[Air-L] Webinar and Workshop Series Announcement

[Robert Topinka (Staff)]

 ‘Post-Pandemic’ Politics and Reactionary Digital Cultures

Webinar and Workshop Series


Full schedule: https://reactionarypandemicpolitics.wordpress.com/

Webinar
27 October 2022
13:30 - 15:30, UTC +1
Online via Teams
Register: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/booking/event/33590


This webinar launches a new Birkbeck Centre for Media and Democracy report that charts the overlaps between covid-19 scepticism, vaccine hesitancy and reactionary politics online. Although many far-right extremists have aligned themselves against the public health response to covid-19, the report documents a more ideologically ambiguous and even incoherent form of reactionary politics taking shape around covid scepticism.


This reactionary scepticism is advanced by the extreme right, but it is also proving attractive to people dislocated and disconnected by more than two years of life in a pandemic. Covid scepticism is dominated by ‘misinformation,’ but groups organised around rejecting mainstream consensus wear the ‘misinformation’ label as a badge of honour. The report and the webinar investigate the emotional attractions of reactionary politics, calling for an anti-racist and anti-misogynist politics that begins at the community level.


With talks from:

Rosie Carter, Director of Policy and Engagement at HOPE not hate


Liam Shrivastava, Communications Officer at the Institute for Race Relations


Dr. Annie Kelly, a journalist and researcher focusing on antifeminism, the far right and conspiracy theories online.


Dr. Robert Topinka, Senior Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at Birkbeck, University of London, author of the new report on post-pandemic politics and reactionary digital cultures


The webinar will also launch a series of workshops for third-sector workers, local government workers, academics and activists working on public health, mental health, youth work and anti-racism. The first workshop will be Friday, 11 November from 10:30 – 14:00 at Birkbeck’s Bloomsbury campus. Tea, coffee and lunch will be provided for all attendees, and travel funding is available.  You can register here: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/booking/event/33611.


Webinar Speaker Biographies

Rosie Carter is director of policy and engagement at HOPE not hate, the UK’s leading anti-fascist organisation. She conducts research on migration, community relations, public attitudes, identity and political polarisation. She is a Churchill fellow where her research focused on migrant inclusion in post-industrial areas and holds an MSc in Migration Studies from Oxford University.


Liam Shrivastava is communications officer at the Institute of Race Relations. Prior to joining the IRR, he worked for Red Pepper magazine and with the Media Reform Coalition. He holds an MA in Political Communications from Goldsmiths College, where his dissertation focused on the BBC and immigration. He has a particular interest in representations of race and racism in the media and the political space. His work at the IRR involves researching ‘culture war’ phenomena, ‘New Right’ networks and political rhetoric.


Dr. Annie Kelly is a journalist and researcher focusing on antifeminism, the far right and conspiracy theories online. She received her PhD on digital antifeminism from the University of East Anglia in 2020. She works now as a postdoctoral research associate on the AHRC-funded “Everything Is Connected: Conspiracy Theories in the Age of the Internet” project at King’s College London and the University of Manchester and as the UK correspondent for the podcast QAnon Anonymous. Her writing has appeared in Soundings journal, The Sociological Review and The New York Times.


Dr. Robert Topinka is Senior Lecturer in media and cultural studies at Birkbeck. He was Co-Investigator on the AHRC funded project ‘Political Ideology, Rhetoric and Aesthetics in the 21st Century: The Case of the “Alt-Right,”’ and writes widely about race, politics and digital media. 


Workshop Series

Hosted by the Centre for Media and Democracy at Birkbeck, University of London, this workshop series aims to facilitate collaboration across charities, local governments, academics and activists to respond to the challenges digital and social media pose to public life and public health.

In response to the recent rise of far-right extremism and reactionary scepticism around the Covid pandemic, there has been a focus on debunking ‘disinformation’ and on regulating the major platforms. These are important goals, but they are not solutions that offer immediate help to local communities.


Starting from the premise that digital media are fully integrated into our daily lives, this workshop series brings together groups and organisations working on public health, mental health, youth work and anti-racism to develop informed, collaborative and practical strategies to respond to digital harms.


The focus will be on combining expertise and on putting academic research and academic funding opportunities to work for organisations.


Following from a launch event, the workshops will focus on three distinct but cross-cutting themes. Attendees are encouraged to attend all three workshops, but it is also possible to sign up for one or two workshops.


Lunch and refreshments will be provided. Travel reimbursement is available for all attendees (Zones 1-6). Additional travel reimbursement available upon request.


Workshop 1: Digital Media and Digital Data

Friday, 11 November, 10:30 – 14:00, Birkbeck, University of London campus


Register: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/booking/event/33611


Although digital media are fully embedded in our daily lives and routines, they are still highly personal. Everyone has their own personal ‘feed’ on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and so on. How do we develop strategies for understanding how digital media are shaping the work charities and activists do and the lives of the communities they serve?


Opening Speaker

Chris Ashworth, Head of Social Impact at Nominet


Workshop 2: Local Communities and Social Media

Thursday, 12 January 2023, 10:30 – 14:00, Birkbeck, University of London campus


Register: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/booking/event/33670

There is no distinction between ‘offline’ and ‘online.’ We don’t go ‘on’ digital media platforms, they are highly integrated with our daily lives and routines. This means that when we think about combating digital harms, we need to begin by thinking holistically about the communities we serve. If we begin from the understanding that digital media is deeply integrated in the daily lives of the communities we serve, how does that shape or change the work we do?


Opening Speakers

Dr. Rohit Dasgupta, Senior Lecturer in Cultural Industries at the University of Glasgow and Councillor for Canning Town South

Cllr Mumtaz Khan, Councillor for Green Street West


Workshop 3: Digital Culture, Politics and Communication

Thursday, 16 February 2023, 10:30 – 14:00, Birkbeck, University of London campus


Register: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/booking/event/33671


The sheer volume of communication is unprecedented, and it only continues to grow. This can make efforts to combat digital harms feel like a drop in a bucket, and a bucket owned and controlled by massively powerful tech corporations. Instead of thinking about digital communication as something ‘outside’ of our work, how can we communicate better on and about digital media with the communities we serve?



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Robert Topinka
Senior Lecturer in Transnational Media & Cultural Studies
Department of Film, Media & Cultural Studies
Birkbeck, University of London
Recently published: "The Politics of Anti-Discourse: Copypasta, the Alt-Right, and the Rhetoric of Form"<https://muse.jhu.edu/article/852390> in Theory & Event
New book: Racing the Street: Race, Rhetoric, and Technology in Metropolitan London, 1840-1900<https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520343610/racing-the-street>