This special issue explores the ways in which diverse media and artistic genres cultivate social relationships with and among refugees and internally displaced populations. Building on political-economic studies of forced migration and critiques of humanitarian securitization in the European ‘refugee crisis’ response, this collection draws attention to the role of media and popular communication in shaping the affective dimension of the refugee experience and citizen response. While this collection engages with the dominant discourses that amalgamate fears about diverse migrant communities in Europe and North America, it invites deeper reflection on the social arrangements and emotional expressions afforded by a broader range of: popular communication genres, technological interventions, artistic spaces, and everyday media practices. The theme ‘Refugee Socialities and the Media’ thus redirects focus onto how popular media forms and mediated interactions materialize and visualize processes of inclusion and exclusion and create possibilities for coping and healing for refugees.
The special issue invites submissions engaging with a broad range of mediated socialities–from hospitality to conviviality to hostility–that are experienced by refugees in global context. It also adopts a broad notion of refugee and asylum-seeker; we thus aim to consider environmental refugees such as those in the Caribbean, economic refugees such as those in Hong Kong, and political refugees such as the Rohingya in Myanmar.
We welcome papers that address areas including but not limited to:
· Everyday media practices among refugees· Imaginaries of refugees in popular culture and their creative interruptions· Artistic, entertainment and technological interventions in the borderlands (i.e., refugee camps)· Media events, sports rituals, fandoms in contexts of displacement· Affective dimension of digital humanitarianism, volunteerism, and fundraising for refugees· Celebrities, influencers, and hashtag communities in the refugee response· Participatory media projects with refugees· Inter-migrant interactions, perceptions, and organizations· Media and (open-)home-making and emergent forms of hospitality· Mobile and geolocating media including refugee apps and dating apps in processes of resettlement and acculturation
Deadlines:
· January 15, 2018: Extended abstracts due (500-800 words)· January 30: Decisions announced· April 15: Papers due (6000 words)
The editors are open to discuss proposals and welcome inquiries at jcong@umass.edu (Jonathan) or mr268@leicester.ac.uk (Maria).
