School of Social & Political Sciences

Media and Conflict Memory: an Interdisciplinary Workshop

University of Glasgow, 22-23 November 2023

Call for Submissions

Media are integral to how we both remember and forget conflict.  While individuals refer to the family photo album, the collective memories of communities are often shaped by iconic photographs of traumatic events such as popular uprisings, terrorist attacks, and wars. This memory work was traditionally confined to repositories such as historical archives, museums and institutions.

In recent years the ‘connective turn’ has ‘unmoored’ memory from these institutions, replacing traditional notions of collective memory with the searchable ‘memory of the multitude’ online. The automated systems of online platforms like Facebook ‘dig’ for memories on behalf of their users. Historical photographs shared on photo sharing sites like Instagram facilitate informal learning about events such as the Holocaust among younger generations. This has empowered a new generation of memory activists who leverage the affordances of online platforms for commemoration rituals. More recently, apps like Telegram have made it easier to document human rights violations during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, whilst simultaneously creating a curated, unsanitized ‘war feed’ for global audiences. 

This hybrid workshop seeks to advance the discussion about the role of media in conflict memory work. We adopt a purposefully broad definition of conflict which includes (but is not limited to) armed insurrections, civil disorder, geopolitical interstate conflict, political violence in divided societies, terrorist attacks, and wars. 

We are looking for original and creative contributions that demonstrate the broad range of methodologies (e.g. qualitative, quantitative, digital) in this emergent field. Abstract submissions should explicitly address the role of media (e.g. newspapers, social media, television) in conflict memory. We will accept both theoretical and empirical studies provided they are relevant to the workshop’s key themes.

Possible topics for the workshop include:

• Conflict memory, media and education
• Mediatization of war, terrorism, armed conflict and civil disorder
• Journalistic practice and collective memories of conflict
• Media and conflict memory in post and neo-authoritarian societies
• Memory activism after conflict
• Radio, memory and conflict
• Social media and conflict memory
• Television news and audience understanding of conflict

We especially encourage submissions from early career researchers and those based in Global South countries. There will be a limited number of travel bursaries available for those traveling to Glasgow to attend in-person. 

Abstracts of 300-500 words, excluding references, should be sent to paul.reilly@glasgow.ac.uk and virpi.salojarvi@helsinki.fi.
Please indicate on your submission whether you will attend in-person or online, and if you wish to be considered for a travel bursary should your abstract be accepted.
There will be no registration fee for participants accepted for the workshop. Workshop participants will be invited to submit an abstract for a co-edited volume based on the workshop.

The deadline for submissions is 17 August 2023.

This event is co-sponsored by the Crisis, Security and Conflict Communication and Communication in Post and Neo-Authoritarian Societies Working Groups of the International Association of Media and Communication Researchers (IAMCR). 

If you have any questions about the workshop please contact the organisers:

Dr Paul Reilly, University of Glasgow (paul.reilly@glasgow.ac.uk)
Dr Virpi Salojärvi, University of Vaasa/University of Helsinki  (virpi.salojarvi@helsinki.fi)
Dr Katja Lehtisaari, Tampere University (katja.lehtisaari@tuni.fi)

*Time image credit: Mstyslav Chernov/Unframe/http://www.unframe.com/, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons 

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First published: 26 May 2023