Call for papers: Digital Transactions in Asia Conference

This is a press release from De La Salle University.

The reconfiguration of social, cultural, economic, and political relationships, in parallel with the pervasive application of digital technologies, has been regarded as an epochal shift in the Western world.

In contemporary Asia, the breathtaking rapidity and scale of digitization provides us with an even greater remaking and reinvigorating of human relationships. This is an era where rapid commercial growth across the region proceeds in tandem with the spread of digital media devices.

For ordinary people, social media platforms offer new economic opportunities along with the monetization of the personal and the everyday. In the public domain, Asian state systems are having to contend with explosions of popular expression, public debate and political mobilization, even as these activities are highly contested and contestable.

Asian markets are increasingly determined by flows of virtual capital, information commodities, consumers and labor. In this context, it is increasingly evident that the rise of a Digital Asia is accompanied by new aspirations and understandings of modernization, participation and development.

This conference considers the instances and processes through which new sets of social, economic and political transactions are being established between citizens and states, markets and publics, cultures and commodities in a Digital Asia.

The conference, to be held from October 10-12, 2018 at the campus of De La Salle University in Manila, is co-hosted by the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Queensland and the Department of Communication, De La Salle University.

The conference will include two full days of presentations for a public audience 10-11th October, followed by a research workshop on 12th October.

Given the inter- and trans-disciplinary nature of its theme, the conference is intended to be of interest to researchers from a diverse variety of backgrounds and disciplinary orientations in the Humanities and Social Sciences. We will also consider submissions of creative and technical works, along with professional contributions from industry and non-governmental organizations.

Submission Guidelines

We are currently inviting abstract submissions (500 words) addressing the following themes:

• Development and (In)equalities
• Currencies and Commodities
• Populism and Public Speech
• Mobilities and mobilization
• Intimacies and Moral Economies
• Governance and Citizenship
• Mobile and Informal Economies
• Innovation and Disruption

A limited number of bursaries covering economy air travel and accommodation for the duration of the event are available on a competitive basis for paper presenters working at institutions within the ASEAN region. If you wish to be considered for a bursary, please indicate your interest and affiliation in your abstract submission. We will subsequently contact you regarding the bursary selection process that will occur in June 2018.

For all selected participants, a final paper of 6,000 words will be requested by 31 July 2018 for review in the SAGE journal Media International Australia and for inclusion in an edited volume with a major international publisher. For further inquiries and for the submission of abstracts, please contact the conference organizing committee via digitaltransactions.asia@gmail.com.

Key Dates

• May 9, 2018: Deadline for the submission of abstracts
• May 28, 2018: Acceptance of abstracts/papers
• June 30, 2018: Results of travel grant application
• July 31, 2018: Final paper submission
• October 10-12, 2018: Conference and workshops

Organizing Committee

• Adrian Athique (University of Queensland)
• Cheryll Soriano (De La Salle University)
• Sun Sun Lim (Singapore University of Technology and Design)
• Emma Baulch (Queensland University of Technology / Monash U Malaysia)
• Jozon Lorenzana (Ateneo de Manila University)

Venue

The conference will be held in the campus of De La Salle University (DLSU) in Manila. DLSU positions itself as a learner-centered and research institution of higher learning active in community engagement. The university serves as a significant resource for the Philippines by developing leaders and achievers in business, public service, education, science and technology, and the arts.

Taking on the challenges of a global society, DLSU actively collaborates with international partner institutions such as the ASEAN University Network, of which it is a founding member. DLSU is the first university in the region to be conferred by the said body the Quality Mark at the Institutional Level. Nestled in the heart of Manila, the DLSU campus is situated in a historic city with a vibrant culture and diversity.

Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Queensland

The Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Queensland is dedicated to high level research with a focus on Intellectual and Literary History, Critical and Cultural Studies, the History of Emotions and Science and Society. The Critical and Cultural Studies program examines the role of culture within processes of social change, both as a means of expression and as a central motivation for human actions.

We undertake critical inquiries that examine new forms of technology, the significance of cultural differences and the relationship between cultural identities and the experience of everyday life. Our research on media technologies and social change seeks to explore new areas of interaction between academic expertise and the public.

Our focus on the experiences of ordinary people has inspired substantive studies of youth, gender and social inclusion in Australia. CCS has also made a long term commitment to developing Cultural Studies research in Asia, with innovative work in China, Japan and India being prominent examples of our research partnerships in the region.

Department of Communication, De La Salle University

The Department of Communication of De La Salle University aims to be a community of reflective, innovative and strategic communicators driving sustainable and inclusive change. We bring together the humanities and the social sciences with our three academic programs and research areas: Communication Arts, Organizational Communication, and (Applied) Media Studies. Our programs provide a balance of theory and practice, preparing students to work as communication leaders and ethical media professionals.

Our Faculty and students engage in research and creative media projects that examine the role of communication and media in everyday social and political processes and dynamics. Our Faculty, composed of academics and industry practitioners, are involved in diverse research streams: new media and social change, health communication, environmental communication, digital labor, organizational communication, queer media studies, journalism, media literacy, film/media criticism and production, and public relations.

Some of our Faculty are celebrated industry professionals: filmmakers, journalists, writers, designers, film/television/digital media producers and public relations practitioners. – Rappler.com