Call for participation

Conference Co-Chairs

Sofia Ulver, Lund University, sofia.ulver@fek.lu.se

Benjamin Hartmann, University of Gothenburg, benjamin.hartmann@handels.gu.se

Peter Svensson, Lund University, peter.svensson@fek.lu.se

Jacob Östberg, Stockholm University, jacob.ostberg@sbs.su.se

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Conference coordinators

Marcus Klasson, Lund University, marcus.klasson@fek.lu.se

Hossain Shahriar, Lund University, Hossain.shahriar@fek.lu.se

 

Modalities

CCT 2023 is an in-person event.

 

Key Dates

All times for the conference are Central European Time (CET).

 

• Submission deadline: 11:59pm on January 10, 2023 (firm)

• Deadline for reviews: 11:59pm on February 6, 2023

• Notification of accepted works: March 1, 2023

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Utopia Revisited

 

What happens after disruptions? Where do we go from there? Is there even a place to go? In the wake of disruptions, unwritten futures present themselves and new dreams are dreamt. Imaginaries are created and revisited and new promises are made. Old hopes are brought back to life again. Given the last decade of despair – highlighted by movements such as Black Lives Matter and #MeToo and manifested in an increasingly urgent climate crisis, a global pandemic, inflation, far-right politics on the rise and, today, war – there are reasons to rethink the foundations of the consumer cultural game we play.

 

Perhaps we need a new game with completely new rules; a new utopian game! Utopias are built upon dreams about the future that, to paraphrase the 1968-slogan, try to be realistic by means of demanding the impossible.

 

Given the current state of the world, one could ponder whether dystopia would not be a more apt theme for a CCT conference? Especially so given the pressures that our consumer culture is currently putting on the world. It is, however, impossible to even imagine utopia without the constant presence of the distorted mirror image of dystopia. Especially so given that it is also becoming increasingly clear that one group’s utopia might very well represent another group’s dystopia, and vice versa.

 

However, to reduce utopia to a fantasy without any connection to reality would be a mistake. More than anything else, utopia can help us to think up unimaginable futures that transcend the boundaries of today.

 

We cannot think of a better place to contemplate utopia than Sweden. The notion of “Sweden” is molded in the intersection between the grand promises of industrialization and the social-democratic dream of the total welfare state. The utopian fantasy of what Sweden is (or ought to be) combines the dark pessimism of Greta Thunberg with an almost naïve faith in entrepreneurial saviors. Enlightened dreams of the potential of scientific discoveries sit next to fairytales of kings and queens.

 

Moreover, the CCT-community is a good collective to be in in order to ponder on the role of consumption and consumer society at a time where utopia is called for. Is there a place for consumer society – as we know it – in such a utopian future? Is it even possible to talk about consumption as a meaningful activity anymore, in a world where citizen rights and freedom of speech are under attack? Maybe the very identity of “consumer” is an obsolete reminiscence of a time where the right to think, speak and act freely was taken for granted. What possibly can be written and said at a CCT-conference that will contribute to the kinds of utopias needed in order to write a future that learns from but also transcends the past. How are we to write an impossible future? Well, let us find out.

 

The conference theme of utopia (and dystopia) is not to be seen as a straitjacket. Rather we want this theme to work as an inspiration for free thought. Possible broad topics for papers, special sessions, focused forums, posters and artistic presentations include, but are not limited to, the following:

 

Politics: What political utopias (dystopias) are created today and how do they relate to consumption and the market? How are political utopias negotiated in and through consumer cultural processes? What are the ideological foundations of utopias (dystopias) in the marketplace?

 

Utopia and Dystopia: How are the dialectics between competing and/or complementary utopias and dystopias played out in contemporary consumer culture? How are utopias and dystopias co-opted by the market? How can utopias help change societies for the better in light of rising dystopian ideas?

 

Market in utopias: How has the market been used historically to form utopias and/or dystopias? How have consumers resisted/embraced these marketization processes?

 

Utopias through consumption: How have people built and cultivated their own local utopian (dystopian) realms – e.g., gated communities, guerilla gardens, online gaming, nostalgia – through consumption?

 

Terminal Marketing: How are pessimistic and optimistic approaches envisioned in contemporary marketing and consumer research?

 

Dreams: How do people dream about alternative futures, such as the dream about market society as a negation in the socialist, totalitarian societies? How do collective dreams take shape and how are they used to guide collective consumer action?

 

Fictitious utopias: How are utopias (dystopias) imagined and reproduced through fiction, such as sci-fi literature, pop culture, video games, cosplay?

 

Normative theory: What is the role of critical normativity, public intellectuals, and critical debates for the creation and dissemination of utopian (dystopian) ideas?

 

Writing futures: How do we write about utopian (dystopian) futures? What are the sentiments related to futures of utopias (dystopias) in consumer society?

 

Utopian CCT: How do we dream about our own role in shaping a utopian (dystopian) future? What role do we envision that we - as an academic field, through our intellectual work, academic milieus, conversations, writing, etcetera - can play in this endeavor?

 

 

Submission Guidelines

 

Submissions are invited in seven tracks: Competitive Papers, Work-In-Progress Papers (new track!), Special Sessions, Posters, Focused Forums, Poetry, and Art & Photography. Submission instructions for each track are offered below.

 

Submissions to Competitive Papers, Work-In-Progress Papers, Special Sessions, and Posters tracks must be original research. Work submitted to these tracks should not have been presented at a past CCT conference or have been published in an academic journal at the time of submission.

 

Authors may not be listed as the presenting author more than twice in the Competitive Papers, Work-In-Progress Papers, Special Sessions, and/or Posters tracks. Authors may be listed as a co-author or participant on multiple submissions.

 

The submitting author (or presenting author) commits to registering for the conference and presenting if their work is accepted.

 

Submitting authors are very likely to receive an invitation to review for the conference. We are grateful to reviewers for their contributions to a high quality conference experience for all.

 

Track 1: Competitive Papers

 

Track Chairs

• Jack Coffin, The University of Manchester, UK, jack.coffin@manchester.ac.uk

• Risto Moisio, California State University, Long Beach, USA, risto.moisio@csulb.edu

• Liz Parsons, The University of Liverpool, UK, eparsons@liverpool.ac.uk

 

We solicit submissions of empirical and conceptual papers, and especially welcome work that is aligned with the conference theme. Papers submitted to the competitive papers track are automatically entered for the Jim McAlexander Coolest Research Award (see cctweb.org for more info).

 

Papers considered for this track should conform to a standard journal manuscript format including an introduction, research question or goal, literature review, methods, (preliminary) findings, and discussion. Conceptual papers are welcome and their format may vary from that indicated above. Accepted submissions will be grouped with 3 other competitive papers for presentation in a 90-minute combined session.

 

Competitive paper submissions may not exceed 22 pages total, and should be in Word or PDF format. No author information should be included in the submitted document. Please ensure author information is deleted from the document properties.

 

• Page 1: title and short abstract (50 words maximum).

• Pages 2-21: body of the paper and references. Text must be double-spaced, 12pt Times New Roman, with 1” margins (US letter) or 2.5cm margins (A4). Authors should use a clear, consistent style for first-, second-, and third-level headings. References and long quotations of data may be single-spaced.

• Page 22 is optional and should include figures or tables.

 

Please submit your work via the online submission portal available on Easychair.

 

All submissions will undergo double-blind peer review. The track co-chairs will oversee the review process, make acceptance recommendations to the conference chairs, and provide authors with reviewer comments.

 

Authors of accepted work will be asked to choose whether to have the full paper or an extended abstract (1000 words) published in the proceedings. Authors choosing the extended abstract option will need to submit their extended abstract by April 1, 2023.

 

Accepted papers will be presented in-person and presenting authors will need to physically attend their assigned session.

 

Track 2: Work-in-Progress Papers

 

Track Chairs

• Susan Dobscha, Bentley University, USA, sdobscha@bentley.edu

• James Cronin, Lancaster University, UK, j. cronin@lancaster.ac.uk

• Samuelson Appau, The University of Melbourne, Australia, s.appau@mbs.edu

 

This is a new track for the CCT conference with the objective to explore, develop, and expand authors’ papers that are ongoing, unfinished, or perhaps have even been abandoned. Conceptual or empirical papers in this track should be works-in-progress at various stages of development (conceptualization, ongoing data collection and analysis) where the author(s) are seeking insights from peers on reaching a breakthrough or achieving a balance between radicalism and disciplinary conformism, provocation and alignment with the literature.

 

Those submitting work-in-progress papers should be interested in sharing, discussing, and workshopping novel, alternative, and thought-provoking perspectives on consumption-related topics but have, for whatever reason, not yet submitted their work to a journal. The spirit of the session is to provide a supportive forum for nurturing and developing original, critical, and polemical work with the potential to open up a wide range of new questions for CCT. Accepted submissions will be grouped with 3 other competitive papers for presentation in a 90-minute combined session.

 

Work-In-Progress paper submissions may not exceed 12 pages total, and should be in Word or PDF format. No author information should be included in the submitted document. Please ensure author information is deleted from the document properties.

 

• Page 1: title and short abstract (50 words maximum).

• Pages 2-11: . Text must be double-spaced, 12pt Times New Roman, with 1” margins (US letter) or 2.5cm margins (A4). Authors should use a clear, consistent style for first-, second-, and third-level headings. References and long quotations of data may be single spaced.

• Page 12: appendix: optional set of potential questions that could be used to initiate the discussion during the session.

 

Please submit your work via the online submission portal available on Easychair.

 

All submissions will undergo double-blind peer review. The track co-chairs will oversee the review process, make acceptance recommendations to the conference chairs, and provide authors with reviewer comments.

 

Accepted papers will be presented in-person and presenting authors will need to physically attend their assigned session.

 

Track 3: Special Sessions

 

Track Chairs

• Tonya Bradford, University of California, Irvine, USA, twbrad@uci.edu

• Aliakbar Jafari, University of Strathclyde, UK, aliakbar.jafari@strath.ac.uk

• Andrea Lucarelli, Stockholm University, Sweden, andrea.lucarelli@sbs.su.se

 

We invite proposals for 90-minute sessions that include three or four thematically- or methodologically-focused papers. Proposals should present a compelling justification for the session, and specify thoughtful and thought-provoking questions on which the session discussant will focus. We especially encourage special sessions that focus on or relate to the conference theme.

 

Special Session submissions require two documents. Both documents should be in Word or PDF format, using 12 pt Times New Roman, 1” margins, and 1.5 line spacing.

 

Document #1: main submission document: This document will undergo double-blind review. Please ensure all author identification is removed from the document, and structure it as follows:

 

• Session title

• Session description (500 word maximum) including: the topic, why it is of interest to conference attendees and the CCT community, how the three or four papers fit together

• Title and extended abstract for each of the 3 or 4 papers (1000 word maximum per extended abstract); each paper may include one table or figure (not included in word limit)

• Final page(s): full reference list. References are not included in the word limit.

 

Document #2: supplementary submission document: Please include the following:

 

• Session title

• Session abstract (50 word maximum); this will appear in the conference program

• Name and affiliation of person submitting the session; this person will be named as session chair if the submission is accepted

• Name and affiliation of discussant (optional); discussants are recommended for sessions with 3 papers, and should commit to attending the session if it is accepted

• For each of the 3 or 4 papers:

  • ​

  • Short abstract (50 word maximum for short abstract); this will appear in the conference program

  • Names and affiliations of authors

 

Please submit your work via the online submission portal available on Easychair.

 

All submissions will undergo a double-blind peer review process.

 

Accepted sessions will be presented in-person and presenting authors will need to physically attend the session. The submitting author of the session will be named session chair, and is required to attend the session, if accepted.

 

Track 4: Posters

 

Track Chairs

• Katja Brunk, Europa Universität Viadrina, Germany, brunk@europa-uni.de

• Carys Egan-Wyer, Lund University, Sweden, carys.egan-wyer@fek.lu.se

• Joachim Scholz, Brock University, Canada, jscholz@brocku.ca

 

We invite submissions of in-progress original research for presentation in an informal format. The printed posters will be displayed during the entire duration of the conference. In addition to this, there will also be a poster session where authors get a chance to discuss their work in a more focused format. This track provides the opportunity for the visual display of theorizing, data, and concepts in a setting designed to generate feedback and help further develop ideas for future research and foster collaboration.

 

Submissions should be in Word or PDF format, using 12 pt Times New Roman, 1” margins, and 1.5 line spacing. No author information should be included in the submission. Please ensure author information is deleted from the document properties. Submission documents must include:

 

• Title

• Short abstract (50 words maximum); this will appear in the conference program

• Extended abstract (1000 words maximum); this should include brief descriptions of the research problem and/or questions, relevant literature, methods (in-progress or completed, if applicable), findings (if applicable), and contributions

• One figure or table (optional; not included in word limit)

• References (not included in word limit)

 

Please submit your work via the online submission portal available on Easychair.

 

All submissions will undergo a double-blind peer review process.

 

Accepted posters will be presented in-person. More details will be available prior to the conference.

 

Track 5: Focused Forums

 

Track Chairs

• Mikael Andéhn, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK, Mikael.Andehn@rhul.ac.uk

• Fleura Bardhi, Bayes Business School, City, University of London, UK, Fleura.Bardhi.1@city.ac.uk

• Pierre-Yann Dolbec, Concordia University, Canada, pierre-yann.dolbec@concordia.ca

 

We invite proposals for Focused Forums, which include roundtables, workshops, special interest groups, seminars, professional development discussions, etc., and is designed as a ‘big tent,’ to include interesting, relevant, meaningful, and productive gatherings of CCT members. Focused Forums are not intended as venues to present original research or for primarily social/ networking purposes.

 

We encourage proposals that are conventional and/or unconventional, and specifically invite proposals that relate to the conference theme. If you are unsure whether or how to propose a forum, please email the conference chairs or track chairs.

 

Suggestions include:

 

• Workshop focused on method(s), or creating compelling figures for manuscripts

• Seminar focused on a specific theory, or theorizing a concept such as race and/or gender

• Special interest group focused on a substantive topic

• Working-group session focused on collaboration and research program development around a topic (e.g., taste, liquid consumption)

• Professional development workshop focused on career stage, geographic region, mentoring, etc.

• Panel focused on diversity, inclusion, and/or equity in CCT

• Roundtable focused on pedagogy (e.g., teaching CCT, decolonizing pedagogy)

• Professional development workshop focused on working with mainstream media

 

Focused Forums will be open to all conference attendees. However, space may be limited depending on the size of the room.

 

Proposals should be in Word or PDF, and use 12 pt Times New Roman and 1.5 line spacing. The document must include the following information:

 

• Title and format (e.g., roundtable, panel, workshop, seminar, special interest group, professional development workshop); format names do not have precise meanings, so please choose the format type that is most suitable.

• Facilitators/ chair(s): names and affiliations of individual(s) who will lead the forum

• Panelists (if applicable): names and affiliations of individuals who will participate formally (e.g., with prepared remarks or material). This is required for a panel or roundtable but not necessary for other formats. Individuals listed as panelists must commit to attending the conference if the forum is accepted.

• Summary: a short description (50 words maximum) that indicates the focus of the forum. If the forum is accepted, this summary will appear in the conference program.

• Purpose: a description (500 words maximum) that includes who should attend your forum; why they should find your forum interesting; how the time will be used (e.g., discussion questions, activities), and what your participants will ‘take away’ from the forum. Tables, figures, appendices, and references are welcome and do not count toward the word limit.

• A focused forum should last for the duration of a session, i.e. 90 minutes.

• Participant preparation (if applicable): briefly describe the preparation required by individuals participating in your forum (e.g., readings, completing a survey, sharing documents). Facilitators of accepted forum proposals will be able to revise this description and communicate more detail to participants prior to the conference.

 

Please submit your proposal via the online submission portal available on Easychair.

 

Track 6: Poetry

 

Track Curators

• Hilary Downey, Queen's University Belfast, UK, hilary.downey@qub.ac.uk

• Pilar Rojas Gaviria, University of Birmingham, UK, p.rojasgaviria@bham.ac.uk

• Jennifer Takhar, ISG International Business School, France, jennifer.takhar@isg.fr

 

The poetry session is a regular feature of the CCT Conference. Participating poets perform original work inspired by their musings on consumer culture. Session organizers publish a volume of the poetry so that audience members can participate more fully.

 

Poets are invited to submit up to four completed poems (no more than four pages, total). Submissions must include (1) an author page with complete contact information and the titles of the submitted poems, and (2) the poems, each beginning on a fresh page with no identifying author information.

 

Poems will be evaluated according to the following criteria: (1) Theme / Does the poem address cultural aspects of consumption and /or markets? Does it speak in a way that would elude traditional prose? (2) Technique / Is the poem well-crafted according to poetic conventions? Is the language fresh and devoid of cliché? Is the poetic voice distinctive? (3) Performance / Will the work enhance the poetic state of discourse as an evocative performance? Will it stir emotion or discussion?

 

Please submit your work directly to the track chairs via email by the submission deadline.

 

Track 7: Arts & Photography

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Track Curators

●      Luciana Walther, Federal University of São João Del Rei, Brazil, lucianawalther@ufsj.edu.br

●      Ekant Veer, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, ekant.veer@canterbury.ac.nz

●      Shona Bettany, University of Huddersfield, UK, s.bettany@hud.ac.uk

 

Art-based research (ABR) combines the tenets of the creative arts in research contexts (Leavy 2019), employing artistic methods to gather, analyze, and/or present qualitative data (Hervey 2000). Art that is based on scientific studies offers a multisensory, multifaceted, discursive, experiential, interactive and subjective understanding of an investigated problem, not just to researchers, but also to fieldwork participants and to art show visitors, because of the co-creative dialogue that is established among these three groups (Seregina 2020).

 

When thinking about their scientific studies through media and senses that are not the ones they are used to (i.e., the written paper and the oral lecture), scholars are forced to step outside their comfort zone (Bettany 2022). ABR enables them to deepen and rethink their interpretations of research data while interacting with field participants, while planning the artwork, while building art pieces, and while talking to visitors during exhibitions, in an iterative process where errors become opportunities (Walther and Costa 2022).

 

References

Bettany, S. 2022. Doing Marketing Differently: An Artnography of Cathartic Consumption in      Trauma. Journal of Marketing Management, 1-22.

Hervey, L.W. 2000. Artistic Inquiry in Dance/Movement Therapy: Creative Research Alternatives. Springfield, MA, USA: Charles C. Thomas Publisher.

Leavy, P., 2019. Introduction to Arts-Based Research. Handbook of Arts-Based Research. London: Guilford Press.

Seregina, U. 2020. Co-Creating Bodily, Interactive, and Reflexive Knowledge through Art-Based Research. Consumption Markets & Culture 23, 6: pp. 513-536.

Veer, E. 2022. Everyone's a Photographer: Reflections on Photography as Creative Expression through Lockdown In: Seregina, U.; Van den Bossche, A. (Eds.). Art-Based Research in the Context of a Global Pandemic. Oxfordshire: Routledge.

Walther, L. and Costa, C.E.F., 2022. Wandering with Wonder: From Artistic Practices to Social Practices and Back. In: Seregina, U.; Van den Bossche, A. (Eds.). Art-Based Research in the Context of a Global Pandemic. Oxfordshire: Routledge.

 

For the Arts & Photography track, we seek CCT work created or communicated through visual aesthetic forms. Accepted submissions will be displayed in an in-person art gallery during the conference. We invite work in such forms as (but not restricted to) photography, drawings, paintings, sculpture, collages, installations, or videography.

 

The submissions for CCT 2023 will form two modes of participation: the Artwork Submission and the CCT Photography Competition. Submissions for this track should be made through Easychair. You may author a maximum of two art entries and two photo entries (four submissions in total).

 

Artwork Submission

Submit no more than two art entries as digital images of your original work via Easychair. One entry may consist of multiple images or components (e.g., a series of sculptures), but, in this case, cannot exceed five images/components. Each submission must be accompanied by a 500-word abstract which describes the artwork and the research on which it is based.

 

Please, do not describe just the research. It is important to explain how the artwork was created and who participated in its creation, how it will be displayed, how it relates to the CCT study/ies on which it was based, how it is relevant to consumer culture, and how it can enrich our understanding of theory or research. Please note that the abstract plays a central role in the review process.

 

We will accept partially completed work (e.g. sketches, partial paintings, or sculptures). In this case, the submission needs to show clearly what the final art piece will look like. Moreover, partially completed work will be accepted conditionally, pending submission of the final images by May 1, 2023.

 

CCT Photography Competition:

Telling the Story of your CCT Research Practice through Photography

The CCT Research Photography Competition allows us to include a greater diversity of work into the CCT Art stream. You do not have to be an expert photographer to enter, since photography has emerged as a most diverse and democratized art form (Veer 2022). All we ask is for an image that captures an aspect of your research. Anyone can submit a photograph relating to their paper/poster/special session CCT 2023 submission and it is a great way for CCT scholars to capture and share their excellent and diverse research. Stand-alone photo submissions, which do not relate to a submitted paper/poster/special session, are also welcome.

 

Research photography provides an opportunity to be creative, using imagery to explore the relevance of your research and to communicate quickly to a varied audience with a visual medium that can inspire and engage. Many leading universities and scholarly societies run annual research photography competitions across all disciplines, and there is an audience out there interested in research-based photographs. Previous competitions have generated significant social media activity, raising the profile of individual researchers and their work.

 

Submit no more than two photo entries via Easychair. One entry may consist of multiple images (e.g., a photo collage), but, in this case, cannot exceed five images. Photographs can be taken on a variety of equipment, from smartphones to DSLRs. Each submission must be accompanied by a 150-word abstract which describes the photograph and the research on which it is based. Please, do not describe just the research. It is important to provide information/explanation which links the photograph to the research in a way that a layperson could understand. Images should be original work. There will be a judged panel award for best entry and a popular award, voted throughout the conference by all participants.

 

For ideas and inspiration please visit the sites below:

• Royal Society of Biology https://www.rsb.org.uk/get-involved/rsb-competitions/photography-competition

• UCL https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/heritage/news/2018/sep/ucl-ish-photo-competition-winners-announced

• University of Brighton https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/doctoralcollege/research-photo-competition-images-to-inspire/

• Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/publishing-activities/photo-competition/

• University of Southampton https://www.southampton.ac.uk/doctoral-college/research-community/research-photography-competition-and-exhibition.page

• EPSRC competition article https://www.theguardian.com/science/gallery/2019/jun/03/nano-robots-vr-for-refugees-epsrc-photography-competition-winners-2019-in-pictures

• Imperial College, London https://www.imperial.ac.uk/mechanical-engineering/about-us/photo-competition/

• LJMU https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/about-us/news/features/research-images

 

Ethics and Fair Use Statement

If people are identifiable in the artwork or photographs used, written consent must be gained from those individuals for their images to be used in this way.

 

Please ensure all imagery/materials/elements used in the creation of your piece are legally owned by the submitter/s. Where others’ work has been used or incorporated, please declare this in your submission and ensure that full rights to use someone else’s work as part of your submission have been granted. The onus is on the creator/s and submitter/s to ensure this is the case prior to displaying your artwork or photograph.