Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftliche Fakultät - Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften

Media Culture and Repertoires of Coexistence

Public event series in the framework of the joint research project “Beyond Social Cohesion - Repertoires of Living Together (RePLITO)”, funded by the Berlin University Alliance (BUA) (2021-23)

 

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CONCEPT
(For the German version, please click here)
In the current discussion, media and technologically mediated communication are on the one hand viewed as central and constitutive for good coexistence in societies that are becoming more heterogeneous. What 'good' means in different times and contexts - and from whose perspective - is of course constantly reviewed and negotiated. Through specific media rituals of the so-called mass media age, the imagined national community is still addressed, in particular through staged media events such as major sporting spectacles, public commemorative ceremonies or a corresponding narrative framing of 'national crises' such as the current global pandemic. At the same time, community-based approaches and trans/local perspectives on media cultures have also come to the fore. These go beyond the content-related level of (self-)representation, as they also highlight media practices and strategies of the involved actors. Examples of this research area include the establishment of connections between media and spatial practices in urban neighborhood initiatives, the creation of new approaches to peace communication in the so-called post-conflict phase or the understanding of mediatized everyday worlds of religious communities.
On the other hand, the media as well as the changing public sphere are currently seen as directly responsible for the perceived 'crisis of cohesion' and increased social fragmentation. In addition to excessive media concentration and convergence, which prevent media pluralism and diversity within the media, the problem of an interest-driven setting and dissemination of topics has been debated at length. In particular, the internet and social media are being identified as a new threat to good coexistence due to the increase in targeted disinformation campaigns and the algorithmic creation of filter bubbles.
The event series focuses on media-related strategies, methods and concerns of public actors who, in the face of global challenges and societal polarization tendencies, advocate new ethical approaches and ideas of an equitable coexistence in plurality. The regional focus of the event series is South Asia, but it also includes transregional comparative perspectives and examples from other regional contexts. The workshops, roundtable discussions and lectures in this series will focus on themes that relate to 1) mediated performances of solidarity, 2) artistic practices of coexistence and 3) shared heritage and memory. 

 

ORGANIZATION AND CONTACT

 

Prof. Dr. Nadja-Christina Schneider
GAMS - Gender and Media Studies for the South Asian Region
Institute for Asian and African Studies
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
nadja-christina.schneider (at) hu-berlin.de
https://www.iaaw.hu-berlin.de/de/querschnitt/medialitaet

 

For more information about RePLITO, please click here.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS IN THIS SERIES
 
Joint Call for Contributions to a Research Blog & Digital Workshop (RePLITO & Doing Sociology)

Imaginations and Mediated Performances of Solidarity in South Asia

Please find the call for contributions and further information here.

 

 

20.-25.01.2021  
Digital screening of the documentary film BREAKING BARRIERS - THE CASTELESS COLLECTIVE (2020), directed by Maja Meiners (English & Tamil with English subtitles)
25.01.2021       
Film talk with director Maja Meiners (in German)

 

Digitale Filmvorführung Casteless Collective GAMS