CFP: Taking Stock of Research on Violent Political Extremism

VOX-POL MID-PROJECT CONFERENCE:
Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
23 – 24 June 2016 (pre-conf workshops 22 June)

The VOX-Pol Network of Excellence (voxpol.eu) is an EU-funded academic research network focused on researching the prevalence, contours, functions, and impacts of violent online political extremism and responses to it. For more info., visit http://www.voxpol.eu or follow us on Twitter at @VOX_Pol.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

J.M. Berger is a fellow with George Washington University’s Program on Extremism. He is a researcher, analyst and consultant, with a special focus on extremist activities in the U.S. and use of social media. Berger is co-author of ISIS: The State of Terror (2015) with Jessica Stern and author of Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam (2011). Berger publishes the web site Intelwire.com and has written for Politico, The Atlantic and Foreign Policy, among others. He was previously a non-resident fellow with the Brookings Institution, Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, and an associate fellow with the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at VOX-Pol partner institution, King’s College London.

Dunja Mijatović is the OSCE’s Representative on Freedom of the Media. Mijatović was a founder of the Communications Regulatory Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2007 she was elected Chair of the European Platform of Regulatory Agencies. She also chaired the Council of Europe’s Group of Specialists on freedom of expression and information in times of crisis. Mijatović is an expert in human rights, communications and media strategy and regulatory and media policy. She also has many years of experience in issues related to journalists’ safety and new media, including digitalization, convergence and the Internet.

CALL FOR PAPERS

We are seeking panels and papers describing and discussing in-depth and cutting-edge research on violent political extremism and terrorism and the Internet.

Perspectives from all academic (sub-)disciplines are welcome, particularly communications, computer science, cultural studies, ethnography, fan studies, information science, international relations, internet studies, law, media studies, philosophy, politics, psychology, sociology, translation studies, and terrorism studies.

The following topics are of particular interest:

• History and evolution of violent online extremism;
• Online radicalisation;
• The Internet and recruitment into violent political extremist and terrorist groups;
• Methodologies, including mixed methods approaches, for violent political extremism and terrorism-related Internet research;
• Children/youth, violent political extremism, and online content;
• Women/gender, violent political extremism, and online content;
• Case studies of particular (sub-)groups’ cross-platform use of the Internet and social media;
• Case studies of the use of the Internet by violent extremists and/or terrorists in particular countries or regions;
• Case studies of the manifestation(s) and workings of violent political extremism on specific online platforms, particularly less-studied platforms (e.g. JustPaste.It, Tumblr, VKontakte);
• Case studies of particular online mediums or Internet-related technologies (e.g. video, mobile telephones, etc.) and their roles in violent online extremism;
• The role of online crowdsourcing in violent political extremism and terrorism;
• Audience reception of violent online political extremist content;
• Policy/legislative and other responses to violent online political extremism, including online CVE activity;
• The role of the Darkweb in contemporary violent extremism and/or terrorism;
• Ethical issues surrounding online extremism-related research;
• Evaluative or ‘taking stock’ analyses.

We welcome papers or panel proposals in these and all relevant areas, particularly empirically grounded research and papers reporting significant new results. Papers that are methodologically innovative are also especially welcome.

Authors of individual papers should submit a 300-word abstract via our proposal submission page by 5pm GMT on Friday, 4 March 2016. Panel proposals should include a 200-word abstract and confirmed list of minimum 3 panelists.

FURTHER INFORMATION

For information on pre-conference workshops, keynote speakers, registration fees, travel funding, visas, etc. Please visit the conference page on our website.