This panel unites five innovative studies exploring how different communication forms—from multicultural interactions and social media influencers to insurgent messaging and state propaganda—affect political engagement across diverse contexts.
Chloe Ahn examines how cosmopolitan worldviews develop in the United States amidst rising nationalist rhetoric. Her research reveals that everyday multicultural engagements, such as enjoying foreign cuisine or media without direct foreign interaction, strongly correlate with cosmopolitan beliefs. Using text analysis of U.S. news outlets and surveys, Ahn highlights how casual cultural consumption fosters global citizenship at the grassroots level.
Kirill Chmel, Eunji Kim, and John Marshall investigate the role of social media influencers in shaping young adults’ political values and behaviors. Through an online field experiment encouraging exposure to progressive messages from influencers on Instagram and TikTok, they assess whether these figures can act as political educators and how such engagement impacts audience interaction, especially among politically disengaged youth.
Yingdan Lu introduces the concept of "performative propaganda engagement" within China's online celebrity fandoms. Using computational text analysis, time series analysis, and interviews, she finds that fans engage with state propaganda primarily to support their favorite celebrities. This engagement is largely instrumental and performative, offering a nuanced view of how authoritarian regimes effectively co-opt non-state actors to spread propaganda.
Luwei Ying and Christopher W. Blair analyze how militant groups adapt their strategies when resources are cut off by border fortifications. Focusing on Afghanistan, they show that insurgents intensify civilian-targeted propaganda and adopt more religious themes to compensate for restricted access to external resources. This study reveals how insurgents adjust their influence campaigns in response to resource shocks and counterinsurgency efforts.
Donghyun Danny Choi and Fiona Shen-Bayh examine the chilling effect of opposition repression on parliamentary speech in Zambia. Analyzing over 350,000 speeches, they find that the arbitrary arrest of an opposition leader significantly decreases both the quantity and quality of opposition legislators' participation. Their study underscores the broader impact of repression on democratic representation and free speech in emerging democracies.
Together, these papers provide critical insights into how various communication strategies—from entertainment media consumption to formal political messaging—shape political landscapes and attitudes in contemporary society across the globe.