Call for abstracts - A Research Agenda for Cancel Culture (Edward Elgar) Abstracts due 15 October Cancel culture is both widely celebrated and criticized as a way of using media to hold people accountable. It is understood as a contemporary media practice, but also a form of social sanction, and as a buzzword to chart political fault-lines. The term traces its origins in African American culture, including spaces like Black Twitter that enable a historically marginalised community to address injustices. Elsewhere we witness call-out culture and similar adjacent practices in activist circles, among fan communities, and in virtually any (semi-)public mediated sphere. These practices - and the ways scholars and others talk about them - point to dynamics in media, culture and society warrant greater attention. "A Research Agenda for Cancel Culture, Visibility and Contestation in Media" (preliminary title) aims to deliver a range of in-depth accounts of how diverse social actors leverage media to watch over, denounce and punish purported wrongdoers. These targets range from sexual abusers to cultural and political opponents. We are soliciting contributions for an interdisciplinary collection on cancel culture, visibility and contestation in the media, to be published with Edward Elgar Publishing. This book will cover cancel culture and related media practices from diverse social scientific and humanities perspectives, including media and cultural studies, sociology, political studies, history and philosophy. Inter-disciplinary contributions are also welcome. We invite contributions that address a wide range of socio-cultural settings, including: - Fandoms and policing of public and private statements - Activism and public denunciations of prominent individuals - Activism overlapping into fandom and consumerism - Politics, polarisation, and so-called ‘culture wars’ - National identities and nationalism as a driver of denunciation in media - Content creators focusing on personal and social grievances - AI-generated renditions of offence and outrage - Businesses, brands and organisational responses to cancellation - Media outrage and impacts on the job market, dating market, etc. - Impacts of cancellation on appeals to a public for support (ex: GoFundMe, Patreon) - Historic precedents to cancellation (ex: Garfinkel’s status degradation ceremony) - Post-cancellation conditions, including support from affective (fan) communities and the possibility of uncancellation. Within these settings, we especially welcome studies that consider the following lines of inquiry: - Reflecting on particular facets of media (affordances, practices, ‘bugs as a feature’) - Positioning the ‘extremely online’ in relation to a broader public - Mediated visibility and cancel culture as cultural (or surveillant) imaginaries - Context- and sector-specific development of best practices in responding to cancellation campaigns - Alternative models to accountability, justice, and morality If you are interested in contributing, we ask you to consider the following steps: - 15 October, 2026: Submit a 350-500 word abstract that includes (a) your chosen topic and/or case study, (b) the theoretical and/or conceptual framework you employ, (c) a brief description of the data you draw upon, and (d) any preliminary findings and implications you are able to share. - 2 November, 2026: we will notify authors if they are invited to submit a full chapter, and provide some preliminary feedback. - 30 April, 2027: full chapters are due (6000 - 8000 words, including references). With best wishes, Daniel Trottier and Simone Driessen (co-editors)