As I strive to show in this chapter, “progressive” Ukrainian media contributed to the tragic post... more As I strive to show in this chapter, “progressive” Ukrainian media contributed to the tragic post-Maidan developments in the East of Ukraine by adopting the Jacobin practice of marginalising and silencing opponents in the name of progress. By presenting the anti-Maidan movement as an absolute that was outside of the Ukrainian social order, they created the conditions of totalitarian intolerance emerging from the terrain of democratic revolution. As a result, antidemocratic and totalitarian tendencies in post-Yanukovych Ukraine not only reemerged but were even facilitated—a paradoxical outcome for a progressive revolution waged in the name of democracy.
Miscommunicating Social Change analyzes the discourses of three social movements and the alternat... more Miscommunicating Social Change analyzes the discourses of three social movements and the alternative media associated with them, revealing that the Enlightenment narrative, though widely critiqued in academia, remains the dominant way of conceptualizing social change in the name of democratization in the post-Soviet terrain. The main argument of this book is that the “progressive” imaginary, which envisages progress in the unidirectional terms of catching up with the “more advanced” Western condition, is inherently anti-democratic and deeply antagonistic. Instead of fostering an inclusive democratic process in which all strata of populations holding different views are involved, it draws solid dividing frontiers between “progressive” and “retrograde” forces, deepening existing antagonisms and provoking new ones; it also naturalizes the hierarchies of the global neocolonial/neoliberal power of the West. Using case studies of the “White Ribbons” social movement for fair elections in Russia (2012), the Ukrainian Euromaidan (2013–2014), and anti-corruption protests in Russia organized by Alexei Navalny (2017) and drawing on the theories of Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe, and Nico Carpetntier, this book shows how “progressive” articulations by the social movements under consideration ended up undermining the basis of the democratic public sphere through the closure of democratic space.
It has been argued that the advent of transnational media technologies leads to the formation of ... more It has been argued that the advent of transnational media technologies leads to the formation of a global public sphere. By means of framing analysis, this article examines whether signs of global public deliberation were present in American and Ukrainian media coverage of the Russia-Georgia military conflict of 2008. To embrace the range of ideas presented in the American and Ukrainian public spheres, several popular national dailies and weeklies were selected for analysis ("The New York Times," "The Washington Post," "Time," "Newsweek" and "US News" in the USA; "Segodnya," "Gazeta Po-Kievski," "Den," "Mirror Weekly," and "2000" in Ukraine). To check for less mainstream views, niche periodicals of diametrically opposed political orientations were also analyzed ("National Review" and "Nation" in the USA, "Crimska Pravda," and "Visokiy Zamok" in ...
Drawing on the ideas of Laclau and Mouffe (1985) and Carpentier (2017), this paper shows how, on ... more Drawing on the ideas of Laclau and Mouffe (1985) and Carpentier (2017), this paper shows how, on the one hand, discursive-material assemblages within the digital environment of interconnected information networks prevent the possibility of final discursive closures, while, on the other hand, they may weaken discourses, preventing them from serving as a mobilizing force for social change. To illustrate this, the paper discusses the case of Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, who banned oppositional television channels in a bid to shut down oppositional discourse by both discursive (the reduction of oppositional arguments) and material means (the physical closure of the studios). Discourse-material analysis presented in the paper draws on the discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe and Nico Carpentier's Discursive-Material Knot.
Many CDA scholars present the idea of “democracy” as a normative yardstick against which injustic... more Many CDA scholars present the idea of “democracy” as a normative yardstick against which injustices of all kinds and in any type of society can be measured; many also assume there is an inherent opposition between democratization with its advances toward social justice and neoliberal marketization with its array of negative consequences. Analyzing the discourse of democratization in the context of contemporary Ukraine, this paper argues that the issue is more complicated. Neoliberal marketization can go hand-in-hand with the discourse of universal democratization, which only contributes therefore to the perpetuation of neocolonial injustice as manifested in ongoing neoliberal projects.
This article argues that we need to be more cautious with the dichotomy between “corporate” and “... more This article argues that we need to be more cautious with the dichotomy between “corporate” and “alternative” media widely accepted within critical media studies. This division can be misleading, especially if applied to non-Western societies. I explicate my argument using the case study of the Russian alternative radio station, Echo of Moscow, and analyzing its coverage of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protests. My research is based on a qualitative content analysis of 73 hard news pieces on OWS that Echo of Moscow released from September 17 to November 18, 2011. The results of my analysis show that Echo’s framing of the OWS was typical “protest paradigm” framing, which corporate media usually employ when covering social protests.
This article argues that we need to be more cautious with the dichotomy between “corporate” and “... more This article argues that we need to be more cautious with the dichotomy between “corporate” and “alternative” media widely accepted within critical media studies. This division can be misleading, especially if applied to non-Western societies. I explicate my argument using the case study of the Russian alternative radio station, Echo of Moscow , and analyzing its coverage of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protests. My research is based on a qualitative content analysis of 73 hard news pieces on OWS that Echo of Moscow released from September 17 to November 18, 2011. The results of my analysis show that Echo ’s framing of the OWS was typical “protest paradigm” framing, which corporate media usually employ when covering social protests.
s of papers presented at the annual conference of the International Association for Media and Com... more s of papers presented at the annual conference of the International Association for Media and Communication Research
As I strive to show in this chapter, “progressive” Ukrainian media contributed to the tragic post... more As I strive to show in this chapter, “progressive” Ukrainian media contributed to the tragic post-Maidan developments in the East of Ukraine by adopting the Jacobin practice of marginalising and silencing opponents in the name of progress. By presenting the anti-Maidan movement as an absolute that was outside of the Ukrainian social order, they created the conditions of totalitarian intolerance emerging from the terrain of democratic revolution. As a result, antidemocratic and totalitarian tendencies in post-Yanukovych Ukraine not only reemerged but were even facilitated—a paradoxical outcome for a progressive revolution waged in the name of democracy.
Miscommunicating Social Change analyzes the discourses of three social movements and the alternat... more Miscommunicating Social Change analyzes the discourses of three social movements and the alternative media associated with them, revealing that the Enlightenment narrative, though widely critiqued in academia, remains the dominant way of conceptualizing social change in the name of democratization in the post-Soviet terrain. The main argument of this book is that the “progressive” imaginary, which envisages progress in the unidirectional terms of catching up with the “more advanced” Western condition, is inherently anti-democratic and deeply antagonistic. Instead of fostering an inclusive democratic process in which all strata of populations holding different views are involved, it draws solid dividing frontiers between “progressive” and “retrograde” forces, deepening existing antagonisms and provoking new ones; it also naturalizes the hierarchies of the global neocolonial/neoliberal power of the West. Using case studies of the “White Ribbons” social movement for fair elections in Russia (2012), the Ukrainian Euromaidan (2013–2014), and anti-corruption protests in Russia organized by Alexei Navalny (2017) and drawing on the theories of Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe, and Nico Carpetntier, this book shows how “progressive” articulations by the social movements under consideration ended up undermining the basis of the democratic public sphere through the closure of democratic space.
It has been argued that the advent of transnational media technologies leads to the formation of ... more It has been argued that the advent of transnational media technologies leads to the formation of a global public sphere. By means of framing analysis, this article examines whether signs of global public deliberation were present in American and Ukrainian media coverage of the Russia-Georgia military conflict of 2008. To embrace the range of ideas presented in the American and Ukrainian public spheres, several popular national dailies and weeklies were selected for analysis ("The New York Times," "The Washington Post," "Time," "Newsweek" and "US News" in the USA; "Segodnya," "Gazeta Po-Kievski," "Den," "Mirror Weekly," and "2000" in Ukraine). To check for less mainstream views, niche periodicals of diametrically opposed political orientations were also analyzed ("National Review" and "Nation" in the USA, "Crimska Pravda," and "Visokiy Zamok" in ...
Drawing on the ideas of Laclau and Mouffe (1985) and Carpentier (2017), this paper shows how, on ... more Drawing on the ideas of Laclau and Mouffe (1985) and Carpentier (2017), this paper shows how, on the one hand, discursive-material assemblages within the digital environment of interconnected information networks prevent the possibility of final discursive closures, while, on the other hand, they may weaken discourses, preventing them from serving as a mobilizing force for social change. To illustrate this, the paper discusses the case of Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, who banned oppositional television channels in a bid to shut down oppositional discourse by both discursive (the reduction of oppositional arguments) and material means (the physical closure of the studios). Discourse-material analysis presented in the paper draws on the discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe and Nico Carpentier's Discursive-Material Knot.
Many CDA scholars present the idea of “democracy” as a normative yardstick against which injustic... more Many CDA scholars present the idea of “democracy” as a normative yardstick against which injustices of all kinds and in any type of society can be measured; many also assume there is an inherent opposition between democratization with its advances toward social justice and neoliberal marketization with its array of negative consequences. Analyzing the discourse of democratization in the context of contemporary Ukraine, this paper argues that the issue is more complicated. Neoliberal marketization can go hand-in-hand with the discourse of universal democratization, which only contributes therefore to the perpetuation of neocolonial injustice as manifested in ongoing neoliberal projects.
This article argues that we need to be more cautious with the dichotomy between “corporate” and “... more This article argues that we need to be more cautious with the dichotomy between “corporate” and “alternative” media widely accepted within critical media studies. This division can be misleading, especially if applied to non-Western societies. I explicate my argument using the case study of the Russian alternative radio station, Echo of Moscow, and analyzing its coverage of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protests. My research is based on a qualitative content analysis of 73 hard news pieces on OWS that Echo of Moscow released from September 17 to November 18, 2011. The results of my analysis show that Echo’s framing of the OWS was typical “protest paradigm” framing, which corporate media usually employ when covering social protests.
This article argues that we need to be more cautious with the dichotomy between “corporate” and “... more This article argues that we need to be more cautious with the dichotomy between “corporate” and “alternative” media widely accepted within critical media studies. This division can be misleading, especially if applied to non-Western societies. I explicate my argument using the case study of the Russian alternative radio station, Echo of Moscow , and analyzing its coverage of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protests. My research is based on a qualitative content analysis of 73 hard news pieces on OWS that Echo of Moscow released from September 17 to November 18, 2011. The results of my analysis show that Echo ’s framing of the OWS was typical “protest paradigm” framing, which corporate media usually employ when covering social protests.
s of papers presented at the annual conference of the International Association for Media and Com... more s of papers presented at the annual conference of the International Association for Media and Communication Research
This book explores the detrimental effects on global peace of populism’s tendency to present comp... more This book explores the detrimental effects on global peace of populism’s tendency to present complex social issues in simplistic "good versus evil" terms. Analyzing the civilizational discourse of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with respect to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine—with his division of the world into "civilized us" versus "barbarian them"—the book argues that such a one-dimensional representation of complex social reality leaves no space for understanding the conflict and has little, if any, potential to bring about peace.
To deconstruct the "civilization versus barbarism" discourse propagated by Zelensky, the book incorporates into its analysis alternative articulations of the crisis by oppositional voices. The author looks at the writing of several popular Ukrainian journalists and bloggers who have been excluded from the field of political representation within Ukraine, where all oppositional media are currently banned. Drawing on the discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, the author argues that the incorporation of alternative perspectives, and silenced voices, is vitally important for understanding the complexity of all international conflicts, including the current one between Russia and Ukraine.
Book Description
This book explores the reasons behind the unexpected rise to power of Ukraine’s... more Book Description
This book explores the reasons behind the unexpected rise to power of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, a former comedian with no political background, and offers an in-depth analysis of the populist messages he delivered to the Ukrainian people via his TV show.
Taking a discourse analysis approach, the author draws on two main arguments of critical scholarship: the “populist explosion” of the recent decade came as a reaction to the inequalities and injustices of the global neoliberal order, and the success of neoliberalism can be explained by its ability to mask itself under attractive progressive covers. Developing these lines of argument, the book demonstrates not only how the “populist explosion” can lead to further neoliberalization, but also that the euphemizing effect can be achieved by mixing the virtual and the real, as in the case of Zelensky.
Intercultural Communication, Identity, and Social Movements in the Digital Age, 2019
The results of this investigation are in line with the “digital skeptics” arguing that new SNS, i... more The results of this investigation are in line with the “digital skeptics” arguing that new SNS, instead of networking, can disconnect people by allowing them to create a digital environment that is much more homogeneous than the non-digital social world. As my research shows, in the case of the Ukrainian Maidan, social media did not facilitate intercultural communication; rather, through the function of “unfriending,” they allowed the deepening of already existing cleavages and enabled the creation of new splits.
Miscommunicating Social Change analyzes the discourses of three social movements and the alternat... more Miscommunicating Social Change analyzes the discourses of three social movements and the alternative media associated with them, revealing that the Enlightenment narrative, though widely critiqued in academia, remains the dominant way of conceptualizing social change in the name of democratization in the post-Soviet terrain. The main argument of this book is that the “progressive” imaginary, which envisages progress in the unidirectional terms of catching up with the “more advanced” Western condition, is inherently anti-democratic and deeply antagonistic. Instead of fostering an inclusive democratic process in which all strata of populations holding different views are involved, it draws solid dividing frontiers between “progressive” and “retrograde” forces, deepening existing antagonisms and provoking new ones; it also naturalizes the hierarchies of the global neocolonial/neoliberal power of the West. Using case studies of the “White Ribbons” social movement for fair elections in Russia (2012), the Ukrainian Euromaidan (2013–2014), and anti-corruption protests in Russia organized by Alexei Navalny (2017) and drawing on the theories of Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe, and Nico Carpentier, this book shows how “progressive” articulations by the social movements under consideration ended up undermining the basis of the democratic public sphere through the closure of democratic space.
As I strive to show in this chapter, “progressive” Ukrainian media contributed to the tragic post... more As I strive to show in this chapter, “progressive” Ukrainian media contributed to the tragic post-Maidan developments in the East of Ukraine by adopting the Jacobin practice of marginalising and silencing opponents in the name of progress. By presenting the anti-Maidan movement as an absolute that was outside of the Ukrainian social order, they created the conditions of totalitarian intolerance emerging from the terrain of democratic revolution. As a result, antidemocratic and totalitarian tendencies in post-Yanukovych Ukraine not only reemerged but were even facilitated—a paradoxical outcome for a progressive revolution waged in the name of democracy.
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Papers by Olga Baysha
To deconstruct the "civilization versus barbarism" discourse propagated by Zelensky, the book incorporates into its analysis alternative articulations of the crisis by oppositional voices. The author looks at the writing of several popular Ukrainian journalists and bloggers who have been excluded from the field of political representation within Ukraine, where all oppositional media are currently banned. Drawing on the discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, the author argues that the incorporation of alternative perspectives, and silenced voices, is vitally important for understanding the complexity of all international conflicts, including the current one between Russia and Ukraine.
This book explores the reasons behind the unexpected rise to power of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, a former comedian with no political background, and offers an in-depth analysis of the populist messages he delivered to the Ukrainian people via his TV show.
Taking a discourse analysis approach, the author draws on two main arguments of critical scholarship: the “populist explosion” of the recent decade came as a reaction to the inequalities and injustices of the global neoliberal order, and the success of neoliberalism can be explained by its ability to mask itself under attractive progressive covers. Developing these lines of argument, the book demonstrates not only how the “populist explosion” can lead to further neoliberalization, but also that the euphemizing effect can be achieved by mixing the virtual and the real, as in the case of Zelensky.
opponents in the name of progress. By presenting the anti-Maidan
movement as an absolute that was outside of the Ukrainian social order, they created the conditions of totalitarian intolerance emerging from the terrain of democratic revolution. As a result, antidemocratic and totalitarian tendencies in post-Yanukovych Ukraine not only reemerged but were even facilitated—a paradoxical outcome for a progressive
revolution waged in the name of democracy.