Call for papers | Vol. 50 | Communication and Conflicts | From October 22, 2025 to January 15, 2026

2025-10-22

Thematic editors: Teresa Ruão (CECS, Universidade do Minho, Portugal), Inês Amara (CES, Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal) and Iván Puente (Universidade de Vigo, Spain)

The concept of “conflict” extends far beyond the military or diplomatic spheres, manifesting across multiple dimensions of social life. This includes political, social, cultural, technological, and interpersonal domains. Furthermore, “when neighbours feud, lovers quarrel, or nations war, the predictable remedy prescribed by the voices of reason is communication” (Krauss & Morsella, 2000, p. 144).

Indeed, communication — across all forms and media — can generate, mediate, amplify, or mitigate tensions by influencing perceptions, human behaviour, and outcomes, thus playing a central role in the emergence, escalation, and resolution of conflicts. Media shape perceptions, construct narratives of legitimation or demonisation, and act as catalysts for social mobilisation. Social media amplifies marginalised voices but can also intensify polarisation and the spread of misinformation. Meanwhile, institutional actors and organisations deploy communication strategies — from crisis management to public diplomacy — to influence internal and external audiences.

Within this framework, communication is not merely a vehicle for transmitting information; it is an interactive process of meaning-making, negotiation, and emotion management. Media, journalistic discourse, and social networks function as privileged channels for framing, where narratives of victimhood and adversary are either consolidated or contested. Organisational, institutional, and community communication draws on practices of mediation, conciliation, and public diplomacy to defuse tensions, employing active listening, structured feedback, and problem reframing. Many other communicative phenomena can also be observed in conflict contexts.

Given the current global geostrategic landscape, it is timely to deepen our understanding of the communicative processes underpinning contemporary conflicts. This volume of Comunicação e Sociedade invites researchers to explore, with theoretical and methodological rigour, the multiple interfaces between dialogue and antagonism. Contributions that bring together conflicting ideas or interdisciplinary approaches are particularly welcome, including studies examining victim–perpetrator narratives, dynamics of empathy and dehumanisation, the effectiveness of media literacy practices in tension contexts, the role of journalism, and the impact of transnational disinformation campaigns. Comparative studies and regionally focused research that reveal how cultural, historical, and political specificities shape conflict discourses are also encouraged.

By gathering diverse contributions — empirical and theoretical, quantitative and qualitative — this volume aims to offer a comprehensive picture of communicative dynamics in conflict situations and provide insights for the development of more effective mediation practices and policies. Researchers are invited to submit work that challenges conventional perspectives, proposes new analytical tools, and contributes to a deeper understanding of communicative processes in conflict contexts.

Suggested (non-exhaustive) thematic areas:

  • Conflict mediation and framing in the media;
  • Crisis narratives and conflict rhetoric;
  • Social media, filter bubbles, and polarisation;
  • Organisational communication in labour conflict contexts;
  • Public diplomacy, propaganda, and disinformation;
  • Crisis management and risk communication;
  • Intergenerational, ethnic, or cultural conflicts and communicative practices;
  • Ethics and social responsibility in journalistic coverage of conflicts;
  • Opinion makers, international conflicts, and the social construction of reality.

Proposals submission (full manuscript) | new date: from October 22, 2025 to January 15, 2026

Publication period: continuous edition (July to December 2026)

LANGUAGE

Papers can be submitted in English or Portuguese. The articles selected for publication will be translated into Portuguese or English, respectively, being published in both languages.  

EDITING AND SUBMISSION

Comunicação e Sociedade is an open-access academic journal, operating according to demanding standards of the peer-review system, and operates on a double-blind peer-review process. After submission, each paper will be distributed to two reviewers, previously invited to evaluate it according to its academic quality, originality and relevance to the objectives and scope of the theme.

Originals should be submitted through the journal's website. When accessing Comunicação e Sociedade for the first time, you must register before submitting your article (instructions to register here).

Refer to the guidelines for authors here.

For further information, please contact: comunicacaoesociedade@ics.uminho.pt

References

Krauss, R. M., & Morsella, E. (2000). Communication and conflict. In M. Deutsch, P. T. Coleman, & E. C. Marcus (Eds.), The handbook of conflict resolution: Theory and practice (pp. 144–157). Jossey-Bass.