Mediatized Populisms| Conspiratorial Webs: Media Ecology and Parallel Realities in Turkey

Authors

  • Rolien Hoyng Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • Murat Es The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Keywords:

censorship, media ecology, post-truth, populism, Turkey

Abstract

This article aims to contribute to a theory of populism that considers not just discursive antagonistic struggle but also the material-ecological dynamics of communication reshaping populist politics. By focusing on Turkey’s “split media ecology,” which is both censored and algorithmically filtered, we show that instead of simply instituting disconnection and blockage, censorship also exploits connectivity and triggers further communication. The paradox of blockage and flow supports the proliferation of conspiracy theories and results in the conception of moral, epistemological, and ontological orders for Internet communication. The question is how media-ecological affordances reconfigure antagonistic struggle and populist politics. We argue that emerging political strategy exploits connectivity and flow while incapacitating and excluding other networks. Thereby, the segregations of the split media ecology support flexible rearticulations of the “enemy” on behalf of sovereign power. Yet techno-cultural dynamics including netwar and post-truth media engagement also prove detrimental to sovereign power as we know it.

Author Biographies

Rolien Hoyng, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Rolien Hoyng is an Assistant Professor in The School of Journalism and Communication at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She obtained a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA, and MA degrees from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Her work is primarily situated in Istanbul and Hong Kong. It explores digital infrastructure in relation to urbanism as well as digital culture. Topics she writes about include data politics, e-waste, digital labor, and the socio-technical networks of activism and dissent. Recent publications appeared in International Journal of Communication, European Journal of Cultural Studies, Television and New Media, andJavnost-The Public.  

Murat Es, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Assistant ProfessorGeography and Resource ManagementThe Chinese University of Hong KongHong Kong

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Published

2017-10-23

Issue

Section

Special Sections