CALL FOR PAPERS FOR EDITED BOOK
THE CELL PHONE:
HISTORY, TECHNOLOGY, CULTURE

Edited by Anandam P. Kavoori and Noah Arceneaux
Dept of Telecommunications
Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication
The University of Georgia, Athens, Ga 30602

The Cell phone presents itself at the periphery of contemporary discourse about media and culture. TV cops use it as they rush to crime scenes, teenagers use it to connect with their peers, terrorists are traced through calls made on their cell phones, extra-marital affairs draw sustenance from them. Such images, however, do not do justice to the central role that cell phones have begun to play in contemporary society. Cell phones lack the hype of the Internet but are fast approaching the cultural impact of a mass medium. They have begun to shape how we communicate; their use has created new forms of media-centered relations; and in the marketplace they have begun to influence patterns of media ownership and acquisition. In the developing world ­the cell phone is often the first phone for the urban poor. In their intersection with other technologies­text messaging, the World Wide Web and digital photography/video­Cell phones have changed how we look at an omnipresent cultural technology­the “telephonee.

This edited book seeks papers that examines three overarching issues­History, Technology and Culture-- as they relate to the Cell Phone. Papers from all theoretical (social scientific, cultural, critical, ethnographic, historical) perspectives are welcome. Of special interest are papers dealing with the impact of the Cell Phone in the developing
world and with issues of identity politics­race, gender, ethnicity and sexuality.

Papers may address one or more of these questions. These are suggested research questions, not a complete template. You may wish to add to these.

History:
When did Cell Phones develop into a mass medium? What are the economic, political and institutional factors that have had a major impact on the Cell phone industry? What has been the relation between the history of the Internet and the Cell Phone? What is the future of the Cell Phone as compared to the history of other media technologies? What has been the trajectory of Cell Phone use in the developing world as compared to the West?

Technology:
What is the technology of the Cell Phone? How did it evolve and intersect with other media technologies (Internet, Phone, Web, Texting)? How have the design and architecture of Cell phones (size, texture, features, color) influenced their growth? What are the current technological limits and possibilities of the Cell Phone? How might Cell Phone technologies grow and change in the next decade? How has it impacted minority cultures and the developing world?

Culture:
What are the shifts in cultural sensibility that the Cell phone represents? What kinds of normative and interactive models for communication does the Cell phone represent? What forms of mass mediated relationships and Identity politics does the Cell Phone configure? How do the aesthetics of Cell phones impact behavior--especially youth and business culture? How have Cell phones changed the structuring of daily life? How do cell phones intersect with issues with issues of identity-politics, especially those of race, gender and sexuality. What future impact can the Cell phone have as it merges with web and other technologies? What is the impact of the cell phone in developing countries? With changing Geo- politics?

The deadline for paper abstracts is September 1, 2004.

Please send your queries via email to the corresponding editor, Noah Arceneaux at noahax@uga.edu or via mail to Dr. Anandam P. Kavoori, Associate Professor, Dept of
Telecommunications, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602.