From Multitude to Crowds International Conference

From Multitude to Crowds in Social Movements – publics, gatherings,

networks and media in the 21th century

Lisbon, monday and tuesday, 26 and 27 January 2015

An International Conference hosted by the Catholic University of Portugal in a

CECC/CECL co-organization.

There has always been, in human history, collective action taken by ordinary people.

The 19th and 20th centuries were a period of political affirmation of social groups and

the concomitant emergency of social movements as collective endeavors to promote

political and social change in any direction and by different means (Borch, 2012).
This period saw the rise of the social movement in the sense of a set of people who

deliberately commit themselves to a shared identity, a unifying belief, a common

program and a collective struggle to prosecute that program of social action.

In the 21st century there has been a transformation of the traditional forms of action.

Indeed, the repertoire of collective action (Tilly and Wood, 2009) has changed as the

organization and public recognition are different in a time when the relevance of the

media in social and political relations invites to new orders of functioning. The

revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests, riots, and civil wars in the Arab

world beginning on 18 December 2010 are an illustrative case. The Arab Spring had in

communication tools such as the Internet and social networks a key factor for social

mobilization and socio-political demands (Khondker, 2011). The same occurred in

Portugal, Greece and Spain with social protests related to the global financial and

economic crisis. Social networks were vital to the coordination of national and

international collective actions while traditional media such as television or the press

were essential for the public recognition of their causes.

Even if recent technological changes put social actors in a global network society

(Castells, 2009), that does not necessarily erase the need to a topological experience

(with its physical and emotional aspects) (Collins, 2001). Social movements and publics

still need to gather in crowds to reach their collective dynamics. So, how to characterize

the reciprocal influence of multitudes, publics and crowds?

The International Conference “From Multitude to Crowds in Social Movements –

publics, gatherings, networks and media in the 21th century” aims to discuss media

relevance on present-day social movements and if and how collective action is being

transformed in contemporary mediatized societies (Adolf, 2011; Burton, 2010). How

should we think the relation between mediatization and public experience? What is the

symbolic meaning attached to the occupation of public spaces such as streets, plazas or

official premises? How do social movements’commitment to change (Tilly, 1977) use

social media to establish a unified system of belief? How do they relate to the “crisis of

representation” in contemporary social and political systems? What is the place of

crowds in social movements? What is the relation between multitudes, crowds and

publics? How do publics engage in “public action regimes” (Cefaï and Pasquier, 2003)?

How are Sociology, Political Science and Communication Sciences reacting to the new

developments in social organization and public expression?

The two-day event brings scholars from a variety of disciplines such as Communication

Sciences, Sociology, or Political Science to bring an updated perspective on the ways

notions of multitude, crowds, social movements and media intersect. It proposes to

study of social movements repertoires and how social groups are led to adapt, improvise

and invent new ones under the social constraints imposed by the use or presence of

media.

Confirmed Speakers:

Dr. Christian Borch (Copenhagen Business School, CBS, Department of Management,

Politics and Philosophy);

Dr. Erik Neveu (Sciences Po Rennes)

Dr. Gustavo Cardoso (ISCTE- Lisbon Universitary Institute)

Dr. João Carlos Correia (University of Beira Interior)

We welcome contributions that consider (but are not limited to) the following topics:

 Social Movements and the Crowd

 Social Movements History

 Crowd Sociology

 Critical Theories on the Crowd, Multitude and Publics (Le Bon, Tarde,

Durkheim, Freud, Canetti, Negri, Habermas)

 Theoretical Appraisals on Social Movements

 Theories on Public Experience

 The Publicity of Crowds, Publics and Multitudes

 Public Sphere and Social Movements

 Media and Crowds

 Traditional and New Media in the Emergence and Consolidation of Social

Causes

 Media’s Influence on Collective Action

 Digital and Social Media in Social Protests

 The Influence of Crowds and Multitudes on Public Agenda

 Social Movements and Democracy

 Crowds, Multitudes and Publics in Media Events

 Social Movements, Media and Imagination - Words of protest, songs of

disapproval and images of appeal

 Media Visibility of Social Action

 Media, Crowds and the Law

 Media, Arts and Literature Representations of Crowds, Publics and Social

Movements

 Multitude and Crowd in the 21th century- from Facebook to the street

 The Occupation of Public Spaces by Social Movements

 European Social Movements in diverse national contexts ex:“Geração à Rasca”

(Portugal), “Indignados” (Portugal), “Que se Lixe a Troika” (Portugal),

“Movimiento 15 M” (Spain), and “Nunca Máis” (Spain)

 Contemporary Social Movements ex: Arab Spring; Obama presidential

campaigns; Tea Party; “Occupy Wall Street” and the recent Political and Social

Crisis in Ukraine, Greece, Venezuela and Brazil

A Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Conference comprehending the

following keywords:

Social Movements Studies; Media Studies; Political Communication; Social Networks;

Media Events; Public Sphere; Social Movements Sociology; Sociology of the Publics;

Crowds; Multitudes; Social Psychology; Social Policy and Law.

Official Idiom: English

More Info:

Further details on registration will be made available shortly.

http://cecc.fch.lisboa.ucp.pt/en/

http://www.cecl.com.pt/en/

Feel free to circulate this call to other people that might have an interest to contribute.

Contacts:

Dr. Samuel Mateus

Communication and Languages Research Center (CECL- FCSH/ NOVA University)

Email: sammateu@gmail.com

http://samuelmateuspapers.blogspot.pt/

CECL- Communication and Languages Research Center

Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities | NOVA University

Av. de Berna, 26-C, 5th floor, room 506

1069-061 Lisboa, PORTUGAL

Tel. (+351) 21 795 08 91

info@cecl.com.pt

http://www.cecl.com.pt/en/

Dr. Eduardo Cintra Torres

Research Centre for Communication and Culture (CECC - Catholic University of

Portugal)

Email: eduardocintratorres@gmail.com

CECC - Research Centre for Communication and Culture

School of Human Sciences | UCP

Palma de Cima, 1649-023 LISBOA - PORTUGAL

Tel. (+351) 217 214 018

cecc@fch.lisboa.ucp.pt

http://cecc.fch.lisboa.ucp.pt/en