CFP for special issue on Religion, Media, and the Public Sphere

A call has been issued for a special issue of Canadian Journal of Communication on "Visible-Invisible: Religion, Media, and the Public Sphere". The issues is guest edited by Jeremy Stolow and Alexandra Boutros. Despite these important advances in the scholarly literature, the analysis of how precisely different media technologies, organizational structures, and practices contribute (or not) to religion’s public visibility is far from complete. Communications scholars in particular have much to add to the discussion. In this spirit, this special issue of the Canadian Journal of Communication seeks contributions that will advance our understanding of what is made visible, and what remains invisible, at the intersection of religion and media. In what ways do the notions of “visibility” or “invisibility” advance our understanding of the public place of religion in contemporary societies? What are the communicational infrastructures that shape religious “in-visibility”?

They invite authors to submit proposals that explore this cluster of concerns with reference to diverse themes, cases, and theoretical considerations, including, but not limited to studies of:

•the transformation of public spaces into places where the intersection of religion and activism is performed on/for a world stage (such as the oft-mediated spectacle of the “Arab spring”)
•the ways media institutions and policy regimes intersect with and shape the public visibility of religion (e.g., in the regulation of “religious broadcasting”)
•contestations of the role of religion in public life (including, for instance, efforts to expand or enforce legal and political notions of “secularism” or “laïcité”)
•the public visibility of religious actors, institutions, or communities in relation to questions about citizenship, nationalism, transnational mobility, and the constitution of diasporas.
•the wearing of “modest dress” (such as the niqab) as forms of what might be called “sartorial invisibility.”
•religious actions dealing with “invisible” things (prayer, magical powers, etc)
•the seemingly new visibility of religion in what some call the digital public sphere.

Proposals of 250-500 words will be accepted until Friday 3 May 2013. Please include a prospective title for your article, a brief overview of your proposed essay, and a short bio-note about yourself.

Complete versions of essays (7,000-9,000 words) will be due by 1 November 2013. We welcome essays either in English or in French.

To submit your proposal, or for any further queries regarding this special issue, please contact the issue editors directly:
•Jeremy Stolow: jeremy.stolow@concordia.ca
•Alexandra Boutros: aboutros@wlu.ca

The full CFP is available online at: http://www.cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/announcement/view/193

For information about the Canadian Journal of Communication and for general information about submission guidelines
to the journal, please visit: http://www.cjc-­‐online.ca/index.php/journal/about/submissions