Stream: Culture/Politics/Technology

A Graduate Journal of Communication

Stream: Culture/Politics/Technology is an open-access, peer-reviewed graduate e-journal for students in communication studies and cognate fields encompassing three over-overlapping ‘streams’ of concentration: culture, politics, and technology. It is published by the Communication Graduate Caucus at Simon Fraser University. Papers are blind reviewed by graduate students, making Stream a unique contribution to the flourishing and productive field of communication in Canada. In employing open-source software and Creative Commons licensing, Stream is exceptional in the field of academic publishing and contributes to the public dissemination and sharing of knowledge. We hope that this initiative will become a space for graduate students to publish new work and expand upon new ideas, contributing to a thriving intellectual culture.


Call for Papers and Digital Art for special issue:
Art, Culture and Everyday Life

During the recent Canadian federal election, much controversy arose over the Conservative government’s $45 million funding cuts to the arts and culture. Harper claimed that the arts did not concern "ordinary Canadians." Appealing to the working class, Harper suggested that “when ordinary working people come home, turn on the TV and see … a bunch of people … at a rich gala all subsidized by taxpayers claiming their subsidies aren’t high enough when they know those subsidies have actually gone up, I’m not sure that’s something that resonates with ordinary people.” His statement drew censure from artists, politicians, academics and “ordinary Canadians,” notably Margaret Atwood in a Globe and Mail piece who cited rates of poverty among artists; the economic value of the cultural industries; the ordinariness of artists; DIY cultural production; the everyday impacts of culture; and the “universal” drive for creativity as counter examples to this conservative rhetoric. All of these perspectives seem to suggest that politics and class intersect at the juncture of culture in everyday life.

This special issue of Stream broadly considers debates like those raised by this case, as well as current issues in communication and culture. Possible topics include:

  • everyday technologies
  • public culture and the public sphere
  • cultural industries or culture industry?
  • the arts and the political imagination
  • DIY culture and citizenship practices
  • financial barriers to cultural participation
  • popular taste and cultural capital
  • intellectual property and independent cultural labour
  • globalization and cultural sovereignty
  • borders and digital technologies

We invite academic papers related to these topics. We also seek methodology papers with early research study findings and artistic projects developed as part of a graduate degree (these projects should include an academic paper component). For all submissions, we encourage authors to take advantage of the online capabilities of our journal by including links, images, sound or video files, etc. (it is the authors responsibility to obtain permission from the copyright holder).

Academic papers must be 15-20 pages in length and use APA style. Further information can be found here or by contacting Danielle Deveau. Papers that do not meet basic formatting requirements will not be considered. Articles can be submitted through the website, and must be received by January 15, 2009 in order to be considered for the Spring 2009 special issue. Submissions for the open-themed Fall 2009 issue must be received prior to July 15, 2009.


Vol 1, No 1 (2008)