Research team

Expertise

Lectures and project research on the role of communication (including personality, language and symbols, new media) in political processes and where special attention is paid to psychological, political socialization, linguistic and political marketing aspects of politics and communication.

Media and political discourse in post-Communist Ukraine. 01/02/2014 - 31/07/2014

Abstract

The present research will focus on the analysis of changes which occurred in media and political discourse in post communist Ukraine and the role of dominant political discourse in the processes of construction of political reality. Also the project will contribute to the theoretical development of the concept of political discourse and the role of media in the process of formation of public opinion in contemporary Ukraine. For the Case study will be taken the concept of European integration and how it`s conceptualized in Ukrainian public and official discourses. It will be suggested that different interpretations of this idea allow for the contradictory geopolitical orientations and for the declared European identity of major Ukrainian political actors. Two dominant transformation discourses, endorsed by the 'pro-European' and 'pro-Russian' political camps, will be examined. These discourses are also presented in Ukrainian public sphere as a postcolonial and a post-imperial discourse. The concept of EU integration became one of the crucial elements in theoretical reflection on Ukrainian politics as well as an important component of Ukrainian identity building. Apart from struggles for symbolic power, the images of Europe are used in collective identity construction. In some sense modern Ukrainian identities are built by means of either referring to Europe as a value or rejecting it. Ukrainian opponents of Euro-integration construct self-identity in contrast to this, as they try to refer to other symbolic centres such as the 'Russian world'.

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    Project type(s)

    • Research Project

    Political impression management in Flanders: the way of sound bites, personality profiles and appearance effectiviness of politicians. 01/01/2004 - 31/12/2007

    Abstract

    The project aims at examining the Flemish case of political impression management within the international comparative scientific framework. Recent research models and experiments concerned with political soundbites, the appearance of politicians and their personality profiles in the media will be applied in order to depict the impression management of Flemish politicians and political groups. Special attention will be paid to the upcoming elections.

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      Project type(s)

      • Research Project

      Participation-friendliness of political websites in actual and future EU memberstates. 01/10/2002 - 30/09/2004

      Abstract

      The project aims at contributing to cyberdemocracy within the EU by setting up a research network on paticipation-friendliness of political Websites. Based on political theory assessment schemes will be developed and tested, in order to construct replicable prototypes of participation-beneficial Websites in the political sphere.

      Researcher(s)

      Research team(s)

        Project type(s)

        • Research Project