Self-Expertization and Laypersons

• 09.02.2015 – 10.02.2015
• Zentrum für Medien-, Kommunikations- und Informationsforschung (ZeMKI) • Linzer Straße 4 • Room Besprechungsraum

Workshop as part of the Creative Unit “Communicative Figurations”

Date: February 9-10, 2015
Location: University of Bremen, ZeMKI, meeting room
Organization: Kerstin Radde-Antweiler, Ute Volkmann

Objective

There are several sub-projects in the research network “Communicative Figurations” that focus on audience participation as a relevant factor with regard to the social change under investigation. What these projects have in common is that they focus on laypeople who become active beyond their role as audience members. The forms of audience participation considered by the individual projects vary. The spectrum ranges from the claim to have a say in matters that affect them as an audience – for example as a devout Christian on religious dogmas and the associated practices or as an “educationally panic-stricken” mother on her child’s school matters – to participation in production – for example as a reader-reporter in journalism or as a small investor in the financial market. The terms used by the individual projects in relation to the participatory audience also vary.

The aim of the workshop is to create a common theoretical and conceptual basis so that the projects can mutually benefit from each other. We consider the double distinction between the participatory audience and professional performance producers on the one hand and the genuine role of the audience on the other to be central here, as well as the closely linked aspect of knowledge, including the way in which this knowledge is acquired.

The workshop is divided into two parts. On the first day, we will work on theory in the form of a definition of terms on the basis of previously read material and two lectures. On the second day, we will then “test” whether the theoretical instrument we have developed is suitable using the example of three projects.