The program’s primary aim is to investigate how digital technology and media influence political activism, social movements, and socio-political conflicts. A secondary objective focuses on assessing the value of new digital data sources and computational methods for analyzing the dynamics of political protest and activism. Additionally, the program places particular emphasis on the Global South, where the potential of digital data is especially significant due to media restrictions and risks faced by informants, although this is not its sole geographical focus.

Laufzeit:
01. September 2025 - 31. Dezember 2026

Forschungsteam:
Prof. Dr. Sebastian Haunss (Projektleitung)
Prof. Dr. Sophia Hunger (Projektleitung)
Prof. Dr. Thomas Kern (Projektleitung)
Günter Roth, Fachhochschule München (Projektleitung)
Prof. Dr. Patrick Sachweh (Projektleitung)

For the program Contentious Politics in the Digital Age (CoPoDi), BIGSSS was selected by the DAAD to host four international PhD students in its Graduate School Scholarship Programme (GSSP). The first two fellows started their PhDs in September 2025, two more will follow in September 2026.

1. Social Media and Protest Dynamics: PhD research in this area focuses on the influence of social media in shaping protest movements. Key topics include:
   • Exploring how social media platforms aid in mobilizing, organizing, and spreading protest movements.
   • Analyzing communication patterns, sentiment, framing, and the spread of protest-related content on social media.
   • Investigating government responses to online protests in non-democratic or authoritarian regimes, and the outcomes of such actions.
   • Examining if social media usage in political activism enhances the representation of marginalized groups.
     
     
2. Text-Based Analysis of Political Discourse: This area involves scrutinizing political discourse and its significance in contentious politics using text-as-data approaches, utilizing both digital and traditional media. Research could explore:
   • Tracing the framing and evolution of contentious issues in protests using digital media.
   • Identifying linguistic features and sentiments in the online communication of various political actors in protest movements.
     
     
3. Audiovisual Communication in Activism: Research here delves into the impact of audiovisual content in political activism, particularly its role in mobilization and engagement. Potential topics are:
   • Assessing how activists employ audiovisual content on new social media platforms for political messaging and support mobilization.
   • Investigating the use of both online and offline media by activists, their interaction across different channels, and the resultant effects on political activities.
   • Exploring the integration of traditional methods and digital tracking to study media usage beyond text.
     
     
4. Agent-Based Modeling of Protest Dynamics: Proposed PhD projects in this field aim to create and test agent-based models for simulating and predicting protest dynamics. Research themes could include:
   • Identifying key factors and mechanisms influencing the success or failure of protests and applying these models to real-world scenarios.
   • Utilizing agent-based simulations to understand the effects of government or policy interventions on protests, particularly in authoritarian settings with political risks for researchers and subjects.

The program has strong ties to Bremen’s Collaborative Research Centre 1342 Global Dynamics of Social Policy and the national Research Centre for Social Cohesion. Furthermore, there is an intense exchange with the fellows of our two other DAAD Programmes – Global Inequality, the Middle Classes and the Welfare State (GloWel) and Global Dynamics of Social Policy and Social Cohesion (GSPSC) – and the PhD students of the DFG-funded Research Training Group Social Dynamics of the Self.

Laufzeit:
01. September 2025 - 31. Dezember 2026

Forschungsteam:
Prof. Dr. Sebastian Haunss (Projektleitung)
Prof. Dr. Sophia Hunger (Projektleitung)
Prof. Dr. Thomas Kern (Projektleitung)
Günter Roth, Fachhochschule München (Projektleitung)
Prof. Dr. Patrick Sachweh (Projektleitung)

Projekttyp:
Kooperationsprojekt