The Crisis Communication Working Group aims to provide a forum for scholars researching the mediation of political and economic crisis, wars and terrorism, disasters, catastrophes and risks, combining global and local perspectives. We adopt a broad understanding of crisis communication with theoretical contributions from different perspectives and disciplines and hope to stimulate fruitful discussions about threat-image constructions and the consequences for democracy and civil rights.

Argument

The Crisis Communication Working Group of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites submissions for the 2015 IAMCR Conference. The Conference will be held at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Canada, from 12th to 16th July 2015.

The Crisis Communication Working Group aims to provide a forum for scholars researching the mediation of political and economic crisis, wars and terrorism, disasters, catastrophes and risks, combining global and local perspectives. We adopt a broad understanding of crisis communication with theoretical contributions from different perspectives and disciplines and hope to stimulate fruitful discussions about threat-image constructions and the consequences for democracy and civil rights.

Key themes include

• Communication related to War, Terrorism, and Regional Conflicts.
• Economic and Financial Crisis Communication
• Communication related to Disasters, Pandemics, Environmental issues and Climate Changes
• Communication related to Political Scandals
• Communication related to Immigration, Mobility, Ethnicity and Race

In addition to individual papers, we would like to encourage research panels aimed at comparing crisis communication in different areas and regions across cultural boundaries. A proposal for a panel should provide a panel title, a framing text (with the overall idea of the panel in maximum 500 words) and short abstracts for the including papers with titles and authors. A panel chair and a discussant can also be proposed. The panel framing text and the individual paper abstracts need to be submitted separately.

The Working Group encourages senior scholars to take part in moderation of panels and chairing sessions. Please let us know if you are interested. We might also contact you.

Submission information

Individual papers and panels are possible, but all proposals must be submitted through the online Open Conference System from 1 December 2014 to 9 February 2015. Early submission is strongly encouraged. There are to be no email submissions of abstracts addressed to any Section or Working Group Head.

This section accepts abstracts in English only, and will arrange for presentations in English only.

It is expected that for the most part, only one (1) abstract will be submitted per person for consideration by the Conference. However, under no circumstances should there be more than two (2) abstracts bearing the name of the same applicant either individually or as part of any group of authors. Please note also that the same abstract or another version with minor variations in title or content must not be submitted to other Sections or Working Groups of the Association for consideration, after an initial submission. Such submissions will be deemed to be in breach of the conference guidelines and will be automatically rejected by the Open Conference System, by the relevant Head or by the Conference Programme Reviewer. Such applicants risk being removed entirely from the conference programme.

The deadline for the submission of abstracts and panel proposals (300-500 words)

is 9th February 2015.

Full papers (around 7,500 words excluding notes and references) must be uploaded via the IAMCR OCS page by 19th June 2015.

Upon submission of an abstract, you will be asked to confirm that your submission is original and that it has not been previously published in the form presented. You will also be given an opportunity to declare if your submission is currently before another conference for consideration.

Presenters are expected to bring fully developed work to the conference. Prior to the conference, it is expected that a completed paper will be submitted to Section, Working Group, Session Chairs, and/or Discussants.

Sections and Working Groups are responsible for most of the content of IAMCR conferences. Their heads receive proposals, manage the evaluation process, and structure their programmes.

Working Group Chair

• Rikke Bjerg Jensen, Royal Holloway University of London, UK, Centre for Criminology and Sociology (CrimSoc)

Rikke.Jensen[at]rhul.ac.uk

Working Group Vice-Chair

• Eva-Karin Olsson, National Defence College, Sweden, Department of Security, Strategy and Leadership

Eva-Karin.Olsson[at]fhs.se