Publications

Book

Abstract:
This book introduces a new theory of national identity, arguing that the nation does not only represent an abstract “imagined community” but also represents embodied cultural and discursive practices. Drawing upon a detailed case study of Serbian Londoners, this truly interdisciplinary study positions media as constitutive of national identities. The author contends that nations come into being and are sustained through everyday interpersonal communication practices that have increasingly become mediated, especially for migrants. She develops the concept of "doing nation" to argue that we should think of the nation as a dynamic process. Situated first within a particular migration context, the concept is then applied more broadly as everyday communication practices are becoming increasingly mediated worldwide. Covering a breadth of key theories and concepts in this field, including diaspora, ethnicity, nationalism, cosmopolitanism, social media affordances and polymedia, this book will appeal to scholars and students researching digital media, migration, identities, nationalism and cosmopolitanism in the social science disciplines.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Today's young people find themselves at the center of widespread debates about their online safety, and they are often told that social media platforms affect their mental health and body image by exposing them to cyberbullying and distressing images. Foregrounding their voices and experiences, The Kids Are Online explores how they navigate their identities across platforms and how they really feel about their young digital lives. Ysabel Gerrard talked to more than a hundred teens to unpack the myths and realities of their social media use. Instead of framing today's big platforms as either good or bad, she identifies moments when young people encounter social apps in paradoxical ways—both good and bad at the same time. Using the concepts of stigma, secrecy, safety, and social comparison, she helps readers understand young people's experiences. The Kids Are Online proposes a series of recommendations for parents, families, schools, technology companies, and policymakers to imagine how we might build safer social media systems.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This highly original and stimulating edited volume focuses on ways of un‑writing the polysemous, controversial and highly political notion of interculturality in research and education. The authors argue that no ‘critical’ perspective on interculturality can do without revising, exploring and creating ways of engaging with different and potentially new aspects and forms of inquiry of the notion in writing. They also claim that un‑writing interculturality can serve an emancipatory function towards an epistemic re‑appraisal of the mainstream(s) and the dominant(s). While critiquing problematic perspectives, as well as the ‘taken‑for‑granted’ and ‘things as usual’ within interculturality scholarship, writing about interculturality is epistemically significant and indicative of change in the ways the notion is used. Each chapter reflects on how to un‑write, un‑do and un‑learn interculturality in research and aims to provide some answers to the following questions: What could un‑writing interculturality mean? What are the pros and cons of un‑writing in research on intercultural communication education? and How does constant work on languaging around interculturality contribute to enriching the notion globally? The book is aimed at students and scholars who wish to push the boundaries of scholarly engagement with interculturality, especially in relation to their modalities of writing, reasoning and critiquing.

Article / Journal

Language(s): Deutsch

Abstract:
In der internationalen Kulturpolitik steht derzeit die Restitution afrikanischer Kulturgüter kolonialer Herkunft im Zentrum der Debatten. Die Praxis des Sammelns ‚exotischer‘ Objekte in Europa begann bereits in der Renaissance, doch erst im 19. Jahrhundert intensivierte sich das europäische ‚Interesse‘ an afrikanischen Kulturen, verbunden mit der gewaltvollen Kolonialisierung großer Teile des Kontinents. Die systematische Entwendung afrikanischer Kulturobjekte durch europäische Kolonialmächte diente daraufhin der Legitimierung kolonialer Unterwerfungsstrategien. Trotz vereinzelter Rückführungsprojekte in den vergangenen Jahren protestieren viele Kritiker:innen gegen eine beobachtete Trägheit bei den Bemühungen um Restitution auf europäischer Seite. Ein Beispiel für den militanten Protest gegen diese Entwicklungen ist Mwazulu Diyabanza. Der kongolesische Aktivist versuchte im Jahr 2020, eine afrikanische Statue aus dem Musée du Quai Branly in Paris zu stehlen, und veröffentlichte seine Performance auf der online-Plattform YouTube, um auf die unrechtmäßige Aneignung von afrikanischen Kulturgütern aufmerksam zu machen. Nach einer Einführung in den Stand der anhaltenden Restitutionsdebatte analysiert dieser Artikel Diyabanzas YouTube-Video als postkolonialen Protest vor dem Hintergrund der anhaltenden Restitutionsdebatte sowie der kulturpolitischen Herausforderungen im Umgang mit kolonialen Kulturgütern.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This book unpacks key concepts and methods relevant for a critical and reflective framing of futures in postdigital education. The compiled chapters explore concepts and methods that have pertinence for contemporary debates about the emergence of data-driven education and scrutinize implicit or explicit ethical and normative implications. The book provides in-depth critical reflections and perspectives to engage and analyze data-driven education as an educational and cultural phenomenon. It focuses on the value-laden and ethical aspects reflected in educational imaginaries (discourses and practices) regarding emerging data-driven sociotechnical practices in education. The book is the result of scholarly exchanges between disciplines at a symposium held at VIA University College in Denmark in May 2022.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Virtual collaborations via video-conferencing applications may enable international groups to develop ideas and explore synergies in creative ways. This article presents a case study that unveils how students in a group involved in a virtual simulation game, in which English as a lingua franca was used, navigate a highly intercultural environment, orient to team building through cooperative practices, and gradually develop their own team culture. The game was inserted in two online university courses in tertiary institutions in Germany and Finland. In the game, students performed several tasks that require collaborative work in the development plan of a fictitious city. The data for the study comprise video-recorded game interactions and students’ learning journal entries. This article is centered on the multimodal analysis of the interactions taking place during the kick-off session of the game and showcases successful multimodal strategies that aided the development of an inclusive and positive atmosphere in the group.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

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This study advances the field of disconnection studies by examining how digital (dis)connective practices intersect with diasporic identity construction and the articulation of belonging, focusing on the experiences of Turkish migrant women in Rome. Based on in‐depth interviews and participant observation with 10 Turkish women, the research highlights the central role of social class in the emergence of a “diasporic cosmopolitan” identity that is culturally and socially detached from, or even opposed to, their national identity. It further shows how this “cosmopolitan” identity intersects with the performance of specific digital (dis)connective practices and explores the cultural, political, and social dimensions of these dynamics. Particular attention is given to the influence of contemporary Turkish politics on online and offline diasporic sociality, which fosters tensions and segmented solidarities. Through this lens, the study identifies emergent forms of digital (dis)connective practices among Turkish women in Rome, which shape transnational and local social alliances and disruptions.

Book

Abstract:
This book provides a critical introduction to the ways in which digital technologies have enabled new types of interactions, experiences and collaborations across a range of platforms and media, profoundly shaping our socio-cultural landscapes. These discussions are grounded in classical sociological concepts; community, the self, gender, consumption, power and exclusion and inequality, to demonstrate the continuities that exist between sociological studies of ‘real’ world phenomena and their digital counterparts. Examining the various debates around methods in digital sociology in recent years, this book provides an accessible and engaging guide to using methodologies to study digital technology. From the moment we wake up until we go to bed, many of us constantly use digital technologies. Our mobile phones have become our maps, banks, newspapers and entertainment consoles. What's more, they allow us to be constantly connected with the people in our lives. This book will equip you to analyse digital media in your own work. The book offers a broad guide to the various areas of our lives that are impacted by digital technology, from the virtual communities that we form on social media to the impact that digital technology has on our identity through a 'sociology of selfies'. With chapters on leisure, work, privacy and methods, this is an essential introduction for students in the areas of sociology, digital media, and cultural studies.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This article examines the influence of Mormon mommy bloggers (MMBs), as key web architects and content creators starting in the early 2010s. MMBs, referring here to Mormon content creators whose blogs focused on topics such as childrearing, domesticity, and lifestyle themes, were significant players during Web 2.0 through their usage of the longform blog. MMBs transformed the invisibilized domestic labor of mothering and housekeeping into monetizable content within the Mormon blogosphere or “Bloggernacle.” The aspirational monetization and professionalization of the blog offered a tangible occupation for Mormon stay-at-home mothers in a religious culture where working outside the home was discouraged. MMBs, through blogging, attempted to situate themselves not simply as caretakers but enterprising, digital cultural creators aligning themselves with a (neo)liberal feminist ethos of entrepreneurialism and individualistic influencing. Using a corpus of web archives from Brigham Young University’s digital collections, this article enlists the Archives Research Compute Hub (ARCH) to process archival data into derivatives to illuminate this underexplored period of web history, employing the methods of feminist thematic and social network analysis. By combining cultural and quantitative analysis of MMBs, this article highlights how MMBs were crucial creators who paved the way for contemporary trends of feminized influencing and the uneasy blending of feminist and commercial content which has increasingly defined contemporary mother-influencers.

Book

Language(s): German

Abstract:
Die Warnung von Eltern, aufzupassen, was man online teilt, ist allgegenwärtig. Dem schließen sich Datenschützer*innen an und gebieten einen bewussten und sparsamen Umgang mit Diensten und Daten. Eine digitale Desökonomie widersetzt sich diesen Warnungen und sucht den kritischen Umgang mit der digitalen Gegenwartskultur nicht in der Askese, sondern im Exzess. Kunstwerke, Bilder und Daten sind »zu viel«, türmen sich auf und wiederholen sich ständig. Mit Bezug auf Ansätze der Gouvernementalität, der Queer Theory und auf Theorien von Georges Bataille und Roger Caillois analysiert Sebastian Althoff diese unproduktive Produktionsweise des Digitalen und zeigt eine Praxis auf, die Trägheit statt flow schafft.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This thematic issue examines disconnectivity in a world where connectivity is often assumed to be the norm. Drawing on multiple areas of research, such as political unfriending, digital disconnection, migration studies, and media censorship, it delves into the complexities of disconnectivity, moving beyond its framing as voluntary choice and individual practice. Collectively, studies in this issue highlight disconnection as a compelled act for self-protection and a collective strategy to tackle systemic problems. By examining enforced and coerced disconnection, they also reveal disconnection’s dual role as control and resistance. Through a multi-contextual and interdisciplinary lens, this issue challenges the normative assumptions implicit in our current understandings of disconnection, and, in doing so, advances the field.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This article argues for a Digital Interculturality Studies by bringing together a variety of theories including postdigitality, platformisation, Jürgen Bolten’s concept of interculturality, agency theory and Foucaultian media archaeology. It is argued that the internet should be viewed as a postdigital patchwork of bordered platforms, in which human agents drift between digital culturality and interculturality in a type of digital cultural fuzziness. It also centres digital agentive fragments: pieces of human ‘doing’ ‘within’, ‘above’ and ‘around’ the internet, which are often embedded in systematic agency. It lastly argues that a Digital Interculturality Studies should be centred on the materiality of contacts, exclusions and also incorporate digital intercultural contacts which have not been realised or not allowed to be realised. A methodological sketch is proffered in relation to how this could be undertaken, combining a post-qualitative perspective with the philosophical area of counterfactual theories of causation.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
AI is not new. What is new, however, is the speed and depth of its expansion in almost every aspect of our lives. This discussion forum is dedicated to exploring new frontiers and agendas for language and intercultural communication research. In this concluding piece, we invite the contributors to share insights on five key questions: their experiences (Question 1), the challenges and opportunities that we face (Question 2), the strengths and skills afforded by intercultural communication and applied linguistics (Question 3), considerations when collaborating with AI developers and user groups (Question 4) and the future landscape of intercultural communication (Question 5). Through these inquiries, we hope to amplify the contributors’ voices and experiences, often difficult to fit in academic writing, but crucial for contextualizing their epistemological stances in their work. We seek to broaden the discussion, drawing out a bigger picture of pressing issues, and exploring future prospects.

Chapter

Abstract:
Lifewide learning encompasses all forms of learning and personal development in formal, non-formal and informal modalities. This article discusses the relationship be- tween Lifewide Learning, Social Network Sites (SNSs) and migration by reflecting on the role of SNSs as a resource for informal learning in the context of migration and its im- pact on the postdigital field of action. This article argues that SNSs are fields of action that are ubiquitously used and are deeply interwoven in everyday life, especially for peo- ple who wish to/or have already relocated. In these fields of action, interaction, emotional support and constant learning take place, impacting the lives and experiences of people undergoing migration. Therefore, this article considers that SNSs are highly relevant re- sources for learning ‘informally’, where sharing personal experiences not only provides concrete information regarding a situation but perhaps, more importantly, people who share or seek information find companionship in the realization that they are not alone with their doubts or situations in their new location.

Article / Journal

Abstract:
Climate policies pose serious challenges for the operations of energy companies, especially those strongly dependent on fossil fuels. This study explores the case of one such company, Poland’s PGE Group. In 2021, PGE was instructed by the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) to close its Turów lignite mine for contravening EU decarbonization policy. The company refused to comply and launched a public affairs campaign in support of its efforts to prevent the mine’s closure. Methodologically, the study relies on a linguistically-informed combination of content and frame analysis and shows that strategic frames are more likely to leverage their persuasive potential when they align with the existing cultural frames, resulting in cultural and discursive resonance. In the public campaign, PGE (re-)framed the EU’s Green Deal in highly negative terms and the CJEU’s instruction so as to delegitimize it and the Court itself. In doing so, PGE employed frames used globally by the energy industry, adapting them to tie in with anti-EU sentiment among Polish opinion and decision-makers. This study thus contributes to the body of literature on strategic framing of energy transition and provides relevant insights into the localization of global energy frames.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Digital spaces offer individuals the opportunity to interact and connect with others, to engage with more perspectives, and to develop intercultural competence. In this chapter, we explore processes of learning and participation by newcomers in a team, pur- suing the goal of becoming fully-fledged members of that community. We observed the behaviour of a team consisting of four students from a German university and two stu- dents from a Finnish university, all participating in a number of sessions of an online simulation game. Particular attention was given to the participation development of the two students from the Finnish university, positioned as newcomers in the already-estab- lished team from the German university. We describe interactional practices adopted by the two newcomers and by the other members which foster participation and inclusion. Our findings show two learning paths by the newcomers, one in which legitimate par- ticipation became connected with performing a specific role in the group and another in which participation meant sharing the interactional routines established in the team. This case study, based on successful experiences of a remote team, can shed light on the link between intercultural learning and interactional practices.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Current times call for continuous communication across countries, negotiations on several levels, and the creation of international relationships based on dialogue and participation. Those ideals are often pursued in intercultural communication contexts and written about, as a desideratum, in the Intercultural Communication literature. However, how can this be achieved concretely? In this article, we analyze how decisions are taken by newly founded intercultural teams of higher-education students playing a so-called intercultural game online via Zoom. The game revolves around the creation of a development plan for a fictitious city. In our study, we conducted a conversation-analytic investigation of decision-making processes by players oriented towards the ideal of ‘intercultural speakers’ as the ones mediating between different points of view and giving voice to all parties in an inclusive way. We illustrate our analysis with examples that range from unilateral decision making to decisions achieved through highly collaborative processes. We point to how expectations of inclusion-oriented interactional moves in intercultural situations are sometimes at odds with how these interactions and the related decision-making processes actually unfold.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
The contested and polysemic concept of ideology has been used only marginally in research on intercultural communication education. This edited volume focuses on the ideological dimensions of online interculturality in higher education, encompassing areas such as telecollaboration, virtual classrooms and online teacher professional development. The chapter authors explore the intercultural engagements, perceptions and experiences of students, teachers and researchers in different parts of the world, including Australia, China, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain and the USA. In doing so, they aim to contribute to the current critical and reflexive turn in research and teaching that is examining global socio-economic, political and linguistic inequalities and imbalances of power. Using concrete examples from their own practices, the chapter authors critically and reflexively problematise 'doing' interculturality in higher education by identifying, engaging with, reflecting on and revising ideologies of online interculturality. By intersecting interculturality, technology and ideology, this book also makes a critical contribution to the literature on the internationalisation of higher education and its digitalisation. Written in a globally friendly and engaging style, the book will appeal to academics and students of intercultural communication education in online environments.

Book

Language(s): Deutsch

Abstract:
Bei interkulturellen Trainings geht es um den Erwerb des kommunikativen Handlungswissens sowie die Arbeit an der inneren Haltung. Voraussetzungen dafür sind eine vertrauensvolle Atmosphäre und Interaktion. Wie lässt sich das online umsetzen? Dieses Buch liefert darauf Antworten, in 3 Teilen: • Theoretische Grundlagen vermitteln didaktische Prinzipen • Praxisberichte inspirieren zur Umsetzung innovativer Lehr-Lernkonzepte, und • Eine praxiserprobte Methoden-Sammlung von über 50 Trainer*innen liefert eine breite Auswahl an Tools für interkulturelles Lernen. Trainer*innen und Lehrende finden hier solides handwerkliches Wissen mit konkreten Umsetzungstipps.

Article / Journal

Abstract:
Abstract This study examines how socially and culturally ingrained visual semiotic resources are used to demonstrate netizens’ affinities with ‘the people’ and dislikes of ‘the elite’ in expressions of online and bottom-up national populism in China. Using a methodological framework that integrates multimodal discourse analysis with a study of ideology, semiotics, and intertextuality, we study ‘weaponized’ Internet memes that were generated during three Diba Expeditions in 2016, 2018 and 2019. We identify three major social-culturally embedded visual semiotic themes: the Jiong playful style, nostalgia, and the strategic use of colour. These themes reflect the negotiation between populist dynamics, emerging online in China to express dissatisfaction with elites and nationalist appeals which emerge to push back against external ‘threats’. This study enhances our understanding of populist visual mobilization and visual protest by examining the Diaosi self-image constructed by the people in online and bottom-up populism in China. Traditionally, populist discourse has depicted ‘the people’ as pure, hardworking, and morally upright, mediated through the rhetoric of populist leaders and parties in top-down approaches. However, our research reveals a more complex and self-reflective portrayal, where the Diaosi subculture presents ‘the people’ as vulnerable, marginalized, and socio-economically disadvantaged. This self-construction challenges conventional populist narratives and highlights the dynamic and context-specific nature of populist identities.

Article / Journal

Language(s): Deutsch

Abstract:
Die digitale Technologie hat der Globalisierung neue Impulse verliehen, wobei neue zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen auf der Basis virtueller Nähe entstanden sind. Im Mittelpunkt dieses Beitrags steht die Erkundung virtueller Interrelationen zwischen Akteuren aus zentralen und peripheren Weltregionen. In diesem Sinne geht die Studie darauf ein, wie junge afrikanische Männer Dating-Plattformen missbrauchen, um ‚westliche‘ Liebespartner zu umwerben und schließlich zu erpressen. Dies avanciert zu einer Subkultur im Kontext der globalen Moderne, wobei diese betrügerischen Beziehungen sich in eine gesamtgesellschaftliche Wahrnehmung von ‚weißen‘ Menschen in afrikanischen Gesellschaften einbetten.

Book

Language(s): English, German

Abstract:
The contributions to this volume address the blending of language, interculturality and digitality. The nine chapters investigate how (inter)culturality is manifested in various settings of digital communication – from YouTube to Tripadvisor and Twitter – and how it becomes intertwined with sets of communicative strategies and complex displays of identity.

Report

Language(s): German

Abstract:
Jeden Tag werden Menschen im Netz beleidigt, belästigt und bedroht. Viele ziehen sich bereits zurück und äußern ihre politische Meinung dort seltener. Das gefährdet Meinungsvielfalt und Demokratie. Die Studie „Lauter Hass – leiser Rückzug“ analysiert die Erfahrungen deutscher Internetnutzer*innen und liefert aktuelle Zahlen & Fakten zu Hass im Netz.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This Element focuses on the linguistic and discursive practices employed by digital citizens to promote their causes on social media, that is to engage in digital activism, drawing attention to the growing importance of this phenomenon in relation to gender identity and sexuality issues. I propose the label LGBTQ+ Digital Activism to join the already existing one Feminist Digital Activism and argue that, while these have been areas of interest from sociology and communication specialists, digital activism is still to be embraced as a field of research by applied linguists. I point out to a number of linguistic and discursive features that are popular among digital activists and support this through the analysis of the use of the hashtag #wontbeerased combining Social Media Critical Discourse Analysis and Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies. I suggest that further research is needed to explore how language is used to propagate and popularize emancipatory discourses online.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
The Internet has penetrated material reality to such an extent that it is now often impossible to disentangle the material from the virtual. In this postdigital scenario, the encounter with ›newness‹ becomes accessible at the touch of a button, 24/7. Learning becomes a lifewide experience which allows for the emergence of new culturalities. The contributors to this volume engage with cultural changes brought about by an intensified digitalization process in the context of formal education but also shed light on unexpected contexts in which informal learning experiences take place every day, strengthening diasporas, creating new connections and transforming ourselves and our societies.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This article examines some methodological and epistemological challenges facing meme studies and meme research. It delves into the shifts in Anglophone meme culture post-Trump and challenges the assumption that memes are generally anonymous and antagonistic by highlighting the coexistence of collegiality and pseudonymity across diverse meme communities. Moreover, it suggests that such meme cultures can transcend from online to offline realms, requiring methodological adaptations to capture this dual dimension of creativity and sociality. The paper also addresses epistemological challenges in meme studies, starting from memetics’ contentious history and critiquing the dominance of cultural evolutionary theory in contemporary meme research. It brings attention to the academic tendency to follow a “Dawkins to Shifman pipeline” citation trope in meme research and advocates for a more critical approach informed by platform studies. It argues that the future of meme studies lies at the intersection of platform ideology and content economies, urging scholars to engage with historical and political transformations in digital culture for a comprehensive understanding of memes and their societal impact.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

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This article challenges prevailing assumptions that fringe social media platforms predominantly serve as unmoderated hate-filled spaces for far-right communication by examining the userbase’s emotional connection to these environments. Focusing on Gab Social, a popular alternative technology website with affordances akin to Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit, and its subgroup, “Introduce Yourself,” the research investigates how participants discuss their attachment and sense of membership within a far-right online community. Employing a constructivist grounded theory approach and a thick data mixed-methods technique encompassing netnography and sentiment analysis, I uncover the complex and impassioned narratives underlying users’ sense of emotional belonging on the platform. The resulting findings demonstrate how counter-mainstream media act as a unifying force by catering to the social needs of participants seeking an in-group of like-minded individuals. Moreover, I argue that fringe social media platforms offer participants far more than mainstream platforms, providing a positive interactive environment and a new virtual home for those feeling rejected and antagonized by other communities, institutions, and organizations, both online and offline. Therefore, the work offers valuable empirical insights into the emotional emphasis participants place on fringe social media and its implications for fostering attachment, community formation, and identity construction within far-right online counterpublics.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Digital media provide easy access to media content in multiple languages from local, national, and transnational contexts. This accessibility of diverse content enables young people in the migration society to develop multilingual and transnational media repertoires: they have the option to continuously and strategically navigate between different platforms, between different contexts and multiple languages. In this paper, we discuss how multilingualism and transnationalism can be used as key concepts for understanding the cross-media practices of young people and their participation in the migration society. Based on focus groups with young people living in a culturally diverse and socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhood of Bremen, Germany, we discuss how and why young people choose specific media content in a specific language in their daily media practices. Our discussion of the findings then focuses on the question of how media education in the migration society can take the multilingual and transnational media repertoires into account and benefit from it.

Chapter

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Service encounters between customers and staff members with different cultural backgrounds are susceptible to misunderstandings and dissatisfaction on both sides. After problematic encounters, some customers vent their frustration by publishing complaints in online review portals. Such negative online reviews can thus be considered written records of intercultural conflict between customers and staff members. In review portals, service providers can publicly respond to negative reviews, with the objective of clarifying the complaint, repairing the relationship with the customer, or conveying a positive public image. The present paper analyzes culture-related complaints written by hotel guests in online review portals and management responses to these complaints. First, the study identifies the reasons for intercultural conflict that become apparent in the reviews. Next, it discusses speech act structures in the management responses to negative culture-related reviews. Based on the analysis, an initial typology of steps in management responses to culture-related complaints is developed. The paper finishes with a summary and implications for future research.

Book

Language(s): English

Abstract:
In today's digital societies, parenting is shaped by algorithms daily - in search engines, social media, kids' entertainment, the news and more. But how much are parents aware of the algorithms shaping their parenting and daily lives? How can they prepare for children’s futures in a world dominated by data, algorithms, automation and AI? This groundbreaking study of 30 English families sheds light on parents’ hopes and fears, their experiences with algorithms in searching, sharing and consuming news and information, and their awareness and knowledge of algorithms at large. Looking beyond tech skills and media panics, this book is an essential read for social scientists, policy makers and general readers seeking to understand parenting in datafied societies.

Chapter

Abstract:
In recent years, intercultural online communication (IOC) as well as peer feedback (PF) have attracted increased attention by scholars and practitioners. However, there is hardly any research or theoretical model available that strives to combine these two fields. The present contribution critically reviews the previous literature and raises awareness of the many interrelated and dynami- cally shifting factors that affect PF processes in intercultural online environments. These include (trans-)linguistic and multimodal communicative strategies, aware- ness of sociocultural and interpersonal skills, affective and other individual factors, as well as a critical and purposeful utilization of digital tools. PF literacies in IOC thus require critical language awareness, critical cultural awareness, interpersonal (collaborative) skills as well as critical digital literacy. The proposed model is meant to provide pedagogical guidance for teachers of English as a foreign language to enable successful feedback exchanges among the learners. At the same time, it can be re- shaped and re-negotiated continuously for specific learning goals and learner needs. The chapter closes with recommendations for future research and teaching practice to meet these dynamic demands.

Article / Journal

Abstract:
Much public debate today is carried out on Twitter (now X), where the participants employ a range of diverse resources to convey their ideas effectively. Disentangling the resources into clear and understandable structures and patterns presents a fresh challenge for discourse pragmatics. This article addresses that challenge methodologically by evaluating existing methods for identifying and classifying pragmatic patterns, revealing their drawbacks, and advocating for a new coding system. This categorizes tweets based on a post's primary pragmatic function (informing, appealing, or expressing emotivity), considering subsidiary functions. The study then applies this new scheme to analyze the Twitter debate on the Polish Turów lignite mine, which became a subject of international dispute as the Czech and European authorities sought the mine's closure to eliminate its negative environmental impact. The debate unfolds mainly in Polish, Czech, and English, each language being associated with a distinct discourse. The English discourse emphasizes a transnational appeal for widespread decarbonization, contrasting with the predominantly oppositional, national political perspectives in the Polish and Czech discourses. These rely heavily on emotivity directed, in the Polish case, primarily against the country's ruling party, and in the Czech one against the deal eventually reached with Poland to mitigate the problems.

Book

Abstract:
We now live in a world where all aspects of everyday life are thoroughly mediated by digital technologies. Making sense of digital life is accordingly an essential undertaking for social science and humanities scholars. This multidisciplinary book provides an essential guide to researching digital life: Orienting readers with respect to methodologies, research design, and research ethics. Detailing key research methods, including interviews, surveys, ethnographies, walking methodologies, arts-based and participatory approaches, historical analysis, data visualisation, mapping and data analytics. Demonstrating these methods in action in real-world studies that have investigated apps and interfaces, social and locative media, mobilities, smart cities, and digital labour and work. The authors provide: • Non-Eurocentric perspectives and case studies from diverse disciplines • Annotated further reading to help you situate your research alongside existing research in your field • An outline of future directions for researching digital life. Accessible in style and richly illustrated, the chapters provide a wealth of key insights and practical information to ensure research projects are successfully planned and implemented.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
From the start, the academic community was deeply involved in both the technological and conceptual development of the internet. Works by Rheingold, Castells, and others put forward influential, intellectual imaginaries. Over thirty years later, these sources offer valuable insights, reflecting the novelty and excitement of the time. Often infused with rhetoric of radical transformation, these authors either consciously or unconsciously foregrounded a revolutionary period marked by digital utopianism, while also presenting critical views. This paper aims to identify and historicize common themes and concepts in influential academic publications on the internet's significance and social impact. By adopting a longitudinal and comparative approach, we aim to provide a historically informed understanding of Internet Studies. Our paper contributes to a tradition of media historical scholarship, examining how new technologies were socially constructed, how dominant discourses shaped popular imaginaries, and their role in the evolution of Internet Studies.

Chapter

Language(s): German

Abstract:
Bei der Übung „Schema F“ geht es darum, TN zu Fehleinschätzungen aufgrund von eigenen Stereotypen zu verleiten. Den TN werden Videos oder Bilder gezeigt und anschließend sollen sie z.B. die politische Orientierung einschätzen. Die Videos und Bilder sollten von der Kursleitung so ausgewählt worden sein, dass eine Stereotypisierung der gezeigten Personen sehr wahrscheinlich ist. Anschließend werden die Fehleinschätzungen diskutiert und ein theoretischer Input zu Stereotypen kann folgen. Durch die eigene Fehleinschätzung zu den gezeigten Personen in der Übung können TN angeregt werden, eigene Stereotype zu hinterfragen.

Chapter

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Scimificationis is a newly-constructed word composed from the words science and gamification. In terms of content, it describes a realised form of the reciprocal connection between the competence levels of knowledge (cognitive level), ability (conative level) and will (affective level) in digital and virtually-oriented university teaching.The question of whether, and if so, how, science and gamification fit together, arises with particular urgency against the backdrop of the corona-accelerated digitalization movement in higher educational teaching: Should games such as virtual strategy games be taken seriously at all in academic training and further education? Conversely, against the background of significantly changed teaching/learning scenarios, the question arises as to whether cognitive teaching/learning formats, such as 90-minute lectures, remain suitable at all anymore for the initiation and maintenance of sustainable learning. Using the example of interdisciplinary and transnational university cooperation, this chapter outlines how virtual escape rooms and strategy games can contribute to the promotion of holistic competence development processes. They may also stimulate new curricular directions for the methodology-based didactic implementation of digitalization and internationalization.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Advancements in generative artificial intelligence have led to a rapid proliferation of machine learning models capable of synthesizing text, images, sounds, and other kinds of content. While the increasing realism of synthetic content stokes fears about misinformation and triggers debates around intellectual property, generative models are adopted across creative industries and synthetic media seep into cultural production. Qualitative research in the social and human sciences has dedicated comparatively little attention to this category of machine learning, particularly in terms of what types of novel research methodology they both demand and facilitate. In this article, we propose a methodological approach for the qualitative study of generative models grounded on the experimentation with field devices which we call synthetic ethnography. Synthetic ethnography is not simply a qualitative research methodology applied to the study of the social and cultural contexts developing around generative artificial intelligence, but also strives to envision practical and experimental ways to repurpose these models as research tools in their own right. After briefly introducing generative models and revisiting the trajectory of digital ethnographic research, we discuss three case studies for which the authors have developed experimental field devices to study different aspects of generative artificial intelligence ethnographically. In the conclusion, we derive a broader methodological proposal from these case studies, arguing that synthetic ethnography facilitates insights into how the algorithmic processes, training datasets and latent spaces behind these systems modulate bias, reconfigure agency, and challenge epistemological categories.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
In this article I critically examine the role of the Australian far-right in the racialisation of the COVID-19 pandemic. A Discourse-Historical Analysis of (n = 133) Facebook posts from Australia’s most prominent far-right populist party, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, revealed a range of discursive strategies, linguistic and rhetorical devices, and multimodal semiotic practices were employed to scapegoat China and Chinese-Australians throughout the pandemic. The findings highlight the unique role played by the Australian far-right in the racialisation of the health crisis which engendered a wave of Sinophobic and anti-Asian racism on a global scale. This research furthers our empirical understanding of how crises are exploited by the far-right to advance their racial politics in the twenty-first century.

Book

Abstract:
The Anthropology of Digital Practices connects for the first time three distinct research areas – digital ethnography, causal ethnography, and media practice theory – to explore how we might track the effects of new media practices in a digital world. It invites media and communication students and scholars to overcome the field’s old aversion to ‘media effects’ and explores the messy, complex, open-ended effects of new media practices in a digital age. Based on long-term ethnographic research and drawing from recent advances in the study of causality and ethnography, this book tells the ‘formation story’ of the anti-woke movement through a series of critical media events. It argues that digital media practices (e.g. podcasting, YouTubing, tweeting, commenting, broadcasting) will have ‘formative’ effects on an emerging social world at different points in time. One important task of the digital ethnographer is precisely to distinguish between the formative and non-formative effects of specific media practices. This book makes three contributions to our understanding of media practices in the digital era, namely a theoretical, methodological, and empirical contribution. Theoretically, it furthers the ‘practice turn’ in media and communication studies by engaging with the latest thinking on causality and ethnography. Methodologically, it serves as a compelling, up-to-date guide to doing digital ethnography, with special reference to the study of digitally mediated practices. Empirically, it is the first book-length study of the anti-woke movement, a major actor in the ‘culture wars’ currently being fought across the Western world. With its accessible language and rich case studies, The Anthropology of Digital Practices will make an ideal supplementary textbook for a range of undergraduate and graduate courses in research methods, digital ethnography/anthropology, and digital activism.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
The rise of TikTok has sparked a debate on the consequences of algorithmic content curation for social experience. My thesis is that TikTok represents a second generation of social media, which differs from first-generation social media in the way users are exposed to content. While first-generation social media revolved around ‘networked publics’ formed by explicit interpersonal connections, second-generation social media introduces ‘clustered publics’. These are statistically constructed ‘neighbourhoods’ of users, in which people are brought together based on their past online behaviour and their similarity in interest and taste. Clustering users around shared interests has proven very effective in driving online engagement, leading other platforms to mimic TikTok, in what can be described as ‘TikTokification’. However, this transformation of online publics carries a series of problematic implications: the depersonalisation of online experience; a growing opacity of the structures of online communication; and the further subcultural fragmentation of an already divided digital public sphere.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This article examines the critical importance of developing a reflective understanding of culture, cultural identity, and cultural heritage in our increasingly interconnected, post-digital world. It begins by defining these key concepts and exploring their evolution in the contemporary context. The study then investigates how cultural representations are shaped and disseminated in the post-digital age, with a particular focus on the “Talahon” phenomenon as a case study. This example illustrates the power of digital media in amplifying and perpetuating cultural stereotypes, while also demonstrating the complex interplay between self-representation and external perception. The article argues that essentialist views of culture can lead to harmful “othering” practices, reinforcing societal divisions and inequalities. To counter these effects, it advocates for a constructivist approach to understanding cultural identity, emphasizing the fluid and multifaceted nature of cultural belonging. The conclusion underscores the need for critical media literacy, inclusive policies, and the promotion of reciprocity and trust in building cohesive societies. By fostering a more nuanced comprehension of culture, this work aims to contribute to the development of more inclusive and equitable social dynamics in diverse communities

Chapter

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Virtual exchange (VE), a pedagogical approach towards intercultural dialogue among young people supported by technology, has been prominent over the past two to three decades. In this chapter, I offer a general introduction to the different types of Virtual Exchange and focus on a particular approach provided by the Sharing Perspectives Foundation (SPF). The logic and theoretical foundation on which the SPF programmes and courses are built are presented and the efficacy of using Virtual Exchange as a tool to prepare the ground for the seeds of social inclusion and civic engagement are debated, while various virtual exchange programmes offered by the SPF and its partners are also discussed. This chapter combines scientific research with years of practice to offer a holistic view of the application of Virtual Exchange in peace education. I dwell on my own ten years of experience in the field of VE, wearing the various hats of participant, facilitator, coach and mentor, trainer, programme officer and partnership coordinator at the Sharing Perspectives Foundation (SPF), as well as a lecturer at Hebron University in Palestine.

Book

Language(s): German

Abstract:
Wie gestaltet sich Interkulturelle Kommunikation als wissenschaftliche Disziplin in China und Deutschland im Vergleich? Inwieweit gibt es Unterschiede und Ähnlichkeiten im Kulturverständnis? Inwieweit wird die Entwicklung interkultureller Kompetenz als disziplinübergreifende Herausforderung in Studium und Beruf verfolgt und wo gibt es Übereinstimmungen oder Besonderheiten im Verständnis, dem Design und den Formen der Vermittlung? Die Beitragenden zu diesem Sammelband sind seit Jahren in Lehre und Forschung mit Fragen interkultureller Kommunikation beschäftigt, als Vertreterinnen und Vertreter der Disziplin oder als perspektivisch Betroffene in anderen Wissenschaftsbereichen, in denen Interkulturalität zur zentralen Lebens- und Arbeitsperspektive/Praxis gehört.

Article / Journal

Language(s): German

Abstract:
As kindergartens and schools closed down during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, two hashtags emerged on Twitter: #CoronaEltern (#CoronaParents) and #CoronaEltern­Rech­nenAb (#CoronaParentsDocumentTheCosts). In this paper, we examine the positioning practices around both hashtags as expres­sions of “digital activism” (Joyce 2010: VIII). One characteristic of the hashtag campaign is that political demands are hardly ever made di­rectly. Rather, the participants resort to five main linguistic patterns: (1) they address different target groups; (2) they refer to different protagonists; (3) in the subcorpus #CoronaEltern specifically, they constitute themselves as a collective through (4) the recurring use of first-person narratives; (5) and generalization and typification. Our findings show that #CoronaParents are not just parents in times of a pandemic: #CoronaParents are only those who see themselves as such, participating in an evolving, at times misunderstood commu­nity.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
Linguistic variation across a region of interest can be captured by partitioning the region into areas and using social media data to train embeddings that represent language use in those areas. Recent work has focused on larger areas, such as cities or counties, to ensure that enough social media data is available in each area, but larger areas have a limited ability to find fine-grained distinctions, such as intracity differences in language use. We demonstrate that it is possible to embed smaller areas, which can provide higher resolution analyses of language variation. We embed voting precincts, which are tiny, evenly sized political divisions for the administration of elections. The issue with modeling language use in small areas is that the data becomes incredibly sparse, with many areas having scant social media data. We propose a novel embedding approach that alternates training with smoothing, which mitigates these sparsity issues. We focus on linguistic variation across Texas as it is relatively understudied. We develop two novel quantitative evaluations that measure how well the embeddings can be used to capture linguistic variation. The first evaluation measures how well a model can map a dialect given terms specific to that dialect. The second evaluation measures how well a model can map preference of lexical variants. These evaluations show how embedding models could be used directly by sociolinguists and measure how much sociolinguistic information is contained within the embeddings. We complement this second evaluation with a methodology for using embeddings as a kind of genetic code where we identify “genes” that correspond to a sociological variable and connect those “genes” to a linguistic phenomenon thereby connecting sociological phenomena to linguistic ones. Finally, we explore approaches for inferring isoglosses using embeddings.

Thesis

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This sandwich thesis initiates a dialogue to examine connections and departures between new media studies, platform studies, critical digital race studies, critical disability studies, and feminist data studies. The manuscript presents four research papers that traverse issues regarding ableist platform governance, algorithmic visibility, and crip/neuroqueer digital cultural production. My theorizing of crip data seeks to interrupt hegemonic Western and Eurocentric conceptualizations of what is (not) valued and who (does not) holds power within platform spaces. Moreover, an intersectional focus on disability and race interrogates the ways technoableism (Shew, 2020) and algorithmic oppression (Noble, 2018) collectively animate the creation, development, and use of platforms and other new media technologies. I introduce crip data studies as an interdisciplinary academic and activist theoretical framework that counters the dominance of Western and Eurocentric ideologies that inform a digital platform’s algorithmic infrastructure, governance, and cultural production. I utilize the sandwich thesis model to examine the ways crip data can support critical/cultural investigations about platforms, power, disability, race, and culture through various case studies. In Chapter 1, I assess the relationship between race, disability, and bias in platform content moderation. Chapter 2 proposes neuroqueer practices for new media production and disability engagement that do not reproduce techno-solutionist measures in mediating neuroqueer self-expression and digital relationality. Chapters 3 and 4 communicate the generative departures of crip and neuroqueer platform use as a mode of hosting cultural production. In sum, this thesis engages with enmeshed inquiries regarding disability, race, and ideological value to respond to the following provocation: Is another platform– one beyond ableist, racist, and colonial bias– possible?

Article / Journal

Language(s): Spanish

Abstract:
Recent theoretical debates in the field of intercultural language education reveal a “cosmopolitan turn”, which implies a glocal, critical, and transformative perspective of interculturality as praxis. This article explores the promotion and development of interculturality from a critical cosmopolitan perspective and reports on the results of an empirical study carried out in a Spanish language classroom for adult migrants in Barcelona through a didactic intervention based on emergent pedagogies. The results enrich the conception of a “cosmopolitan agenda” for language teaching and contribute to bridging the methodological gap between global theoretical debates and local practices of intercultural language education.

Article / Journal

Language(s): German

Abstract:
Debriefing refers to the process of shared reflection and evaluation of a specific expe rience in a team on a meta level. This process receives increasingly more attention in the context of (intercultural) team training as an independent methodological com ponent. Most studies focus on the forms of debriefings and especially on the evidence of their effectiveness. The question of the relationship between trainers and learners, however, is rarely addressed. This paper argues that the design of this relationship si gnificantly influences the process and the results of debriefings. The paper outlines the history and relevant concepts of debriefing. It then identifies possible areas of application before it classifies forms of debriefing in terms of the exercise of power by the person facilitating the debriefing. Finally, factors that have an influence on this power relationship between the team and the facilitator are reflected in a critical way,

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This article analyses the representation of Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi in Bernhard Setzwein’s Der böhmische Samurai (2017) and Heinrich Mann in Colm Tóibín’s The Magician (2021). This discussion is situated in a number of wider contexts, including literary European Studies within German and Irish Literary Studies; existing representations of European federalists/Europeanists; the actual European thought of Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi and Heinrich Mann; and the oeuvre of the novelists Bernhard Setzwein and Colm Tóibín. It is argued that the representation of European federalists in recent novels enables us to analyse common attitudes and understandings of Europe and Europeanness in the current environment of Euroscepticism, self-questioning, and self-doubt at the institutional as well as constituent levels. It is also argued that the European federalists Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi and Heinrich Mann are represented as European cosmopolitans: Both are depicted as existing within a wide variety of transnational links, as remaining deeply sceptical of nationalism, especially in its violent form, and as arguing for the extension of the space of the political, beyond the national. Their depiction is, thus, of intellectual figures who laid some of the ideational groundwork for the creation of later European institutions, undertaking this reflective task from the perspective of an idealistic, pacifist and deeply democratic cosmopolitanism.

Article / Journal

Language(s): English

Abstract:
This article argues that the study of literary Europeanism should be extended to the discourse of wider textual Europeanism, understood here as a digital Europeanism that examines digital texts, in the widest sense, contextualised within the norms of digital culture. The texts emanating on the platform Twitter from two explicitly pro-European/pro-European Union accounts, one German-language and one largely (non-native) anglophone – @PulseofEurope and @mycountryeurope – were examined from 9 May 2021 to 9 November 2021. In evidence was a type of textual Europeanism that indeed owes a degree of coherence to the norms of digital culture. This was seen in relation to referentiality, that is, the use of already existing and circulating cultural materials for one’s own cultural production. This was evident in commented and uncommented retweets, social TV practices and the Europeanisation of Internet memes. The creation of a sense of communality – the way in which meanings can be stabilised, options for action generated and resources made accessible via a collectively supported frame of reference – is also in evidence and to be seen in the distinct discursive creation of an authoritarian ‘other’. This ‘other’ consists of a temporal ‘other’ – a small number of tweets relating to authoritarianisms of the past; an inner-European Union ‘other’ – tweets relating to movements towards authoritarianism within the European Union, especially in Hungary and Poland; and an external European Union other – tweets relating to authoritarianism on the European Union’s borders, especially in Belarus and Russia.