CFP: Participatory Culture, Politics and Reactionary Fandom
De Paul University, 2 April 2025
Fan practices and behaviours have increasingly moved beyond fan communities into the political, economic, and cultural structures of everyday life. The proliferation of social media platforms has allowed both progressive and reactionary aspects of fandom to significantly shape the public sphere, drawing on similar techniques, pleasures, and practices to interpret the world in a culture where the boundaries between popular and political communication are blurrier than they have ever been. As recent events have highlighted, there is need for more in-depth investigations into the intersection of participatory culture, fan practices, and reactionary politics (Petersen et al., 2023; Stanfill, 2020).
Ahead of the 2025 SCMS conference, this one-day symposium seeks to explore the synergies, tensions, and conflicts at play in this new cultural terrain. It explores how fan studies can be used to make sense of the seeming growth of conspiracy theory communities and right-wing movements, examine political participation as a form of fandom and play, and how social media can be used to organize against discriminatory cultures or polarization.
We have limited spaces for 20-minute research papers. Please submit titles, 200 word abstracts, and short bios to Bethan Jones (jonesbv5@cardiff.ac.uk) and Simone Driessen (driessen@eshcc.eur.nl) by Monday 2 March.
The symposium is kindly supported by De Paul University’s College of Communication.
Tags: call for papers, CFP, Symposium
The Fan Studies Network 
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