The Participatory Communication Research (PCR) Section of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites the submission of abstracts for IAMCR 2025, which will be held in Singapore from 13 to 17 July 2025, hosted by the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University.
The deadline for submission is 7 February 2025, at 23h59 UTC.
About PCR
The PCR Section explores theoretical, methodological and practice-based processes and case-studies of participation in many different places and contexts. We are interested in research and practice that addresses issues related to communication between community members and other stakeholders that are engaged in processes of social change. This includes subjects and processes such as: community and sustainable development, cultural heritage, communication and information rights, health communication, environmental communication, agricultural extension services, folk media, community media, social movements, activism; national and cultural identities and more; and methods such as participatory video, photovoice, community media production, participatory rapid appraisals, participatory action research and participatory arts. The section encourages interdisciplinary methods marked by critique, creativity and innovation.
See the list of all sections and working groups and their remits
See the CfPs of all sections and working groups
PCR 2025 Themes
The central theme of IAMCR’s 2025 conference, Communicating Environmental Justice: Many Voices, One Planet, opens the opportunity for the section to reflect on foundational ideas of participation. The theme and ideas evoke the spirit of The MacBride Report, officially titled Many Voices, One World (1980) by the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems, which aimed to promote a more equitable and diverse media environment by addressing imbalances in global communication structures. It also harkens back to Jan Servaes’ seminal book, Communication for Development: One World, Multiple Cultures published in 1999.The legacy of these two texts, endures in the continued need for communication research and practice to emphasise the importance of diverse representations, perspectives and cultural contexts in understanding communication processes, particularly for social change. Looking forward, we should now move beyond human-centric thinking to include a planetary perspective, as a new way of seeing, learning from and respecting the natural world. How can participatory communication and the concepts of multiplicity, more recently expressed as pluriversality (or epistemic diversity) enable more-than-human research and planetary citizenship that champions both environmental and social justice? Sharing the resources of a finite planet requires social justice, and ways of communicating and storytelling to co-create our common futures.
Consult a detailed description of the main conference theme
Not all submissions have to address the central theme, but the following are suggested areas that connect the PCR section to the conference general call:
- Advances in participatory research: methods and theories
- AI as a transformative agent for participation
- Community and citizen-centred planetary stewardship: agency and participation
- Creative participation and pluriversality: participatory arts, storytelling, and performative interventions
- Indigenous communication systems, cosmologies and participation
- Navigating the nature/culture relationship (more-than-human) for participatory communication
- Participation for environmental and social justice, advocacy and activism
- Participatory media: voice and social change
- Public Policy, Participation, and Environmental Governance
- Resilience and participation
Joint sessions
This year, PCR will host joint sessions with the Community Communication and Alternative Media Section (CAM), Health Communication Working Group (HEC) and the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN). These joint sessions recognise the value of interdisciplinarity and mentorship-oriented spaces. If you would like your proposed paper to be included in a joint session, please do the following:
- For the PCR / CAM and the PCR / HEC joint sessions please submit your abstract to the Participatory Communication Research section and choose the topic CAM/PCR joint session or HEC/PCR joint session on the submission platform.
- For the PCR / ESN joint session please submit to the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN) using the tag PCR/ESN joint session.
New Books and Special Issues session
One session in the programme will be dedicated to new books and Special Issues of journals published in the past year. To have your book or Special Issue included submit your abstract and select the topic tag PCR New Book.
Guidelines for abstracts
Abstract should be between 500 and 800 words and must be submitted exclusively through IAMCR’s submission system from 3 December 2024 through 7 February 2025, at 23.59 UTC. Emailed abstracts will not be accepted.
It is expected that each person will submit only one abstract. However, no author’s name should appear on more than two abstracts, either individually or as part of any group of authors and authors should not submit more than one abstract to any single section or working group.
Statement on use of AI tools
IAMCR does not encourage or condone the use of generative AI tools to prepare abstracts submitted for consideration for our conferences. IAMCR values originality, integrity, and transparency in academic work, and believes that human-authored contributions best support rigorous and innovative scholarship in media and communication research. Should an author choose to use a generative AI tool in the preparation of an abstract, we require that they include a clear statement within their submission disclosing the tool's use. This statement must specify: (1) the name of any AI tool used; (2) how the tool was used in preparing the abstract, and; (3) the reason for using the tool. Failure to disclose the use of generative AI in accordance with these guidelines may impact the evaluation and acceptance of the submission.
Languages
Abstracts and presentations can be submitted and delivered in English and Spanish.
Deadlines and key dates
The deadline to submit abstracts is 7 February 2025, at 23.59 UTC. For other key dates see https://iamcr.org/singapore2025/keydates. Dates are subject to change.
Contacts
For further information about the Participatory Communication Research Section, or if you have questions about themes, submissions or panels please contact: iamcr.pcr@gmail.com
