cfp.english.upenn.edu

New media has gained currency in recent years not just as a term that defines media content, forms and products but also as practices that challenges lawmakers as well as policy decisions. New media exerts a substantial dynamism in the realms of individual lives and contemporary culture. New media has been growing exponentially in a technologically enabled society, not just as a means of social exchange, but also as a medium of social change.
The varied manifest forms of new media are observed in instances of internet-enabled activities like blogs and social networks, economic and business applications, offshoot journalism and novel ways of extending the reach of traditional media such as newspapers and television. Apart from these usages, new media has become prominent as a contrived space of political action, both state and non-state. The Indian state perceives new media and its forms as an entity to be regulated by legal mechanisms like the IT Act (2000), whereas, non-state actors constantly remind us about the ‘freedom of expression’ as the ideological basis of such forms. Statist ideologies become pertinent for new media with examples like ‘Adhaar’ (UIDAI) enabled services in India, indicative of the reconstruction of citizens as globalized consumers by a neoliberal state. Political and social movements facilitated by the access of and to ICT enabled services and applications draw attention to the political function of new media. There has been a phenomenal growth in business and economic application of new media platforms, from online retail to new media enabled businesses models. The creative potential of new media is ever expanding and artists, filmmakers and archivists in India have started exploring this in in their creative expressions. As much as these forms pose challenges for policy makers in India, they also point out towards the need to theorise and critically engage with the proliferation and adoption of new media in India.
We call for papers for an edited volume that would focus on three prominent areas of new media in India:
a) Policies on new media,
b) Democratization of new media and
c) Creative, cultural expressions and issues of identity.

This volume aims to publish prominent inquires, theoretical essays and analysis, which would contribute significantly for academics and research of new media in India. We invite original research papers/essays of minimum 3000 words with a thematic focus on new media in India. The possible topics are but not limited to:

1. New Media and Law
2. New Media and Policy Frameworks
3. New Media, Internet Technology and Content
4. Media Regulation vs. Freedom of Speech
5. Social Networks in Local Scenarios
6. Cyber Activism and Possibilities for Democracy
7. New Media Applications for Social/Political Progress
8. E-Governance, State Systems and New Media
9. Economies of Desire: New Media and Neo-Liberal Flattening
10. New Media and Individual / Social / Cultural Identity
11. Creative Expressions and Avant-Garde Potentials
12. New Media and Cinema / Film Practice and Culture
13. Fan Culture and Fan Activity
14. Class Identity: The Politics of Exclusivity

Author(s) should submit an abstract of around 800 words clearly mentioning the title of the paper/essay, name of the author with designation and institutional affiliation. The deadline for abstract submission is March 31 2013. Abstract should be submitted as a MS Word file. Please email the abstract to hrishikesh@efluniversity.ac.in and ravindrakumar@efluniveristy.ac.in

Acceptance of abstract for consideration in the final volume will be communicated for final submission of paper/essay. The paper submitted after acceptance of abstract will undergo review process, after which the final confirmation for inclusion in the edited book will be intimated.

Since the process of peer review takes considerable time author(s) are requested to be patient for the final confirmation of acceptance. The editors hope to publish this volume in 2013 and are looking for well-researched, high quality and properly formatted papers. We especially welcome submissions from young researchers, research scholars and independent researchers.

Deadline for Submission of Abstracts : March 31 2013