Propaganda, spin and lobbying are increasingly the topic
of public and media debate. From the attempt to construct
a 'threat' from Weapons of Mass Destruction, through the
razzmatazz of political campaigning to the regular
scandals about improper corporate influence on policy the
relationship between communication, conflict and power is
back on the academic research agenda.
The Department of Geography and Sociology at Strathclyde
University is pleased to announce an international
conference on Communication and conflict, to be held in
Glasgow on 7-9 September 2007.
Participation
This call is a preliminary invitation to submit abstracts,
panel and workshop proposals. In addition we are inviting
expression of interest for participation and support from
academic institutions, policy makers, media institutions
and civil society organizations. Organisation can sponsor
a particular session or support a particular stream of
papers.
The conference will be an international gathering of
leading experts and researchers in the area of propaganda,
spin, lobbying, media management and investigative
journalism. It will also feature hand on sessions on how
to investigate propaganda and lobbying activities, led by
Spinwatch.
Speakers include
John Pilger*
Col Sam Gardner(US Airforce - Retd)
Mark Curtis* (author of Unpeople and Web of Deceit)
Nancy Snow (University of California),
Prof. William Carroll (University of Victoria, British
Columbia).
Eveline Lubbers (Spinwatch, Editor of Battling Big
Business)
Andy Rowell (Spinwatch, author of Green Backlash and The
Next Gulf?)
Prof. Edward S. Herman*, (co-author with Noam Chomsky of
Manufacturing Consent)
Prof. Gerry Sussman (University of Oregon, Portland),
Olivier Hoedemann, (Corporate Europe Observatory,
Amsterdam),
Prof. Alan Doig (Author of Sleaze),
Muhammed Idrees Ahmad (Spinwatch),
Nick Jones (former BBC journalist and author of books on
spin doctors),
Greg Philo (Glasgow Media Group ),
Craig Holman* (Public Citizen, Washington DC),
Shelley Jofre (BBC Panorama, on investigating the
pharmaceutical industry)
Dave Whyte (University of Stirling),
Prof. Sharon Beder(author of Free-Market Missionaries,
Earthscan, London, 2006; Suiting Themselves: How
Corporations Drive the Global Agenda, Earthscan, London,
2006.; Global Spin: The Corporate Assault on
Environmentalism, Green Books, Devon, UK, 1997)
Mark Daly (BBC, who exposed racism in the police in The
Secret Policeman)
John McArthur* (Harpers Magazine and author of The Selling
of Free Trade and Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda
in the Gulf War)
Diane Farsetta (PR Watch )
William Dinan (Spinwatch, author of Open Scotland? and The
Cutting Edge)
Prof. Dieter Plehwe, (Berlin editor of Neoliberal
Hegemony)
* - Invited
Papers are welcome on all aspects of propaganda, spin,
lobbying, public relations and other forms of
communication management as well as on those forces in
society which resist such trends whether at the level of
politics and activism or at the level of journalism. We
welcome papers and sessions on the following, but this
list is not exhaustive.
* The PR industry
* Think tanks and policy communications
* the international political economy of corporate
power
* global media management
* the global advertising, marketing, PR and opinion
industries
* Propaganda and spin of all sorts
* Fake news and Video News Releases
* Science communications
In addition the conference specifically encourages
participants who want to participate in the following
major conference streams.
Investigative journalism and Investigative research
Investigative journalism has never been more necessary and
- despite all the obstacles - it remains a potentially
powerful force for transparency and accountability. This
stream features investigative journalists and
investigative researchers discussing their campaings and
giving guidance on how to investigate important public
issues.
This stream is supported by the Centre for Investigative
Journalism at City University and by the Masters in
Investigative Journalism at Strathclyde University.
Lobbying and transparency
Corporate lobbyists swarm to wherever political decision
are made. From Washington DC to Brussels from London to
Edinburgh lobbying consultancies, corporate front groups
trade associations and corporate lobbyists are in action
pursuing sectional interests.
The instinct of the lobbyists everywhere is to keep their
role out of sight. But in recent years campaign to
register lobbyists and open up the political process to
scrutiny have taken hold. This stream will feature
presentations on the activities of the lobbyists around
the world as well as sessions on the campaigns for
transparency being pursued by a myriad of non governmental
organisations.
This stream supported by the Communication and Democracy
working group of the PIRN.
Democracy Promotion
A rash of regime change across the former Soviet politics
announced a new sort of democratic politics. The orange
revolution in the Ukraine betokened a new form of
democracy - mass peaceful action against autocrats. The
role of Western agencies in such processes was rarely
questioned. But in the occupation of Iraq the question of
western interest is more obviously posed. There is now a
very wide range of Western funded NGO's 'promoting
democracy' all across the world. Increasingly these
efforts are subject to criticism and controversy. This
stream investigates the institutions of democracy
promotion from the National Endowment for Democracy to the
Westminster Foundation for Democracy as well as their
activities from Central America to Iraq and the Far East.
The Israel Lobby
The Israel lobby in the United States has been the subject
of much debate, especially over the last year, however,
its influence in UK and Europe has been hitherto
overlooked. This workshop will aim to shed light on the
think tanks, front groups, funding organizations and
individuals that constitute the Israel lobby (on both
sides of the Atlantic). The workshop will also focus on
the lobbying techniques employed by the lobby, and its
recent encroachments on European politics.
Terrorology: a discipline in search of legitimacy?
Terror experts have been a permanent fixture on the media
landscape for more than two decades. The terror experts
offer doctrinally serviceable sound-bites that mainly
reinforce establishment policies. But the crisis of
official information shown up by the push for war in Iraq
has undermined confidence in both terror experts and
official sources. The terrorology strand will feature
analysis of terrorology and the institutions that foster
it as well as delving into its funding sources and the
media use of 'terrorism knowledge'.
This stream is supported by the Consortium for Research on
Terrorology and Political Violence (a project of NASPIR
and the PIRN), and the Office of Muslim Affairs.
Propaganda, today and yesterday
Some baulk at the use of the term propaganda. Yet, the
history of communications shows it was used quite
unselfconsciously by its proponents even after the 1939-45
War. This stream calls for papers on the history and
contemporary practice of propaganda. Is the term still
relevant? What is the history of propaganda? How has it
been used in specific circumstances? What is it like today
in Iraq, Afghanistan etc? Papers on all forms of
propaganda, psychological operations, information
operations, public diplomacy and the like in war and peach
are welcome.
Reporting conflict in the age of spin
The development of spin techniques in government and the
political process has developed at great speed in the UK
and US, though its penetration has been more varied
elsewhere. This stream features speakers on spin and on
the response to it by the media.
This session is supported by the Glasgow Media Group.
Transnational corporate lobby groups and Global Power
The neoliberal turn was put in place in part by the
activities of market fundamentalist think tanks and by the
emergence of global corporate lobby groups such as the
International Chamber of Commerce, The Bilderberg Group,
the Trilateral Commission, the World Economic forum and
the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
How did this come about? How do these groups operate and
how do they interlock with the Transnational Corporations.
Does it mean that global capital is now unchallenged? How
do the global corporate elite relate to the
neo-conservatives in the US?
Supported by Spinwatch and Corporate Europe Observatory.
Disease mongering, science and health
This stream takes as its theme the recently popular
concept of Disease Mongering - that is the creation by
drug companies and others of new diseases for which their
newly developed drugs are suitable cures. The use of
patient groups and the new politics of consumerism in
health and medicine are also of interest.
Supported by the Science Communication and Management
Working Group of the PIRN .
Fast Food and Fast Facts: Obesity and the Food industry
The food industry has come under attack for its role in
the epidemic of obesity both in relation to advertising
and marketing and in relation to its lobbying activities.
This stream will examine the activities of the industry
as it resists being identified as the New Tobacco.
Further Information
If in doubt about the suitability of your paper feel free
to email David Miller @ davidmiller@??? email
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Supporters
Supporters of the conference so far include the Public
Interest Research Network, Spinwatch, Variant Magazine,
Scotland Against Criminalising Communities, Campaign for
Press and Broadcasting Freedom, Corporate Europe
Observatory, Glasgow Media Group.
Abstract deadline
The deadline for abstract submission is Friday May 4th.
Online registration will be avaialable shortly. In the
meantime suggestions for abstracts should be sent to
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Costs
The conference fee will be in the region of £180 for
academics or £70 a day. Final costings will be announced
shortly
Lower fees are available for NGOs (£120 full fee or £50
per day)
Activist and student rates will also be available as will
a number of free places.
The conference fee includes refreshments and lunch each
day. The fee does not include accommodation.
We are also seeking volunteers to run sessions and help to
ensure the conference runs smoothly. Please contact
william.dinan@??? email address is being
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Stalls will be welcome and publishers or others wishing to
set up stalls should contact Lorraine Nelson .
