[Air-L] Online Talk June 18: Rob Gorwa on Qualitative Methods for Regulatory Episodes

[Christian Katzenbach]

Dear colleagues, 

We are excited to announce the next instalment of our **Online Talk Series “Behind the Scenes – Conversations on Empirical Platform Governance Research”**: 

**Robert Gorwa (Berlin Social Science Center WZB)**
Qualitative Methods for Regulatory Episodes: Examining Policy Development in the Context of Global Platform Regulation
June 18, 3-4pm CEST
Online via ZOOM (link will be provided in follow-up e-mail)
Info and Registration: https://platform-governance.org/online-talk-series/session-10-robert-gorwa-qualitative-methods-for-regulatory-episodes-examining-policy-development-in-the-context-of-global-platform-regulation/

In the talk, Robert will explore the strategy that he developed in the research for **his new book, The Politics of Platform Regulation: How Governments Shape Online Content Moderation (OUP, 2024)**. The talk will present the idea of ‘regulatory episodes,’ moments of political contestation that shape the development and implementation of new policy initiatives. It will then outline how one can, through process tracing and related techniques from the policy studies literature, develop granular case studies of platform regulation’s emergence, drawing on qualitative data like stakeholder interviews and internal deliberative policy documents obtained from government actors via freedom of information requests. Providing a summary of some of the insights gleaned through those techniques, the talk will also reflexively engage with some of the advantages, limitations, and future possibilities for this kind of qualitative policy research.

Open Access PDF of the book: https://academic.oup.com/book/56385

We are looking forward to meet you online on June 18! Please register soon on the event page in order to receive the ZOOM link on time. You are invited to forward this message to colleagues that might be interested in the topic, and guide them to registering for the series themselves on our website, but don’t publish the ZOOM link. 
https://platform-governance.org/online-talk-series/session-10-robert-gorwa-qualitative-methods-for-regulatory-episodes-examining-policy-development-in-the-context-of-global-platform-regulation/


With best regards, 
Christian Katzenbach, Paloma Viejo Otero, João C. Magalhães


**About** 
This talk is part of the series Behind the Scenes – Conversations on Empirical Platform Governance Research that invites scholars in this field to share their experiences and views, fostering  community exchange about how we can study platform governance in this challenging context. It is hosted by the Lab “Platform Governance, Media, and Technology” (PGMT) at the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI), University of Bremen, and the Centre for Media and Journalism Studies, University of Groningen.
https://platform-governance.org/online-talk-series/



— 
Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach

Professor of Media and Communication
ZeMKI, University of Bremen | Lab Platform Governance, Media and Technology (PGMT)
https://platform-governance.org/team/christian-katzenbach/

Visiting Professor London School of Economics (LSE)  
https://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/people/visiting-and-associate-staff/christian-katzenbach