CFP - M/C - "Citizen" (Extended deadline: 20 Feb 2008)

M/C - Media and Culture is calling for contributors to the 'citizen' issue of M/C Journal. M/C Journal is looking for new contributors. M/C is a crossover journal between the popular and the academic, and a blind- and peer-reviewed journal. In 2008, M/C Journal celebrates its 10th anniversary.

To see what M/C Journal is all about, check out our website, which contains all the issues released so far.

Call for Papers: 'citizen'
Edited by Jason Wilson and Barry Saunders

Citizen is a word we hear more frequently all the time, but it's also one whose meaning has never seemed less clear. "Citizen journalists" and "e-citizenship" initiatives are everywhere, but so are signs of crisis in democratic institutions and processes. The online tools used to promote new forms of active citizenship are products of an era where the traditional focus of citizenship - the nation - seems far less powerful and important than ever in the face of global flows of capital, communication and culture. The exhortations to pursue new forms of political engagement - like public affairs blogging and citizen journalism - can only be read alongside the mounting evidence of a widespread disengagement from politics. It's not clear whether or how democratic institutions can (or ought to) adapt themselves to the changing modes of participation. And it's also unclear whether the online spaces given over to political debate do anything more than further polarize our conversations. But can institutions and an increasingly diverse online public sphere change and adapt to one another to renew democratic participation?

For this edition of M/C Journal, we're looking for pieces that weigh up the impact of new forms of political participation. We'd especially like to encourage articles that reflect on concrete attempts to increase participation in the political process, and to promote citizenship.

Whether you'd like to reflect on an initiative you've participated in, or link theory with interesting examples of media practice and activism, we'd like to feature your contribution. Submit papers of 3,000 words in length to the editors at citizen@journal.media-culture.org.au.

Article deadline: 20 February 2008
Issue release date: 12 March 2008

M/C Journal was founded (as "M/C - A Journal of Media and Culture") in 1998 as a place of public intellectualism analysing and critiquing the meeting of media and culture. Contributors are directed to past issues of M/C Journal for examples of style and content, and to the submissions page for comprehensive article submission guidelines. M/C Journal articles are blind peer-reviewed.