Political Narratives in Public Discourse: Theory, Detection, and Impact

Since the narrative turn in social sciences, questions about how narratives are formed, how they impact, and how they shape political and public spaces have become central across various disciplines, including political science, sociology, psychology, cognitive sciences, communication studies, history, and more recently, computational social sciences. The purpose of this workshop is to bring together experts from these and other fields to discuss the latest research and to exchange experiences and knowledge on this important topic.

The workshop will cover various aspects of political narratives, including their theoretical foundations, the latest methods for their detection and analysis, and their impact on society and democratic processes. The role of narratives in public discourse, their transformation due to the impact of social media and AI, their influence on political attitudes, belief networks, cultural memory and collective identity, polarization, trust, and uncertainty, will be discussed.

The workshop will feature several panels with invited speakers, providing an interdisciplinary forum for reflecting on the influence of narratives in the context of the new transformation of the public sphere and their potential role as facilitators of new democratic practices.

Several important questions will be addressed at the workshop, including but not limited to:

Defining and Understanding Political Narratives: How do we pinpoint the role of political narratives within public or political discourse? What theoretical backgrounds can be used to understand the impact of narratives on political processes? How do psychological and emotional factors shape and impact political narratives? And vice versa. How do political narratives shape individual and collective identity, attitudes and beliefs? How are political narratives transmitted and transformed across generations, e.g. narratives of collective memories and political and societal narratives of integration? How do social media and AI algorithms impact the transformation of political and societal narratives?

Computational Techniques and Tools: What techniques and tools are the most effective for identifying political narratives in public and semi-public spaces, such as social media platforms? How can AI assist in analyzing large datasets of political narratives? How can we improve the accuracy and reliability of narrative analysis tools? What are the best practices for combining theoretical and empirical approaches in studying political narratives? How can further research contribute to a better understanding of the functions of political narratives?

Impact on Society and Democratic Processes: How do political narratives contribute to social polarization? How do political narratives impact the level of trust in democratic institutions and in interpersonal communication? How can political narratives create or reduce feelings of uncertainty in society? What role do political narratives play in the processes of deliberation? How do political narratives impact the quality and outcomes of deliberative processes in terms of seeking common ground? How can new narratives facilitate the transformation of existing political frameworks at national and transnational levels?

What are the future directions and challenges in political narrative research?

These questions will guide discussions at the workshop and encourage an in-depth exploration of the role of political narratives in public discourse and their impact on democratic processes.

The workshop is part of the SoMe4Dem project that aims at understanding the causal mechanisms underlying the impact of social media platform practices of digital citizenship.

The workshop starts Monday, November 11, 2024 at 01:30pm and ends Wednesday, November 13, 2024 at 01:00pm