CSD Seminar with Prof. Stephen Coleman (University of Leeds)

Listening to the Mood of an Election

Stephen Coleman, Professor of Political Communication, School of Media and Communications, University of Leeds

Abstract: I spent a year leading up to the 2024 general election monitoring and analysing calls to the BBC’s daily flagship phone-in, The Nicky Campbell Show. I wanted to understand how a national phone-in might contribute to a ‘national conversation’ and how this kind of mediated public discussion differs from US talk radio, which has been seen as a major contributing factor to the rise of polarised populism. In this talk I shall focus upon how callers generated a political mood – and what that term means.

Stephen Coleman is Professor of Political Communication at the University of Leeds. He has over 100 articles published in academic journals and ten published books, including (2013, CUP) and (2020, Bloomsbury).

The event will take place in-person. If you have any questions, please email the seminar convener, Dr Jac St John, Lecturer in Politics and International Relations ([email protected])

The Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD), established in 1989, is based in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Westminster. At the Centre, academics working in politics and international relations undertake socially engaged, methodologically diverse and often interdisciplinary research that aims to address a range of critical political challenges in relation to democracy worldwide.

CSD has a longstanding international reputation for research excellence through a programme of publications, events and collaborations with academics, practitioners, policymakers, and activists. Research in Politics and International Studies at CSD was ranked 4th highest in the UK for impact in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.

The Centre has established numerous collaborations with scholars and universities around the world and has hosted encounters with public intellectuals including Luc Boltanski, Judith Butler, Stuart Hall, Bruno Latour, Richard Rorty, Quentin Skinner, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Charles Taylor, James Tully, and Michael Walzer. The CR Parekh lecture, instituted by Lord Bhikhu Parekh, has included lectures by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arundhati Roy, and Ashis Nandy.

CSD recognises that responding to contemporary social and political challenges requires engagement beyond the academy, so actively welcomes dialogue and collaboration with researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and activists around the world. The Centre is directed by Professor Nitasha Kaul.

Host or Publisher This seminar is organised by the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD).