Special Issue of the Journal of Communication:
Ferments in the Field: The Past, Present and Futures of Communication
Studies
Editors: Christian Fuchs & Jack Qiu
Call for submission of extended abstracts

In 1983, Journal of Communication (JoC) published the special issue
“Ferment in the Field” (Volume 33, Issue 3, co-edited by George Gerbner
and Marsha Siefert). The issue focused on “questions about the role of
communications scholars and researchers, and of the discipline as a
whole, in society” (Gerbner & Siefert, 1983, p. 4). The 35 contributions
reflected “on the state of communications research today; the
relationship of the researcher to science, society, and policy; the
goals of research with respect to social issues and social structure;
and the tactics and strategies for reaching their goals” (ibid). In
1993, two comparable JoC issues were dedicated to “The Disciplinary
Status of Communication Research” (Volume 43, Issues 3-4, co-edited by
Mark Levy and Michael Gurevitch). In 2008, a JoC special issue discussed
“Epistemological and Disciplinary Intersections” (Volume 58, Issue 4,
edited by Michael Pfau).

More than three decades after the original Ferment issue, it is again
time to reflect on disciplinary transformations in communication
studies. By calling this new special issue Ferments in the Field, we see
historical continuity in our efforts along JoC’s tradition of inviting
communication scholarship to reflect upon itself. Meanwhile, we ask
questions with a special eye on the increasing complexity and diversity
of the field:

* What does the field of communication research look like?
* What have been the key tendencies and developments in communication(s)
research and its subfields?
* How has the field developed in the past decades? What have been
long-term continuities and discontinuities since the 1980s?
* What is the actual and desirable role for communication studies in
contemporary academe and society?
* What is the status of theory, methods, critique, ethics, and
interdisciplinarity in our field?
* What is the status of critical research and theories?
* How should the field position itself vis-à-vis key contemporary
processes and challenges?
* What does the future of communication studies look like?

Contributions to a new edition of “Ferments in the Field” should be
provocative essays that offer bold ideas with broad implications for the
field as a whole and areas of specializations. This special issue speaks
of ferments in the plural in order to spur reflections beyond
established academic boundaries and stimulate discussions that encourage
scholars to think beyond comfort zones. From multiple theoretical,
methodological, and disciplinary perspectives, it asks about the
continuities and discontinuities in communication research in an attempt
to initiate a new round of debates about the past, present and futures
of the field.

The special issue will be published in 2018. The editors are Professor
Christian Fuchs (University of Westminster) and Professor Jack Qiu
(Chinese University of Hong Kong).

Authors are welcome to submit extended abstracts to the Editors by
December 1, 2016. Extended abstracts should have a length of 400-1,000
words (excluding tables, figures, and references). Abstracts should be
submitted to c.fuchs@westminster.ac.uk and jacklqiu@cuhk.edu.hk.
For doing so, please complete use the submission form available here:
http://fuchs.uti.at/wp-content/Ferments.docx

Subsequently, authors who were asked to submit complete papers will need
to submit their manuscripts by May 2, 2017. Each manuscript should not
exceed 4,000 words (including tables, figures, and references).