Unveiling the Transnational and Digital Metapolitics of the New Right: Insights from EAJS ConferenceOur research group presented the latest findings of the ongoing research at the EAJS conference held at Ghent University from August 17 to 20, 2023. The findings were presented at the panel titled “The transnational and digital metapolitics of the New Right”. […]
Abstract: The initial lack of scientific consensus regarding COVID-19 and public controversies concerning implemented countermeasures have created fertile soil for the circulation of disinformation and conspiracy narratives. Applying a mixed-methods discourse analysis, we examine the use of typical rhetorical strategies and metaphors of conspiracy narratives and disinformation, and we study overlaps with discursive strategies of the […]
Over the past few years, the world has witnessed an apparent increase in ostensibly decentralized right-wing terrorist attacks by individuals who appear to act solely on their own behalf (i.e. without receiving instructions or material support from specific terrorist organizations). In response, criminologists have coined the term “lone wolf terrorism” for this strand of terrorism. […]
Abstract: In recent years, academic research and investigative reports have brought to light several cases of computational propaganda (i.e. orchestrated attempts to manipulate public opinion or the outcome of elections via social media), as well as proof that filter algorithms amplify right-wing conservative content on Japanese social media. Piecing together the scattered pieces of a puzzle, […]
Schäfer, Fabian (2021): Abe’s Digital Legacy. In: Public Jurist – Hong Kong Journal of Law and Public Affairs (Januar). p. 19-24.
Schäfer, Fabian (2020): Politics in the Age of Connective Cynicism. In: Kümmerle, Harald und Franz Waldenberger (Hrsg.): The Digital Transformation Implications for the Social Sciences and the Humanities. Tokyo: Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien (Tokyo). p. 50-58.
Abstract: The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster led to catastrophic environmental and economic consequences in Japan, leading to a temporary shift in public attitudes towards nuclear energy not only in Japan but globally. In 2011, the Japanese DPJ-led government gained worldwide attention for their plan to phase-out. However, while some countries seized the opportunity to transition […]
Abstract: Taking the impact of the Fukushima incident on the global discourse about nuclear energy as a case study, the present paper shows how to integrate computational linguistic methods into corpus-based discourse analysis (CDA). After an extensive literature review with regards to the related hermeneutic work, we present the corpus linguistic methods and point out […]
Schäfer, Fabian and Philipp Heinrich (2018): Extending Corpus-Based Discourse Analysis for Exploring Japanese Media. In: Proceedings of 4th Asia Pacific Corpus Linguistics Conference (APCLC2018) p. 135-140. Takamatsu, Japan.
Abstract: In this article, we present results on the identification and behavioral analysis of social bots in a sample of 542,584 Tweets, collected before and after Japan’s 2014 general election. Typical forms of bot activity include massive Retweeting and repeated posting of (nearly) the same message, sometimes used in combination. We focus on the second […]
Abstract: Social media platforms such as Twitter have gained tremendous political importance in recent years. Moreover, being considered as platforms for organizing grass root political movements or political participation in general, this positive view has given way to more critical perspectives on the negative sides of social media, such as attempts of algorithmically manipulating public […]
Schäfer, Fabian with Higuchi Naoto; Nagayoshi Kikuko; Matsutani Mitsuru; Kurahashi Kōhei; Yamaguchi Tomomi (2019): ネット右翼とは何か (Was ist die Internet-Rechte?). Tōkyō: Seikyū-sha.