Document Type

Theses, Ph.D

Rights

Available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International Licence

Disciplines

5.8 MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS, Media and socio-cultural communication

Publication Details

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements
for the award of Doctor of Philosophy

Abstract

Transmedia storytelling scholarship has been progressing rapidly over recent decades. Yet, a question that remains open is the lack of analysis of political transmedia campaigns. This political communication thesis contributes to filling that gap. Its goal is to develop a flexible and locally-specific approach to analysing transmedia political campaigning. To understand the context that affects the destinies of transmedia grassroots campaigns, the study turns to social movement and grassroots activism scholarships. In particular, it employs the idea of political opportunity structures to conceptualise those external opportunities and threats that affects transmedia campaigns in politics. To mitigate the negative aspects of a political climate, reduce the costs of political participation for active citizens and make their political change efforts more efficient, political organisers can mobilise valuable resources through transmedia campaigning, the thesis argues. Thus, the thesis incorporates the analysis of opportunity structures and mobilising resources to propose a new analytical approach to the study of political transmedia campaigns. Because this analytical approach reinterprets transmedia strategies through the lens of opportunity structures and resource mobilisation, I will refer to it in the thesis as the opportunity structures and mobilising resources (OSMR) analytical approach. The thesis tests it with the case study of Alexey Navalny's 2013 mayoral campaign for Moscow. The case study outlines the opportunity structures of modern Russia and discusses the transmedia strategies Navalny’s campaign used to overcome some of their negative aspects. In doing so, the thesis enriches transmedia storytelling scholarship with insights from other disciplines and offers a flexible and locally specific approach to analysing political transmedia campaigns.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21427/1YPG-BT33

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