The European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Ljubljana (UL FDV), and the Slovene Communication Association will host the 10th European Communication Conference (ECC) in Ljubljana (Slovenia) from 23 to 27 September 2024. The organizers call for proposals that contribute to reconsidering communication and social (dis)order from various perspectives represented by ECREA Sections, Networks, and Temporary Working Groups.

Conference Theme

What is the place of media and communication in today’s globalized society, affected by ongoing social and political conflicts, wars, the systemic crises of the capitalist order, prospects of further environmental degradation, weather extremes and continuous pandemics, the restructuring of everyday life by the rise of artificial intelligence, and the epistemic crisis within which contemporary academia operates?

Disruptions in the fields of politics, economy, health, and technology have significantly reshaped contemporary communication, resulting in dysfunctional unpredictability of the social system with troubling consequences for individuals and society as a whole. At the same time, recent technological developments and changing communication practices have often been labelled as exacerbators and even the origin of these systemic disruptions, emphasizing their destructive (disorder) or creative potential (new order).

Historically, however, technologies and communication practices have continuously been reconfigured by the tendencies to reproduce the prevailing social organization and its control, sustaining the established norms, values, and relations, and the struggles to transform the prevailing structures and relations to ameliorate inequalities, discrimination, and surveillance on individual, social, and global levels. Considering that the trajectories of future societal development are shaped by the outcomes of current struggles, this underscores the urgency of scientific reflection and examination at this moment, in support of the necessary social change towards greater social justice.

The ECC 2024 conference invites participants to reconsider the communication (dis)order by reflecting upon ongoing political, economic, environmental, health, and technological disruptions, their (dys)functional (un)predictability, and their long-term societal implications. While the speed and scope of contemporary communicative developments and social disruptions can easily generate an impression of unprecedented changes, felt either as a breakdown of the “old” order or the creation of a “new” one, this sensation is by no means exclusive to the present moment.

Submission and Deadline

Proposals for individual papers, panels, and roundtables can be submitted to one of ECREA Sections, Temporary Working Groups, and Networks through the ECC 2024 submission platform until 16 January 2024. All proposals should be written in English.

Abstracts for individual papers (400–500 words, including references) should succinctly convey the study’s primary research problem, methodology, key findings, and their implications. Individual papers should align with and support the conference theme.

Panel proposals should comprise five individual contributions, consisting of a panel rationale along with five panel paper abstracts. The panel rationale (400–500 words, including references) should elucidate the theme and its relevance within the broader conference context. Each panel paper abstract (400–500 words, including references) should further elaborate on specific research topics, main objectives, methodology, and findings, ensuring alignment with and support for the panel rationale.

Roundtables should involve no more than five initial participants and are designed to foster discussion and interaction among delegates on a specific topic. Roundtable submissions (500–600 words, including references) should provide details about the discussion topic and its relevance, including the names of the organizers and initial participants. The availability of these participants must be confirmed at the time of proposal submission.

Each participant may only be nominated as the first (presenting) author in one accepted submission. However, there are no restrictions on the number of presentations where a conference participant is listed as a co-author. Additionally, participants are welcome to serve as chairs, respondents for panels, or participants in roundtable discussions.

  • Submission system opens: 26 September 2023
  • Submission of paper and panel abstracts: 11 January 2024
  • Notification of acceptance: 12 March 2024
  • End of early bird registration fee: 27 June 2024

More details, submission form, etc. at cstonline.netecrea2024ljubljana.eu/