[artinfo] [jan 28] CFP: mobile democracy

[Sean Cubitt]

Call for Papers
M-Democracy
a Special Session at the
Euro mGov 2005, 10-12 July 2005, Sussex University, Brighton, UK
http://www.icmg.mgovernment.org/specialsessions.htm

Session Chair:

Associate Professor Mary Griffiths
Department of Screen and Media
University of Waikato
Hamilton 1
N.Z.

Email : maryg at waikato.ac.nz
Ph.	+64 7 856 2889 ext. 8604
Fax. +64 7 838 4767

Combining e-government and mobility, The First Euro Conference on
Mobile Government (EURO mGOV 2005) aims to attract Representatives
from the Public Sector, Academia, and IT and Telecom Companies, to
establish a forum and networking platform for discussion and
dissemination of knowledge on all aspects of Mobile Government
including research, policy, implementation issues and impact on the
government organizations and the society.  More information can be
found at http://www.icmg.mgovernment.org

Session title: M-Democracy

Converging new communication technologies and uses, and the
associated new media trainings, are impacting on traditional
democratic public spheres and polities globally. Mobile connectivity
has been directly instrumental in altering political events in the
Philippines, and elsewhere in, for example, the recent US election
campaigns.  Political representatives' websites and blogs are
enhancing the building of community, participation, democratic
transparency and accountability. By interacting online in
'horizontal' ways, mobilized citizen journalists are also making a
democratic contribution by acting as watchdogs on government, and the
mainstream media, through the free circulation of information. But
the current priority uses of the internet (e-commerce and
entertainment) and the hi-functionality mobile phone (intimate
personal communication) have an initial tendency to make both
technologies powerful individualizers and commodifiers. The regular
conduct of print, online, television, radio, phone opinion polls; the
customization of online news and other information sent to pcs and
mobile phones;  and the address of entertainment media audiences
through quasi-democratic online ballots and competitions are all
phenomena which are transforming mediated, mobile democracies.

Can the approaches and mobile technologies used to build connectivity
and consumerism be equally useful for mobilizing reflective
democratic practice?

What can governments and/or citizens successfully transfer from
existing interactive media practices, in order to build stronger
democracies?

Is the trend to 'me media' rather than 'we media' militating against
older forms of civic behavior and active citizenship?

Both case studies and research papers are invited for this session.



Submission Instructions:

All interested authors should initially send a page-long paper
proposal to the session chair at maryg at waikato.ac.nz  to see the
suitability of their paper for the session.

All full paper submissions are subject to EURO mGOV submission and
review procedures as outlined at
http://www.icmg.mgovernment.org/submission.htm.  Please send your
full paper submissions to submissions at mgovernment.org *and* copy (Cc)
ing to the session chair at maryg at waikato.ac.nz by the full paper
submission deadline (January, 28, 2005) indicating "special session"
on the subject line *and*  the title of the session at the top of the
first page of the paper.

-- 
Sean Cubitt * Screen and Media Studies * University of Waikato *
Private Bag 3105 * Hamilton * New Zealand * seanc at waikato.ac.nz * T:
+64 (0)7 838 4543 * F: +64 (0)7 838 4767

http://www.waikato.ac.nz/film