CALL FOR PAPERS

This isn’t a conference about Taylor Swift, just as Taylor Swift: The Star, The Songs, The Fans “isn’t a book about Taylor Swift” (Bentley, Galloway, & Harper: 1). It is a conference about the Taylor Swift phenomenon, which should be studied from different perspectives, the academic included, since “Taylor Swift is a prismatic figure for the musical world of the 21st century” (ibid.). 

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In 2014, Bloomberg Businessweek stated in its November 17 cover that “Taylor Swift is the Music Industry” (emphasis in the original). 2014 was the year that consolidated Taylor Swift’s shift from country to pop music, a change that led her to become one of the biggest female pop stars in the world (Théberge, 2021; Wilkinson, 2019). Over the last decade, she has asserted herself as a music celebrity (singer, songwriter, and performer), a brand, and a businesswoman. Moreover, she has been able to navigate stardom and her relationship with her fans. Fandom is a very important dimension of the Taylor Swift phenomenon. Swifties are a highly engaged fandom community, which has been studied from different perspectives and addressing different aspects (Carroll, 2025; Dajches & Aubrey, 2023; Driessen, 2022a; Galloway, 2023; Morris, 2024). In recent years, Swift’s role as a political figure has also become a key part of her public identity. While originally perceived as apolitical, she has since embraced political activism, endorsing candidates, advocating for LGBTQ+ rights, and speaking out on issues such as voter participation and reproductive rights (Driessen, 2022a; Driessen, 2022b). Research has explored her political interventions and their effects on both public discourse and voter mobilization, particularly among young audiences (Jackson, et al., 2024).; Nisbett & Schartel Dunn, 2019). As a celebrity with a vast platform, Swift’s political engagement raises questions about the power of popular music to shape civic participation, public trust, and digital activism (Gabbatt, 2018). 

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Building on existing academic inquiries, including Taylor Swift: The Star, The Songs, The Fans (2025), the Contemporary Music Review special issue on Swift (Fogarty & Arnold, 2021), and The Literary Taylor Swift: Songwriting and Intertextuality (2024), this conference aims to convene scholars working at the intersection of media, literary, cultural, and political studies to explore Taylor Swift’s role in meaning-making processes.