[spectre] www.catacconference.org

[amanda mcdonald crowley]

An alarming lack of representation of people from the region the  
conference is being held (let alone from regions other than western  
europe, northern america and australia) on the organising committee?   
rather strange given the topic and location of the conference?

amc

On 25/01/2006, at 4:11 PM, Geert Lovink wrote:

> International Conference on
> CULTURAL ATTITUDES TOWARDS TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATION (CATaC'06)
>
> 28 June - 1 July 2006
> University of Tartu, Estonia
> http://www.catacconference.org
>
> Conference theme:
> Neither Global Village nor Homogenizing Commodification:
> Diverse Cultural, Ethnic, Gender and Economic Environments
>
> The biennial CATaC conference series continues to provide an
> international forum for the presentation and discussion of current
> research on how diverse cultural attitudes shape the implementation  
> and
> use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The  
> conference
> series brings together scholars from around the globe who provide
> diverse perspectives, both in terms of the specific culture(s) they
> highlight in their presentations and discussions, and in terms of the
> discipline(s) through which they approach the conference theme.
>
> The 1990s' hopes for an "electronic global village" have largely been
> shunted aside by the Internet's explosive diffusion. This diffusion  
> was
> well described by Marx - all that is solid melts into air - and was
> predicted by
> postmodernists. The diffusion of CMC technologies quickly led to many
> and diverse internets. A single "Internet", whose identity and
> characteristics might be examined as a single unity, has not
> materialised. An initially culturally and gender homogenous Internet
> came more and more to resemble an urban metropolis. Along the way, in
> the commercialization of the Internet and the Web, "cultural  
> diversity"
> gets watered down and exchanges strong diversity for a homogenous
> interchangeability. Such diversity thereby becomes commodified and
> serves a global capitalism that tends to foster cultural  
> homogenization.
>
>
> CATaC'06 continues our focus on the intersections of culture,
> technology, and communication, beginning with an emphasis on continued
> critique of the assumptions, categories, methodologies, and theories
> frequently used to analyse these. At the same time, CATaC'06 takes up
> our characteristic focus on ethics and justice in the design and
> deployment of CMC technologies. We particularly focus on developing
> countries facilitated by "on the ground" approaches in the work of  
> NGOs,
> governmental agencies, etc., in ways that preserve and foster cultural
> identity and diversity. By simultaneously critiquing and perhaps
> complexifying our theories and assumptions, on the one hand, and
> featuring "best practices" approaches to CMC in development work,  
> on the
> other hand, CATaC'06 aims towards a middle ground between a putative
> "global village" and homogenizing commodification. Such middle ground
> fosters cultural diversity, economic and social development, and more
> successful cross-cultural communication online.
>
> Original full papers (especially those which connect theoretical
> frameworks with specific examples of cultural values, practices, etc.:
> 10-20 pages) and short papers (e.g. describing current research  
> projects
> and preliminary results: 3-5 pages) are invited.
>
> Topics of particular interest include but are not limited to:
> - Culture isn't 'culture' anymore
> - The Internet isn't the 'Internet' anymore
> - Gender, culture, empowerment and CMC
> - CMC and cultural diversity
> - Ethics and justice
> - Free/Open technology and communication
> - Internet research ethics
> - Cultural diversity and e-learning
>
> SUBMISSIONS
> All submissions will be peer reviewed by an international panel of
> scholars and researchers and accepted papers will appear in the
> conference proceedings. Submission of a paper implies that it has not
> been submitted or published elsewhere. At least one author of each
> accepted paper is expected to present the paper at the conference.
>
> Full papers (10-20 formatted pages) - 13 February 2006
> Short papers (3-5 formatted pages) - 20 February 2006
> Workshop submissions  - 20 February 2006
> Notification of acceptance  - mid March 2006
> Final formatted papers  - 29 March 2006
>
> There will be the opportunity for selected papers from this 2006
> conference to appear in special issues of journals. Papers in previous
> conferences have appeared in journals (Journal of Computer Mediated
> Communication, Electronic Journal of Communication/La Revue  
> Electronique
> de Communication, AI and Society, Javnost- The Public, and New  
> Media and
> Society) and a book (Culture, Technology, Communication: towards an
> Intercultural Global Village, 2001, edited by Charles Ess with Fay
> Sudweeks, SUNY Press, New York). You may purchase the conference
> proceedings from the 2002 and 2004 conference from
> www.it.murdoch.edu.au/catac.
>
> CONFERENCE CO-CHAIRS
>   Charles Ess, Drury University, USA, catac at it.murdoch.edu.au
>   Fay Sudweeks, Murdoch University, Australia, catac at it.murdoch.edu.au
> PROGRAM CHAIR
>   Herbert Hrachovec, University of Vienna, Austria
> CONFERENCE CO-VICE-CHAIRS
>   Pille Runnel, Tartu University, Estonia
>   Pille Vengerfeldt, Tartu University, Estonia
>
>
>
>
>
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--
amanda mcdonald crowley
amc at va.com.au / amc at autonomous.org
AIM: amandamcdc99
skype: amandamcdc