Towards a Theory of Authoritarian Political Communication

Schedule

Wed Feb 08 2023 at 01:30 pm to 03:00 pm

Location

Geoffrey Manton Building, Room 1.07 | Manchester, EN

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Towards a Theory of Authoritarian Political Communication: Organizing, Leading, and Communicating Political Movements in Belarus and Russia
About this Event

What is the role of communication in the sustainability of authoritarian regimes? I explore a key building block of this puzzle, focusing on contentious communication by groups that build resistance to such regimes. How do contemporary anti-authoritarian groups organize using digital tools? What shapes their digital communication infrastructures? And how do the features and affordances of these infrastructures facilitate leading movements during collective action? I explore case studies from Russia and Belarus, and present an analysis of data collected through interviews, observation, and scraping of Telegram, VK, OK and Facebook content between 2017 and 2022. I demonstrate how three building blocks of political communication in authoritarian settings – organizing groups and leading them, as well as developing a communication infrastructure – evolve, and how each can explain the sustainability of an authoritarian regime and movements’ ability to resist it.

Speaker: Dr Aliaksandr Herasimenka is a postdoctoral researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford. He focuses on computational propaganda and political communication in authoritarian regimes.

Twitter: @alesherasimenka

The event will start with a talk, followed by a Q&A and open discussion. Light refreshments will be provided.

This event is supported by the Jean Monnet Centre for Excellence and is part of the Politics Research Group's seminar series on Politics and International Relations. The research group focuses on a wide range of politics and IR topics, including critical political theory, authoritarian regimes, and green politics. To find out more about their work, see here: https://www.mmu.ac.uk/research/research-centres/rcass/groups/politics-research

Follow them on Twitter: @PRGManMet

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Where is it happening?

Geoffrey Manton Building, Room 1.07, Rosamond Street West, Manchester, United Kingdom

Event Location & Nearby Stays:

Tickets

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Research in Arts and Humanities at Manchester Met

Host or Publisher Research in Arts and Humanities at Manchester Met

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