ICSJ hosted the international conference Communicating Narratives, Imaginaries and Epistemes of Hope

On 7 September, ICSJ hosted the international conference Communicating Narratives, Imaginaries and Epistemes of Hope. Researchers from various countries discussed the relationship between hope, media, social change and democratic participation.

The conference focused on the constructive power of hope and its importance for democracy, peace and justice. It was organised by the IAMCR working group Communication, Social Justice and Democracy, with the group’s co-chair Vaia Doudaki serving as conference organiser. It also served as a pre-conference to ECREA 2026. The programme featured two keynote lectures and eight thematic sessions addressing topics such as environmental journalism, digital media, art, political communication, civic engagement and protest. 

The opening session, Hope, Change and Critique, explored the tensions between hope, critique, action and social change. In his presentation, Ilija Tomanić Trivundža from the University of Ljubljana challenged the idea of a straightforward relationship between hope and social change and raised the question of what might come “after hope”. Nico Carpentier from ICSJ then discussed how hope can be translated into concrete social practice through participatory research in the fields of media policy and art. 

A number of researchers from ICSJ also contributed to the other sessions. Elisabeth Wennerström, for example, presented an analysis of more than 180 articles from Swedish environmental journalism. Ali Minanto focused on street art in Indonesia following the fall of the president’s regime, while David Ongenaert and Nico Carpentier presented research based on 36 interviews with Czech journalists, examining how the media report on peace in the context of the Russo-Ukrainian War. Other researchers from ICSJ included Uxía Sánchez Lorda, Maedbh Pierce, Yaroslava Kutsai, Anirban Chakroborti, Leonid Moyzhes, and Vaia Doudaki.

Researchers from around the world contributed to the discussions, among them Mihaela Chirac Condrea, Mitsuko Matsumoto, Giulia Ferri, Jose David Ortega Chavez or Kristiina Raud. The conference was supported by facilitators Maedbh Pierce, Ani Sukiasyan, Martin Bubanovic, Karolina Simkova and Lenka Marxova, while Uxia Sanchez Lorda and Ali Minanto documented the day through photography.

The individual contributions demonstrated how different actors negotiate, represent and employ hope across media, politics, art and civil society. The conference thus brought together a range of perspectives on how communication helps us imagine, advocate for and critically reflect on possible futures. 

The conference was organised by the Culture and Communication Research Centre (CULCORC) and the Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University.