[Hope this is of interest to air-listers; apologies for x-posting] Call for papers special 'Mobile Phone Culture' issue of Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies (20.3, 2006) edited by Dr Gerard Goggin (g.goggin@uq.edu.au), Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies, University of Queensland, Australia In barely two decades since their commercial launch in the early 1980s, mobile telecommunications have now outstripped their fixed-phone counterparts, being used by over a billion people worldwide. Mobile phones play an indispensable and distinctive role in contemporary societies, woven into the transformation of work, leisure, relationships, family, sexualities, glocalization, identity formation, embodiment, and fashion and implicated in class, race, gender, and disability relations. There is now widespread interest in mobile phones among media producers, policy makers, industry, user groups, artists, and educators. And a vibrant, interdisciplinary body of work on social aspects of mobiles is now also emerging. Against this backdrop this special collection aims to focus attention on inquiry into mobile phone culture, and to promote systematic consideration of this important topic by cultural and media studies scholars. We welcome submissions on topics such as (but not restricted to): * theories of mobile phone culture * the relationship of mobile phone culture to general accounts of culture and media; * mobile phone culture and the question of technology * the domestication and cultural shaping of mobile in different countries, cultures, and regions; * cross-cultural approaches to understanding mobile phone culture; * the language of mobile phone culture; * cultural representation of mobiles; * case studies of use and consumption of mobile devices; * mobiles and/in bodies; * exploration of new cultural forms in mobiles (ringtones, text messaging, soap opera, short video and film, art, television) * licit and illicit customising and modification of mobiles * mobiles and cultural politics; * mobiles and cultural policy; * cultural histories of mobiles; * new mobile technologies (such as camera and video phones, phones as audio devices, Blackberries and PDAs, third-generation and fourth-generation mobiles, mobile Internet) and identities; * mobile commons * the implications of mobiles for concepts and methods in cultural and media studies. Deadline for abstracts is 31 August, 2005. Deadline for final submission of full papers is 31 December 2005. Potential contributors are encouraged to familiarize themselves with previous issues of the Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies and to discuss their ideas with the special issue editor: Dr Gerard Goggin ARC Australian Research Fellow, Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072 Qld Australia e: g.goggin@uq.edu.au // www.cccs.uq.edu.au 'Continuum' is an academic journal of media and cultural studies. For over a decade it has contributed to the formation of these disciplines by identifying new areas for investigation and developing new agendas for enquiry in the fields. The journal has consistently provided a space for important new voices in media and cultural studies, while also featuring the work of internationally renowned scholars. Continuum is now one of the most highly regarded and most cited journals in media and cultural studies. Continuum is edited from Australia, with an international scope. It is affiliated with the Cultural Studies Association of Australia. Information on Continuum and instructions for authors may be found at: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/10304312.asp -- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Dr Gerard Goggin ARC Australian Research Fellow Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072 Qld Australia e: g.goggin@uq.edu.au m: 0428 66 88 24 www.gerardgoggin.net// www.cccs.uq.edu.au