RHN 33/2015 | Call
Panel organisers: Clemens Zimmermann, Universität des Saarlandes and Ernst Langthaler, Institute of Rural History, St. Pölten
Panel at the ESSHC 2016
30 March - 2 April 2016, Valencia, Spain
Deadline: 25 April 2015
Medialisation in Rural Societies in a Comparative Perspective
Colleagues from all over Europe are invited to submit paper proposals for a panel at the next European Social Science History Conference (30 March – 2 April 2016, Valencia, Spain). The last decades have seen a growing body of historical research on the entanglement of media and social life not only in metropolitan areas but also in small towns, villages and remote areas. Much of this attention has been devoted to case studies. In order to broaden the interpretive scope and to deepen our understanding of the fundamental social transformations associated with changes in rural media landscapes, the time is ripe to concentrate on comparative inquiries. Therefore, we seek papers that develop a comparative approach on the process of mutual interferences between media and society in rural hinterlands. Comparisons can be made between different geographical regions, points in time or forms of media. Whatever approach is taken, however, an explicit justification of the level of comparison or comparative methodology should be offered. We particularly welcome proposals exploring
- configurations of rural medialisation: the development of new media technologies, infrastructures and institutions over time; integration and/or marginalisation of rural spaces; interacting media structures; pace and dynamics of medialisation; distinct audiences/users; differences within/between provincial areas, e.g. small towns, dispersed settlements, remote areas;
- appropriation and rural medialisation: social contexts of media use; integration of media into the daily live; media and visual/auditory/narrative culture; rural lifestyles and medialisation;
- state, markets and rural medialisation: local politics, political events and new media; transformations of rural political culture and new styles of political communication; cultural industries, media economy and the countryside; advertisement, home shopping, e-commerce.
Proposals of 250 to 350 words including a short CV should be sent by 25 April 2015 to Clemens Zimmermann (cl.zimmermann@mx.uni-saarland.de) and Ernst Langthaler (ernst.langthaler@ruralhistory.at).