CMCL International Conference, 2nd edition
Lyon (France), Nov. 28th – Dec. 1st, 2022

Organised by

Utopia of a Globalized Culture
Reality of Local Communication Practices

African Public Spheres trough Media, Discourses and Communication Practices

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The CMCL international conference "Utopia of a Globalized Culture and Reality of Local Communication Practices" aims at exploring the various issues at stake when worldwide Information Technologies – often Western Centric - meet local uses in diverse territories. To address them, we intend to grasp the heterogeneity of uses, productions and the questions they ask.

In 2019, the first edition was dedicated to French speaking sub-Saharan Africa (https://cmcl19.sciencesconf.org/). The 2022 edition expands its focus on every African country. The continent can be characterised by its cultural and geo-political heterogeneity. These various contexts imply specific issues regarding media practices, discourses and the condition under with they reach local public spheres.

The concept of public sphere, elaborated by Jürgen Habermas as part of his theory on the foundations of democracy in Western Europe, raised intense debates as to its relevance in order to understand contemporary democracies. Primarily questioned from a European point of view, it is also mobilized, as well as criticized, by research analysing political transformations in other regions of the world, including African countries.

The 2022 edition of the CMCL conference intends to contribute to these debates by confronting the technological and cultural globalization phenomena with the reality of local media and discourses. This means going beyond the normative and political dimensions of the public spheres concept, and finding new ways to analyse African contemporary societies.
Issues raised by the CMCL conference are of primary interest to communication and media studies. Contributions from other disciplines are however welcome they will enrich the discussions, including those outside social sciences. The conference main objective is indeed to address the problematic of public spheres in Africa through various disciplinary approaches in order to open new perspectives. On the one hand, we would like to link anthropology and political science (Dahou, 2005; Banégas, Brisset-Foucault & Cutolo, 2012) stronger with communication issues. On the other hand, research conducted in African contexts might bring complementary analysis regarding European public spheres contemporary mutations.

Proposals on the following sub-themes are welcome. Contributors might also want to address transversal issues or even challenge themes’ perimeter or relevance, regarding specific contexts.

1. Civic engagement and the construction of social problems

Social networks have contributed to freedom of expression in many African countries, by spreading the voice of anonymous citizens. People are becoming more and more aware of their rights. This leads them to take a stand on social problems and sometimes contribute in constructing them. Most countries in the word are concerned with such transformations. Nevertheless, it seems that academic research on these topics is mostly produced by western countries, thus taking few considerations of African specific contexts.

Contributions to this thematic should focus on the construction of social problems (Spector & Kitsuse, 1977) through communication processes, media transformations and discourses that circulate in this context. They could also address how African socio-cultural values emerge in new communication practices (Houessou, 2020) as well as public engagement of citizens, communities or opinion leaders (Havard, Wilhelm & Malick Diouf, 2020).

2. NGOs, foreign countries and international institutions

To what extent does the intervention of NGOs, other countries and international institutions influence local public spheres? Various foreign states and organizations are involved in many African countries, whether directly through public policies or through soft-power strategies, or indirectly through private para-state structures (Audinet & Harding, 2021).

These foreign interventions deserve to be considered from a public sphere point of view. Such communication processes apply mainly to political discourses, but also to media discourses and cultural productions, in a broader sense. To what extent do international stakeholders intervene in the media and cultural productions on the continent? Which political and social discourses do they fuel or challenge? How do they contribute to structuring or transformating African media "systems" (Frère, 2020)?

3. Critical, deconstructionists, post-colonialists and pan-Africanists discourses

Many individuals take advantage of what digital tools offer to develop “counter-discourses” (Auboussier, 2015) in the public sphere. In African countries, these discourses often focus on controversial subjects: democratic rules, military cooperation, monetary agreements…. They aim at deconstructing opinions, denouncing neo-colonialism or promoting pan-Africanism. Digital tools foster the implementation of these discursive spaces and ease the dissemination of this kind of discourses. They also take place during academic conferences, political and militant gatherings, carried by associations, political parties, intellectual movements, as well as in the traditional media. radio or TV show, academic conferences, workshops, political meetings, activists’ gatherings…

In this context, the conference intends to better understand the role played by such discourses. It might prove interesting to question the contemporary forms of these discourses and the way they spread through various discursive spaces, where opposition to the established order and refutation of dominant discourses take shape.

4. Cultural, creative and media industries; informational and cultural practices

Even if most cultural contents broadcasted in Africa come from Hollywood and European countries, this does not imply cultural homogenization (Mattelart, 2009). Studies have shown filtering and poaching processes in the consumption of foreign contents (Werner, 2012). Local cultures merge with globalized productions, proposing alternate social or political significance (Ahouandjinou, Badou and Zounon, 2020). However, digital technologies have contributed in different developing the cinema sector (Dakouré, 2021), international companies invest in online distribution of African films (e.g. Netflix) and African distribution platforms are created (e.g. IrokoTV).

Contributions to this theme should focus on the issues of production, distribution or consultation of various cultural and media goods: music, films, information, etc. The objective is to understand the forms of appropriation, hybridisation and reinterpretation of these contents, both by their producers and their users. How are local and/or traditional cultures maintained or promoted? How caught up are they in globalized processes and imaginaries (Aterianus-Owanga, Milliot & Noûs, 2020)? Which strategies do foreign producers implement to adapt these contents to African audiences.

The conference intends to address these issues in the context of the private/public spheres. Cultural contents and media consumption in the private sphere might rise social debates in the public sphere, for instance when a TV show outrages part of the public (Laacher & Terzi, 2020). Such perspective rests upon crossing cultural industries socio-economic issues, the analysis of media consumption and the study of societal debates publicization.

5. Epistemological issues

For several decades, scholars have been questioning the public sphere concept, derived from Habermasian theory, and how it has been used to study political and communicational processes outside Western Europe where it was forged, especially in African countries. Derived from Habermas "socio-historical" approach of three European territories political organization in the eighteenth century, the normative dimension of this concept has been widely criticized (Ballarini, 2012).

Rather than dropping it, recent research suggests a different use of the concept in the African context: “multiple, fluid, and controversial conceptions of public spheres, understood as an emic ideal of discussion and (possibly critical) expression on the affairs of the city” (Banégas, Brisset-Foucault & Cutolo, 2012).

For some scholars, it might be interesting to give more importance to "popular cultures" (Willems, 2012) in studies on public spheres in Africa. Another avenue would be to amend the concept by observing online political and media processes in different African countries (Dakouré & Gadras, 2020). The challenge is to mobilize this concept in a broader sense, while subjecting it to the greatest epistemological and methodological vigilance.

This theme aims at proposing new ways of understanding the concept of public sphere anchored in political and cultural realities of African territories. It also intends to assess how new perspectives on the concept of public sphere, based on African realities, is likely to feed the analysis of contemporary forms of European public spheres. More generally, the proposals might focus on the conditions under which concepts and theories can “travel” (Said, 1983).

Guidelines for Submissions

The conference main language is French, with no live translation. However, as the conference intends to contribute to the dialog between French and English-speaking research, we strongly encourage English-speaking contributions. Specific panels will be organized whenever needed.

5000 characters abstracts (space included) must be submitted online: https://cmcl2022.sciencesconf.org/submission/submit/. Deadline : June, 19th. July, 3rd.

Decision to authors: befor July, 31st.

Conference proceedings will be available in open access shortly after the conference. Based on selected papers, an issue of a scientific journal will be published in the following months.

References

Ahouandjinou Géraud, Badou Agnès & Zounon Ornheilia (2020) « Le discours transgressif dans la musique urbaine en Afrique de l’Ouest », Communication & langages, vol. 205, no. 3, 2020, pp. 77-93.

Aterianus-Owanga Alice, Milliot Virginie & Noûs Camille (2020). « Hip-hop monde(s) : approche anthropologique », ethnographiques.org n° 40

Auboussier Julien (2015). « Discours et contre-discours dans l’espace public. Présentation », Semen [En ligne], 39.

Audinet Maxime & Harding, Benjamin (2021). « En Centrafrique, la Russie externalise son influence médiatique », La Revue des Médias, INA, Octobre 2021.

Ballarini Loïc (2012). « “Espace public” et recherche critique : pourquoi se méfier d’un concept passe-partout ? », in Kane Oumar et George Éric (dir)., « Où [en] est la critique en communication ? », Actes du colloque international Où en est la critique en communication ?, Montréal, Gricis, 2012.

Banégas Richard, Brisset-Foucault Florence & Cutolo Armando (2012), « Espaces publics de la parole et pratiques de la citoyenneté en Afrique », Politique africaine n° 127, 2012, p. 5‑20.

Dahou Tarik (2005). « L’espace public face aux apories des études africaines ». Cahiers d’études africaines, 45(178), 327‑349.

Dakouré Evariste (2021) « Incidences de l’usage du numérique sur le fonctionnement de la filière cinématographique burkinabè », Revue française des sciences de l’information et de la communication, 21, URL : http://journals.openedition.org/rfsic/10567.

Dakouré Évariste & Gadras Simon (2020). Le concept d’espace public à l’épreuve de ses actualisations en contexte de mobilisations politiques numériques en Afrique subsaharienne francophone. Communication & langages, 205, 129-146.

Frère Marie-Soleil (2020). Journalismes d'Afrique. Louvain-la-Neuve: De Boeck Supérieur.

Havard Jean-François, Wilhelm Carsten & Malick Diouf François (2020) « Un imam « connecté » au Sénégal. Auto-entrepreneuriat religieux et stratégie « agendatique » », Communication & langages, 3, n°205, p. 35-55.

Houessou Dorgelès (2020). « La mémoire, l’imaginaire et la manipulation en discours : autour de quelques mythes clés de la nation ivoirienne en débat sur les réseaux sociaux », Communication & langages, 2020/3 n° 205, p. 95-112.Kiyindou, Alain. 2013. « De la diversité à la fracture créative : une autre approche de la fracture numérique ». Revue française des sciences de l’information et de la communication, no 2 (janvier).

Mattelart Tristan. (2009) « Enjeux intellectuels de la diversité́ culturelle. Eléments de déconstruction théorique ». Culture prospective, 2009/2, n° 2, p. 1-8.

Said, Edward W. (1983). The World, the Text, and the Critic, Cambridge, Harvard University Press.

Spector Malcolm & Kitsuse John I., Constructing Social Problems, Menlo Park (Calif.), Cummings, 1977.

Terzi Cédric & Laacher Smaïn (2020), Persepolis ou la guerre des libertés. Sacrés, sacrilèges et démocraties en Tunisie, Genève, Labor et Fides, Enquêtes, 320 p.

Werner, Jean-François. (2012). Télévision et changement social en Afrique de l’Ouest postcoloniale : étude de cas : la réception des telenovelasau Sénégal. Anthropologie et Sociétés, 36(1-2), 95–113.

Willems, W. (2012). « Interrogating Public Sphere and Popular Culture as Theoretical Concepts on Their Value in African Studies ». AfricaDevelopment, vol. 37, n^o 1, p. 11-26.