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Call for papers: Social Theory in Information Systems Research (STIR) minitrack at AMCIS 2015

Join us in Puerto Rico for AMCIS 2015
August 13-15, 2015, El Conquistador Resort

The theme of AMCIS 2015 is Blue Ocean Research

Minitrack chairs:

STIR ’15 solicits papers that make use of social theory in information systems research drawing upon such approaches as sociotechnical theory, critical theory, social informatics, organizational theory, cultural anthropology, sociology and others. We are interested in understanding and supporting the evolution of social theory, socio-technical theory, and social informatics in IS research. We want to highlight research that uses these approaches to critically examine the constitution of ICT, and their roles in organizations and society. We are particularly interested in research that makes use of social theory to address the main theme of the conference, blue ocean IS research, meaning work that is bringing a new theory, conceptual framework, or methodology to an existing or new research domain; for this mini track, it can mean innovative uses of social theory and methodologies to study the impacts of new and emerging technologies on people in their organizational and social lives. Issues might include designing smart and sustainable digital futures, critically examining the constitution of ICTs, and their roles in the design, maintenance and dissolution of online and offline organizations and social groups, and posing and investigating questions about how we are interacting with ICTs in our work and social lives in ways that help and hinder the move towards more useful, productive, and happier lives.

We are interested in high quality empirical and conceptual work that uses social theory to study and theorize about application domains including large-scale social and organizational phenomena. We seek to attract research papers and research-in-progress papers from IS researchers who are using the work of social theorists, organizational theorists, sociotechnical theorists, and cultural anthropologists, symbolic interactionists, and many others. We are particularly interested in research that makes use of social theory to 1) investigate designing smart and sustainable digital futures; 2) critically examining the constitution of ICTs, and their roles in the design, maintenance and dissolution of online and offline organizations and social groups; and 3) posing and investigating questions about how we are interacting with ICTs in our work and social lives in ways that help and hinder the move towards more useful, productive, and happier lives.

This will be the 15th consecutive year for the Mini Track at AMCIS, and we hope to continue a tradition of high quality paper submissions, thought-provoking presentations and lively discussion for all IS researchers using, or considering the use of, social theory in their work.

SUGGESTED TOPICS

In addition to research aligned with the conference theme we are also interested in high quality empirical and conceptual work that uses social theory to study and understand:

  • The interplay between ICT and the development, implementation, and evaluation of Blue Ocean Strategy
  • The implications of social networks for organizations and social groups
  • Conceptual and empirical work focusing on the ways ICT can promote or hinder social inclusion
  • The significance of cyberinfrastructure for commerce, governing and research and sustainable development
  • The relationships between ICTs and people as they participate in online communities and virtual teams
  • Online communities of practice, their processes and outcomes
  • The dynamics of and social and cultural impacts on ICT
  • Hacktivism and the use of technology to mobilize resources and advance ideology
  • Unintended consequences of technology implementation and use in organizations and in social life
  • Scientific collaboration and scholarly communication as enabled and constrained by ICTs
  • The impacts of social computing on our social and work lives

SUBMISSION PROCESS

Full paper submissions must be made electronically through the AMCIS on-line submission system by February 25, 2015. Manuscript Central will start accepting paper submissions on January 5, 2015.

The URL for submission to Scholar One is not yet available and will be available at the URL below. In addition, the instructions for authors and AMCIS 2015 Submission template are here:

http://amcis2015.aisnet.org/call-for-papers

Important Dates

  • January 5, 2015: Manuscript submissions for AMCIS 2015 begin
  • February 25, 2015 2 PM EST: AMCIS manuscript submissions closes for authors
  • April 21, 2015: Final decisions on AMCIS 2015 program are made
  • April 28, 2015: For accepted papers, camera ready copy due