Intersections. East European Journal of Society and Politics

Editorial

2025-02-18T14:27:49+01:00

Towards a trustful information society

2021-06-16T07:09:58+02:00

In this article, we present data from a survey on the characteristics of the information society in four Central and Eastern European countries. The 25-minute representative telephone survey was conducted in Hungary, Romania, Poland and the Czech Republic. The research covers internet usage habits, actors of online trust, fear of manipulation and news consumption habits, and last but not least, general attitudes towards the internet. The four databases are available in English and the four questionnaires are available in the language of the country in which they are annexed to the article. The main variables of the database are presented in the article.

What else comes with a geographical concept beyond geography? The renaissance of the term ‘Carpathian Basin’ in the Hungarian Parliament

2024-03-05T12:00:49+01:00

A key tenet from research on geographical concepts is that these are never neutral but filled with different ideas and agendas. The ‘Carpathian Basin’ is one of the most significant concepts in Hungarian geographical thought, but its recently reemerging use in political discourse has not yet been studied through quantitative text analysis.

In this paper, we describe how a structural topic model was used to analyze the 1,525 speeches containing the term delivered in the Hungarian Parliament between 1998 and 2020.

Our results indicate a renaissance in the use of the term, both in terms of its more frequent use and its discursive meaning as a sign of a turn in national policy. At the same time, ‘Carpathian Basin’ discourse serves as a symbolic battleground for different political ideologies to indicate both neutral geographical references and nationalist sentiments. Left-liberals tend to use it politically neutrally, referring to an ethno-culturally heterogeneous area, and using a less personal voice, referring to institutions and interests. In contrast, right-wing narratives often demarcate the Carpathian Basin as a single geographical entity. Some of these speeches exhibit virtual nationalism, while others subtly question territorial legitimacy. The latter MPs speak in terms of representing their own community, referring to values, emotions, and culture, offering a collective identity to which people attach values and emotions.

Sharing political news online: A network model of information spread on Facebook

2024-05-07T11:16:00+02:00

Social media plays a crucial role in online political campaigns as political parties can reach, inform, and mobilize voters through these platforms. Political campaigns share information on social media to mobilize support, and prior research shows that sharing content on social media correlates with the offline popularity of political parties. In this paper, we model the spread of political content on the internet. We start by exploring popularity and sharing behavior related to posts by Hungarian politicians on Facebook. We utilize this analysis to build an agent-based model. Within this, we test how echo chambers, homophily, and network structure affect the number of shares that contribute to information diffusion on social media. Our simulation compares spreading in different network structures and shows that preferential attachment models are not the most efficient for fostering diffusion in networks with relatively low density or when a filtering mechanism is present. Our model confirms that homophily generally has a positive effect on diffusion, especially within echo chambers. Echo chambers enhance the diffusion of political news with a limited potential audience. Furthermore, the results of our agent-based simulation indicate that homophily and echo chambers can significantly influence the spread of political content on social media, with echo chambers particularly enhancing diffusion in networks where overall diffusion is low.

Fear and loathing in Eastern Europe

2024-03-13T16:58:13+01:00

The Sputnik News network of websites has been the subject of scholarly attention since its 2014 launch in the context of the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. In January 2022, Sputnik News websites were blocked by EU countries, thus acknowledging the network’s potential influence. Some researchers claim that Sputnik news follows the model of Soviet propaganda, while others claim its discursive patterns point towards new communication strategies. There is scarce literature on Eastern European Sputnik editions and no comparative approaches to date. This research article aims to fill that gap by employing mixed methods to study a large dataset (N=118,198) of Sputnik News headlines from the foreign news sections of three language editions – Czech, Polish, and Romanian, from January 2017 to January 2022. The main findings indicate a conflict-oriented, war journalism approach that mostly focuses on USA-Russia and the individual actors Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Furthermore, the coverage leans towards fear as the dominant affective framing, and the most frequently represented organization, NATO, is framed as a failing alliance, actively pursuing the consolidation of power or even as an aggressor.

Ambassadors of war: Social and semantic networks of Belarusian pro-government Telegram channels during the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine

2024-03-13T08:37:30+01:00

This study examined the response of Belarusian pro-government Telegram channels to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine in its initial phase (22 February to 24 March 2022). A socio-semantic network approach was used to analyse the relationships between 21 influential pro-government channels and the concepts they disseminate. We applied a four-stage framework based on mutual citation analysis, extended hyperlink analysis, bipartite channel-concept network analysis, and inter-conceptual relations analysis.

The findings indicate that Belarusian pro-government channels function as critical intermediaries between Russian media and local Lukashenka supporters. The network structure reveals two principal centres of media activity: one focusing on disseminating pro-Russian military content, and the other propagating messages supporting the Belarusian government. This distinction is also evident in the main topics discussed, which can be categorised as pro-Russian warfare, pro-Russian foreign policy, Belarusian domestic policy, and pro-Lukashenka content. Notably, the high proportion of war-related concepts within this semantic structure suggests that Russian political language has significantly influenced the network of pro-government channels, challenging the maintenance of domestic Belarusian narratives. Furthermore, anonymous channels on the network's periphery disseminate more explicitly aggressive war-related concepts, potentially operating with greater autonomy from direct government control.

This study contributes to understanding information warfare dynamics in Eastern Europe during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. It provides insights into the complexities of information networks in contested political spaces by revealing how both social and semantic relations between Telegram channels shape media agendas.

Expanding boundaries: “Gender Theory” and the Twitter (X) debate on gender-sensitive language use in Slovenia

2024-03-12T19:19:12+01:00

This study examines the transition of the “gender theory” discourse from the realm of political and activist circles to the general population, focusing on the 2018 Twitter (X) debate in Slovenia regarding the gender-sensitive language policy at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. Through a mixed-methods approach combining social network analysis and linguostylistic and critical frame analyses, this paper explores the dynamics and implications of this discourse shift. Our analysis identifies distinct user communities with primarily right-leaning political affiliations, revealing how these groups navigate and emphasize various themes related to gender-sensitive language, often broadening the debate to include new topics. The concept of “gender theory” emerges as a pivotal element, serving as a unifying thread that transforms discussions into ideological battlegrounds, thereby creating an “echo chamber” effect that sidelines opposing viewpoints. The findings underscore the colonizing effect of the “gender theory” discourse, which not only diverts attention to new ideological issues but also has a de-democratizing impact by constraining the range of acceptable debate and excluding divergent perspectives. This paper corroborates the initial premise that the discourse on “gender theory” has evolved, acquiring a broader societal and ideological dimension that challenges the inclusivity of public debate.

Mainstream political discourse on the Roma minority in Hungary between 2010 and 2019

2024-09-04T11:59:08+02:00

This study examines how Hungarian politicians represented the Roma minority in public statements reported by the National News Agency from 2010 to 2019. Through an integrated theoretical framework, we analyzed communication styles to uncover not only what was said about the Roma but also the underlying motivations, proposed societal relationships, and social orders conveyed by these statements. Our methodology combined textual and thematic analyses to explore both the explicit content and the covert implications of these communications.

Our findings reveal a dual discourse from the governing party, Fidesz, which simultaneously emphasizes integration and inclusion to meet European expectations while exploiting anti-Roma sentiment and perceived victimhood, particularly during the refugee crisis, to appeal to domestic audiences. Fidesz employed a complex propaganda strategy, portraying the Roma as both subjects of integration and as scapegoats in the context of refugee-related threats. In contrast, far-right parties like Jobbik engaged in overtly racist propaganda, reinforcing negative stereotypes and solidifying in-group identity among their supporters. Liberal-left-centrist parties, meanwhile, were largely ineffective, often replicating Fidesz's portrayal of the Roma as helpless victims without providing substantive alternative narratives.

This analysis highlights the relational and deeply political nature of discourse, demonstrating how representations of the Roma are manipulated to serve broader political agendas. It also underscores the lack of critical engagement with structural inequalities, revealing how these narratives perpetuate existing power dynamics rather than addressing the systemic issues affecting the Roma community.

Tuned to fear

2024-02-09T12:17:11+01:00

This study investigates the prevalent use of fear as a political tool by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Through critical discourse analysis and automated text analytics, we analyze the State of the Nation addresses from 2010 to 2022, identifying recurring enemy images such as ‘Brussels’, ‘migrants’, ‘George Soros’, ‘Ferenc Gyurcsány’ and ‘opposition.’ National Consultations are also examined to understand fear-inducing strategies. Our findings reveal a consistent pattern of fearmongering, with enemy images aligning with key events and political contexts.

By employing both qualitative and quantitative methods, this research deepens our understanding of fear’s role in shaping public perceptions and political dynamics. It sheds light on the strategic use of fear in Hungarian politics and its impact on democratic processes. Furthermore, the study highlights the implications for the construction of illiberal systems in Central and Eastern Europe.

The analysis of Orbán’s discourse provides valuable insights into the manipulation of public sentiment and the consolidation of power through fear tactics. This study contributes to the broader discourse on the intersections of fear and politics, providing insight into fearmongering through official speeches.

Book Review

2024-10-21T16:20:15+02:00