Cultural Conflict 2.0: The Dynamics of Religion, Media and Locality in North European Cities

Cultural Conflict 2.0 (2014-18) undersøkte sosiale mediers effekter på sosiale relasjoner i byer i Norge, Danmark og Nederland. Vi fokuserte på Instagram-plattformen fordi dette (frem til juni 2016, da plattformens nye eiere, Facebook, begrenset adgangen) var den mest tilgjengelige plattformen med de rikeste geo-kodet og visuelle data, noe som gjorde at vi kunne undersøke samspillet mellom hvor og hva folk poster, og nettverkene de danner ved å poste og følge hverandre. Vi har utviklet nye metoder for å undersøke hvordan folk bruker sosiale medier i byer og effekten av denne bruken, som vi argumenterer gir et nyttig supplement til eksisterende samfunnsvitenskapelige metoder, og som kombinert med dem kan berike innsikten vår i sosiale prosesser. Ved hjelp av disse metodene har vi undersøkt online/offline-livene til en rekke grupper, inkludert etniske danske konvertitter til Islam og livsstilsklynger i Amsterdam og Kristiansand, og analysert poster relatert til nasjonale feiringer, inkludert King Day i Nederland og 17. mai-feiring i Norge. Mens mange innfallsvinkler til sosiale medier understreker enten egalitære og deltakende ( 'offentlighetsmodellen') eller polariserende og stigmatiserende ( 'ville vesten-modellen') effekter av sosiale medier, viser våre funn samlet sett at sosiale medier som Instagram i daglig bruk har en ganske sosialt konservativ funksjon, idet at de forsterker og underbygger eksisterende sosiale hierarkier og mønstre for inkludering og ekskludering.

We have developed new mixed methods and a tool to investigate the role of social media in urban processes and made these available through open release (tool), training, and publication in open access journals (Boy and Uitermark 2016, 2017). Our methods are widely read and cited, e.g. ibid. 2016 has been read 11724 times and cited 34 times (google scholar, 10.1.19). Our methods have yielded insights into the role of social media in urban processes, from transnational networks to the daily use of urban space and the experience of minorities using social media to respond to stigmatisation. We have contributed to theory development, (a) challenging prevalent models of the effects of social media on society by highlighting their role in replicating and re-enforcing existing social hierarchies and inequalities (b) theorising how these tendencies interacts with other polarising processes, both in Scandinavia (Herbert 2018) and in global cities (Herbert 2017).

This project will investigate the impact of media of different kinds and scales on the local politics of diversity in religiously and culturally plural areas of European cities. The early 21st century has been challenging for the relationship between reli gion and multiculturalism in European societies, with violent atrocities committed by different kinds of extremists (e.g. murder of Theo van Gogh, Utøya massacre), intense public arguments about the place of religion in public life, and widespread attack s on multiculturalism. Yet no public policy consensus has emerged on how to address the challenges faced. Recent evidence suggests that the media impact on local people and their relationships in a variety of ways: they provide the main sources of under standing of the lives of those beyond their immediate social circle; local policy makers understand themselves in terms of storylines in the media and shape their policies in anticipation of media reactions; transnational media provide a sense of connecti on to communities of origin; social media circulate stories about local issues, events and incidents, and facilitate public action of various kinds. However, while each of these processes has been studied separately, their interaction has not. For example , how might social media connections between local leaders influence their response to local events? How might transnational media connections influence local community relations? What shapes local responses to national and international news events? We shall examine these processes in religiously diverse neighbourhoods of two large 'global' and two smaller, 'provincial/ordinary' cities in Norway and the Netherlands. We'll combine analysis of social media networks, discourse analysis of media content and interviews with a range of community leaders to investigate media meanings and their uses. The relationship between the media and local politics is under-researched but vital to inform public debate and policy.