The Dialogic Turn – one day conference at Roskilde University

VW research group member Louise Phillips is organizing the one-day conference “When dialogue is more than a buzzword ‐ tackling the complexities of dialogic knowledge production and communication”. The event will take place on Friday 26 August 2011, 10.00-16.00 at the Department of Communication, Business and Information Technologies, Roskilde University.

The conference takes its starting‐point in the so‐called dialogic turn in the production and communication of knowledge whereby communication is conceived as a dialogue among participants rather than a one‐way flow of knowledge to a less knowledgeable target group. It has become commonplace to employ dialogue based approaches in producing and communicating knowledge in fields such as organisational change communication, collaborative research, health communication, science communication, digital communication and development communication. (Part of the virtual worlds project consists of applying and reflecting upon the value of such dialogue based approaches).

The purpose of the conference is to further our understanding of the complexities and dilemmas of “walking the talk” of dialogue. The conference is designed to build bridges across theory and practice by bringing research on dialogue into dialogue with practices, with a view to enriching both. The conference will be a combination of presentations and workshop activities in groups. It will draw on theories and concepts of dialogue across the traditions of Dialogic Communication Theory, Science and Technology Studies and Action Research and it will relate to, and build on, the experiences of conference participants.

The activities will revolve around the following questions:

• What does dialogic knowledge production and communication actually involve in the different fields in which it is practised? When is the “co‐” in “co‐production” taken seriously and when is it hot air?
• How can we reflexively tackle the complexities of relations between different knowledge forms and different participants?
• How can we deal with the theoretical, methodological and ethical dilemmas inherent in living up to the ideals of dialogue, participation, and democratic power relations?
• How can we work productively and ethically with the tensions?
• How can we best evaluate both research on, and the practice of, dialogic communication?

If you would like to participate, please send an email to Louise Phillips by Monday, 15 August 2011.

The conference is organised and funded by the NordForsk Network for the Study of the Dialogic Communication of Research. It is open and free of charge and all those who are interested are welcome to participate.

The day will be relevant for practitioners, researchers and students who work with dialogue based approaches to producing and communicating knowledge. It will also be relevant for policy‐makers, researchers, and students across the social sciences, humanities and natural sciences who seek insight into the current “dialogic turn” in research/society relations whereby researchers are encouraged to collaborate with diverse social actors.