This proposed collection aims to examine patterns of activities, psychologies, and culture(s) of contemporary mobs and crowds. It aims to explore how and why they are initiated; how they have impacted their respective local, national, or even global communities; and how individual citizens, various groups and organizations, and even governments have responded to these acts.

Offering a host of perspectives, this anthology hopes to investigate the contemporary mob. What’s changed or changing about crowd or mob culture? How is its definition evolving, and what elements or characteristics are sustained from those of previous generations? Scholarly essays will be tentatively divided into four categories: theoretical responses to/explanations of the mob; mob/crowd culture in history; the contemporary mob or mob culture in the United States; and, lastly, comparative studies of the mob on the global scale. Focus should be geared towards the contemporary. Junior faculty and graduate students are welcome and encouraged to submit.

Contributors may approach the topic from any number of disciplines: history and politics; socio-economics; psychology; criminal justice; mass media and communication; race, ethnicity, and nationality; popular culture; and theatre and performance. A potential list of topics may include the following:

The mob as political protest
Mob imagery used in advertisements and publicity
Entertainment, art, and satire
Film and TV parodies
Violent v. non-violent protest
American / African-American studies / history
Youth culture, childhood and family studies
The law and Civil Rights
Surveillance and voyeurism
Consumer culture
The flash mob, the flying protest
Violence following sporting matches
H&M dances, Mall mobs, Grand Central performances
Digital culture and the Internet
Race relations and stereotypes
Ethnic studies
Identity and identity politics
Impersonations / masks & masking
Information Communication Technology (ICT) and social networking
The mob as ritual or performancev Language and linguistics
Memory and Remembrance
Music
Global, national, local politics

Please send a 300-500 word abstract attached (as a .doc or .docx file) to an email with a brief bio or C.V. (containing the author's name, institutional affiliation, and contact information) in the email text to kevin_wisniewski@hotmail.com.

Abstracts are due by Thursday, December 1, 2011. Authors will be notified of their acceptance in January and will be expected to submit completed essays of 5,000-7,000 words in May or June 2012.

Please address inquiries and send abstracts to the editor at the email above or at the following:

K.A. Wisniewski
English Department
Widener University
One University Place
Chester, PA 19013