CALL FOR PAPERS
The Information Society (TIS) special issue on
SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF PUBLIC POLICY IN THE INFORMATION AGE
Edited by Milton Mueller (
If the 1990s was the decade of market liberalization in
media and telecommunication industries worldwide, how will the next decade be
defined? What and who will set the agenda for communication and information
policy?
Current policy discourse is focused on relatively narrow
regulatory or legal issues, such as broadband regulation, the proper scope of
intellectual property rights, interconnection and competition in
telecommunications, and media concentration. While recognizing the importance
of issue-specific policy research, this special issue would attempt to shift
some attention to the underlying social and political determinants of public
policy. The objective is to encourage the development of revised conceptions of
the public interest appropriate to a transformed economic and political
environment. Papers that bring together insights from multiple areas, such as
political science, sociology, economics, critical geography, information
studies, urban studies, policy studies, communications and cultural studies,
are especially welcome. Ideally, papers would shed light on current
developments and place them in perspective that has relevance for future public
policy directions.
As more specific examples of the type of papers/research we
seek:
* Analyses of long-term change in media and
telecommunications institutions that draw upon any relevant literature of
institutional change (e.g., the New Institutional Economics, the Old
Institutional Economics, social movement theory, sociological theories of
organizational repertoires and innovation).
* Papers exploring changes in the way citizens, consumers,
business groups or other constituencies are organizing to influence
communication and information policy, including new analyses of how so-called
global civil society or transnational advocacy networks are involved in
communication and information issues;
* Papers that assess the impact of globalization on
communication and information policies, and explore the relationship between
national policies, constituencies, and institutions on the one hand and
international organizations and constituencies on the other.
* How conceptions of the public interest in communication
and information policy have changed in response to new technologies, new industry
conditions and political and social developments. Are new theories of the
public interest in communications and information policy being formed? How are
normative principles responding to the changing landscape?
* Explorations of the role of ideas and scholarly research
in shaping, fomenting or resisting changes in policy.
Manuscripts prepared according to the TIS guidelines should
be submitted by
Clemencia Rodriguez
Associate Professor
Department of
Communication
University of Oklahoma
610 Elm Avenue
Norman OK 73019 USA
405 325 1570