Dear colleagues, We are looking for two more panelists for a panel on new media and civic engagement for the upcoming ICA conference (London, UK, June 17-21, 2013). If you are working on cases of civic engagement through new media and are interested in tackling the questions we propose in the panel description (see below), please email Delia Dumitrica (dddumitr@ucalgary.ca) with a brief (150 words) abstract by next Monday, November 15, 2012. * * * Panel Proposal to ICA 2013, London, UK Communication and Technology Panel Session: New Media and Civic Engagement: From Networked Individualism to Collective Action Organizers: Dr. Maria Bakardjieva Professor, Department of Communication and Culture, University of Calgary, Canada Dr. Delia Dumitrica Instructor, Department of Communication and Culture, University of Calgary, Canada Abstract: This panel examines the mechanics of four cases of civic mobilization through new media, focusing on the exchanges between everyday life and the political sphere. The panelists are asking what their respective cases can teach us about the role new media play in the activation of ordinary people that leads to the development of political consciousness and participation in civic and political action. Our interest is drawn to the complicated exchange between a wide range of mundane uses of new media (from creating protest Facebook groups to liking politicians on Twitter) and the wider political structures. When and under what conditions do such individual activities supported by new media build up enough energy and scale to make an impact on the political sphere? How are new media contributing to the transformation of isolated acts of protest or challenge to the established order into collective action that brings about real change? And what happens once the political players, for their part, start employing new media for colonizing the energy of the grassroots? Maria Bakardjieva is looking at a case where new media became a key tool in inciting a wave of civic resistance against proposed legislation on Bulgarian forests. Delia Dumitrica is looking at the perceptions of young people in Calgary, Canada concerning the mobilizing role of social media in the 2010 electoral municipal campaign. * * * Dr. Delia Dumitrica Instructor Department of Communication and Culture University of Calgary