The sixth volume in the “European Integration and Democracy” book series titled “Disinformation and digital media as a challenge for democracy” is calling for chapters.

“This book is motivated, to a large extent, by the recent developments in information, misinformation and disinformation practices. From the beginning of history, various and diverse means or channels of communication have been employed to inform, misinform (unintentionally) and disinform (deliberately); the book will focus mainly on the last of these practices, frequently labelled ‘fake news’”, the call states.

This edited book aims to contribute to a better understanding of contemporary disinformation practices and digital media. Its overall goal is to map and analyse their impacts on democracy /sensu largo /and, eventually, to draw lessons for the future.

[spoiler title=’More concretely, the book will explore topics such as:’ style=’default’ collapse_link=’true’]

▪ *setting the scene: *mapping and delineating ‘fake news’, ‘post-truth’, ‘alternative facts’ and other catch-all terms related to contemporary disinformation practices; mapping and delineating contemporary ‘digital’ media; exploring their forms, contents, meaning, causes, historical development as well as the benefits and threats that they might pose both to individuals, groups and societies;

▪ *modus operandi: *the functioning, purposes and power of disinformation in human life and in society; the role of emotions, emerging technologies (e.g. social media and other platforms, algorithms, artificial intelligence), relevant social practices (e.g. manipulation, propaganda, surveillance) as well as other factors (e.g. media literacy) in disinforming;

▪ *democracy: *the relation between these disinformation practices, on the one hand, and democracy, on the other; especially their impacts on and their ramifications for democratic values (e.g. pluralism, veracity, trust) and processes (e.g. public debates, elections and accountability), the rule of law (/Rechtsstaat/), and the respect for human rights (e.g. fair trial, freedom of expression, privacy and personal data protection);

▪ *case studies: *the changes brought about by these disinformation practices to various sectors of public life, e.g. macro- and micro economy, banking, finance, business, innovation, research and technology development, religion, media, arts and culture, etc.; the change brought about to specific societal challenges, e.g. migration, climate change, hate speech, etc., the change brought about to individual countries (jurisdictions);

▪ *roles and responsibilities: *identifying the key actors – policy-makers, media outlets, journalists, service providers, technology developers, non-governmental organisations, religious associations, artists, etc. and the public at large – and discussing their roles and responsibilities in the production and circulation of as well as in confronting disinformation; the consequences of such confrontation for democracy, the rule of law (/Rechtsstaat/) and the respect for fundamental rights.

Moreover, the Editors welcome further proposals for topics to be explored. The book will take a broad, interdisciplinary perspective, analysing the subject-matter from the diverse viewpoints of philosophy, ethics, law, history, political science, economy, business management, sociology, psychology, geography, linguistics, computer science, journalism and media studies, science and technology studies (STS), among others. In addition, comparative analyses are strongly encouraged.[/spoiler]

Deadline for 1500-3000 extended abstracts is 30 June 2018.

Link to full call for papers on the ECREA mailing list.