Call for papers for Panel on *The Internet and Politics in Pacific Asia* ICAS (International Convention of Asian Scholars), Kuala Lumpur, 2-5 August 2007. *Limited funding available* Organizer: Merlyna Lim (Merlyna.Lim@asu.edu), Arizona State University Sponsors: - Consortium of Science, Policy and Outcomes, Arizona State University - Globalization Research Center, University of Hawaii A decade after its emergence as a popular global medium, the Internet has interwoven with many contentious political issues while also inspiring alternative visions of political reform across the globe, including in Pacific (East and Southeast) Asia. Presenting cases from various countries in this world region, this panel attempts to disentangle the complex relationships between the Internet and politics through studies on how political actors at various level—individual, local, nation-state and global—have been able to use the Internet to assist in both controlling and liberating individuals, groups, and other would-be agents of (political) changes. This relationship between technology and political power is not only one of the central inquiries for researchers in the field of Internet studies, but also a critical question for the broader studies on media & politics and technology & politics. The study of the political dimensions of the Internet still tends to be overwhelmingly concentrated in and focused on the North American and Western European context and experiences. At the same time, existing work on the politics of the Internet in non-Western context is mostly framed by assumptions found in the Western cases and predominantly based on a technological-deterministic point of view. The non-deterministic and contextually anchored study of the political implications of the medium in non-Western context is still in infancy and there is much to be explored. Questions of power and governance lie at the heart of many of these inquiries. This panel explores these questions by relocating them in a non-Western context of Pacific Asia. Please contact Merlyna Lim (Merlyna.Lim@asu.edu) with cc to Asha Pandi (apandi@hawaii.edu) if you're interested in participating, with proposed abstract (200-300 words) and a brief CV by 8 December 2006. There will be a limited amount of funding for presenters who are based in Pacific Asia, especially those from developing countries. Those who are interested to be funded should submit a full CV along with abstract and a list of related publications (and one sample of writing, if available). For more information on ICAS 5, please view the conference website at http://www.icas5kl.com -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "A picture is worth a thousand words but it uses up a thousand times the memory" Merlyna Lim, Ph.D. Assistant Professor School of Justice and Social Inquiry & Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes Arizona State University ASU Box 874401 Tempe, AZ 85287-4401 http://www.merlyna.org Important: This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error, please delete it and notify the sender via return mail. You must not disclose the contents of this email/fax to any third party without the consent of the sender. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~