory and concepts – building on and incorporating a long history of thought, commenting on today’s concepts, definitions, how can theory be strengthened? How do we understand propaganda in relation to related concepts such as power, violence, manipulation, influence, force, trust, truth, etc.
• What can we learn from the history of propaganda and Propaganda Studies as a discipline? Especially lesser-known or marginalized histories, and neglected perspectives or theory that might have new relevance today.
• What is the role of powerful actors in propaganda today? What are the changing roles of governments, insurgents, politicians, corporations, individual influencers, oligarchs, intelligence firms, legacy and new media industries, and non-profit organizations.
• How do we research and theorize intentionality, paternalism, deception, and diverse motives for contemporary propaganda?
• How can propaganda’s influence be understood and/or measured in a digital environment? What is the role of the public in persuasion? How influenced are we? Audience and user-centered approaches to propaganda.
• How does propaganda relate to other practices of war such as covert operations, political warfare, hybrid warfare, lawfare and cyber-attacks?
• What role does propaganda play in the international system and how does it contribute to contemporary colonialism, global inequality, instability, conflict and violence – epistemic or otherwise?
• How are new technologies transforming the practice, strategies, and impact of propaganda? What is the role of algorithms, surveillance and data harvesting, online anonymity, hacking, digital tracing, generative media, secrecy, transparency, censorship, and social media as a tool of surveillance capitalism.
• Examining the lived experience of propaganda and its differential impacts on social structures, issues, and groups in society who have been historically marginalized and/or targeted – for example: socioeconomic status, urban-rural/global south, race, age, religion, gender, sexuality, differently abled, or Indigenous communities, etc.
• How do we strengthen theoretical frameworks and concepts of propaganda studies to better account for neoliberalism, heteropatriarchy, racial capitalism, globalization and data colonialism?
• How has the political economy of propaganda transformed? Emerging norms, dark money, profits, incentives – practices, violence, scandals, etc.
• What is the relationship between surveillance and propaganda, both in history and today? How do we understand the combination of these practices?
• How does propaganda impact and interact with real-world phenomena (e.g., protests, war and conflict, inflation, public health, climate change, capitalism, globalization, etc.)?

We are also soliciting reviewers for the following books. If you are interested in reviewing, please send the following information directly to Jessica B. Burstrem, M.A. (she/they), Associate Editor and Book Reviews Editor, Critical Studies in Media Communication, at jburstr1@umbc.edu with “CSMC book review proposal” in the subject line: (1) your name, (2) full title and contact information, (3) proposed book or media title to review, and (4) proposed timeline for the completion of your review. We are also keen to receive suggestions for books to review and those keen to review them.

Translation, Disinformation, and Wuhan Diary: Anatomy of a Transpacific Cyber Campaign, Michael Berry, Palgrave Macmillan, 2022

Routledge Handbook of the Influence Industry, eds. Emma L. Briant, Vian Bakir, Routledge, 2024

A Century of Repression: The Espionage Act and Freedom of the Press, Ralph Engelman and Carey Shenkman, U of Illinois P, 2022

Trafficking Data: How China is Winning the Battle for Digital Sovereignty, Aynne Kokas, Oxford UP, 2022

Authoritarian Journalism: Controlling the News in Post-Conflict Rwanda, Ruth Moon, Oxford UP, 2023

Digital Surveillance in Southern Africa: Policies, Politics and Practices, Allen Munoriyarwa and Admire Mare, Palgrave Macmillan, 2023

Media and Nigeria’s Constitutional Democracy: Civic Space, Free Speech, and the Battle for Freedom of the Press, eds. Paul Obi, Taye C. Obateru, and Sam Amadi, Rowman & Littlefield, 2023

Abolishing Surveillance: Digital Media Activism and State Repression, Chris Robé, PM P, 2023

Disinformation in the Global South, eds. Herman Wasserman, Dani Madrid-Morales, John Wiley & Sons, 2022

SUBMISSION DEADLINE AND GUIDELINES

Deadline: Friday, December 13, 2024

Manuscripts must be submitted electronically through the CSMC submission portal:  https://rp.tandfonline.com/submission/create?journalCode=RCSM.

Essays should be prepared in Microsoft Word using a 12-point common font, double-spaced, and no more than 2,500 words (including references/tables/etc.).

Manuscripts should adhere to APA 7th edition. They should be readable, accessible – prepared for any audience, so they could be easily added to an undergraduate syllabus.

Please refer to and follow the journal’s manuscript preparation instructions for authors: https://nca.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journalCode=RCSM.

Authors should identify the Forum call their submission is responding to by selecting the relevant drop-down option (“Propaganda”).

Review Process:

In keeping with the journal’s current practice, submissions will undergo rigorous editorial review. Please include “CSMC Propaganda Forum” in the subject line of all correspondence and direct inquiries to both:

Emma L. Briant, PhD
Associate Professor of News and Political Communication
School of Media, Film and Journalism,
Monash University, Melbourne Australia
emma.briant@monash.edu

Marc Owen Jones, PhD
Associate Professor of Media Analytics
Northwestern University, Qatar
marc.jones@northwestern.edu