World Summer School “Communication, Information Integrity, Social Justice and Democracy”
The World Summer School “Communication, Information Integrity, Social Justice and Democracy” is a three-day academic online event to be held from 21 to 23 October 2026. The official language of the activities is English.
Designed as a virtual initiative, the Summer School is aligned with the IAMCR Conference 2026 theme and will combine remote panels and roundtables, enabling broad international participation and fostering dialogue among senior scholars, early-career researchers, and master’s and doctoral students from diverse geographical, institutional, and epistemic contexts.
The proposal is grounded in the theoretical and normative framework of the IAMCR Working Group on Communication, Justice and Democracy (CJD), addressing communication as a central arena in struggles over information integrity, democratic governance, and social justice.
The activities involved people from the WG and also from the Latin American Association of Communication Researchers (ALAIC) and other entities indicated below.
In a global context shaped by platformization, algorithmic power, data extraction, media education, political polarization, and persistent inequalities in visibility and participation, the event seeks to examine how communication systems both reproduce and challenge power asymmetries.
The activities include debates on “peripheries and connections” through analytical and political lenses, rather than as fixed geographical categories. Peripheries are understood as relational positions shaped by history, political economy, race, gender, language, colonial legacies, institutional marginalization, and unequal access to communicative resources. At the same time, the concept of connections highlights transnational circulations of narratives, regulatory models, technological infrastructures, and resistance practices.
World Summer School “Communication, Information Integrity, Social Justice and Democracy”
The event invites participants to reflect on how peripheral perspectives contribute to alternative understandings of democracy, justice, and information integrity, while also examining the tensions and possibilities created through global interconnections.It seeks to foster a critical dialogue on how knowledge produced from the margins can challenge dominant frameworks, illuminate overlooked experiences, and propose new conceptual and methodological approaches to addressing contemporary social, political, and communicative challenges.
Special emphasis will be placed on information integrity as a multidimensional concept encompassing disinformation and misinformation, platform governance, digital rights, media regulation, and media and information literacy. From this perspective, information integrity is not limited to the verification of facts, but also involves the social, technological, institutional, and cultural conditions that shape the production, circulation, and reception of public information. The event will therefore encourage participants to examine how unequal access to reliable information, algorithmic visibility, political polarization, and regulatory asymmetries affect democratic participation and public debate. It will also invite reflection on the role of education, civic engagement, and cross-regional cooperation in strengthening more inclusive, transparent, and accountable information environments.
Drawing on comparative and interdisciplinary approaches, the World Summer School aims to explore how information integrity is negotiated across different political, cultural, and regulatory environments, including, but not limited to, the Global South and European contexts. This focus resonates with ongoing international efforts to address disinformation while safeguarding freedom of expression and democratic participation.
The academic program will consist of thematic panels, paper sessions, and dialogical roundtables, in the format of a “summer school”, encouraging both empirical and theoretical contributions.
This summer school format presupposes student-centredness, multi-voiced feedback, and a sustained effort towards dialogue and respect for diverse perspectives and opinions, without diminishing the need for academic rigor and critical thinking.
In the first hours of each day, panels will feature academics who will give presentations and discuss topics directly or indirectly related to the research conducted by master’s and doctoral students.
After a 2-hour break, students will present their research projects and receive constructive feedback from peers, senior researchers, and invited academics. This format will allow participants to refine their theoretical frameworks, methodological strategies, and research questions, while also learning from the diverse academic traditions and regional experiences represented in the event. The program will encourage horizontal exchange, collaborative discussion, and the development of academic networks among master’s and doctoral students. Cultural and social activities will also be promoted as part of the learning experience, fostering dialogue, integration, and long-term cooperation among participants.
Proposed themes include: information disorders and democratic resilience; communication rights and social justice; platform regulation and accountability; media, extremism, and polarization; community, alternative, and public service media; digital citizen participation and depolarization; journalism and media education, decolonial, feminist, and Global South epistemologies; and the role of media education in strengthening democratic cultures.
Dedicated sessions for graduate students and early-career researchers will promote mentorship, feedback, and academic exchange. These spaces will offer participants the opportunity to present their ongoing or recently completed research, receive constructive comments from peers and senior scholars, and strengthen the theoretical, methodological, and communicative dimensions of their work. They will also help participants identify publication strategies, explore future research collaborations, and build academic networks beyond their home institutions. For recent graduates, the program will provide a valuable transition space between formal academic training and the development of a more autonomous research agenda.
As a consequence of universities´network, the initiative seeks to consolidate North–South and South–South dialogues, strengthen international research networks, and contribute substantively to the IAMCR CJD Working Group’s mission.
Ultimately, the Summer School aims to position communication scholarship as a key field for advancing social justice, democratic values, and information integrity in an increasingly unequal and interconnected world. It also aspires to strengthen collaborative networks among master’s and doctoral students, encouraging them to develop research that is not only theoretically rigorous but also socially relevant and attentive to the voices, experiences, and struggles of diverse communities.
