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This book examines how international organisations (IOs) have struggled to adapt to the digital age, and with social media in particular.
The global spread of new digital communication technologies has profoundly transformed the way organisations operate and interact with the outside world. This edited volume explores the impact of digital technologies, with a focus on social media, for one of the major actors in international affairs, namely IOs. To examine the peculiar dynamics characterising the IO-digital nexus, the volume relies on theoretical insights drawn from the disciplines of International Relations, Diplomatic Studies, Media, and Communication Studies, as well as from Organisation Studies. The volume maps the evolution of IOs' "digital universe" and examines the impact of digital technologies on issues of organisational autonomy, legitimacy, and contestation. The volume's contributions combine engaging theoretical insights with newly compiled empirical material and an eclectic set of methodological approaches (multivariate regression, network analysis, content analysis, sentiment analysis), offering a highly nuanced and textured understanding of the multifaceted, complex, and ever-evolving nature of the use of digital technologies by international organisations in their multilateral engagements.
This book will be of much interest to students of diplomacy, media, and communication studies, and international organisations.
List of contents
1. Going Digital: Choices and Challenges for International Organisations Corneliu Bjola and Ruben Zaiotti Part I: International Organisations’ "Digital Universe": Features and Dynamics 2. IO Public Communication Going Digital? Understanding Social Media Adoption and Use in Times of Politicization Matthias Ecker-Ehrhardt 3. Digital Diplomacy or Political Communication? Exploring Social Media in the EU Institutions from a Critical Discourse Perspective Michał Krzyżanowski 4. Is There a Place for Crowdsourcing in Mulltilateral Diplomacy? Searching for a new museum definition: ICOM vs the world of museum professionals Natalia Grincheva Part II: International Organisations and Autonomy 5. The United Nations in the Digital Age: Harnessing the Power of New Digital Information and Communication Technologies Caroline Bouchard 6. CLOCK, CLOUD, and Contestation: The Digital Journey of the Commonwealth Secretariat Nabeel Goheer Part III: International Organisation and Legitimacy 7. Tweeting to Save Succeeding Generations from the Scourge of War? The UN, Twitter, and communicative action Matthias Hoffenberth 8. Reconceptualising and Measuring Online Prestige in IOs: Towards a Theory of Prestige Mobility Ilan Manor 9. The (Un)making of International Organizations’ Digital Reputation: The European Union, the "refugee crisis," and social media Ruben Zaiotti Part IV: International Organisations and Contestation 10. Diplomat or Troll? The Case Against Digital Diplomacy Tobias Lemke and Mike Habegger 11. Coping with Digital Disinformation in Multilateral Contexts: The case of the UN Global Compact for Migration Corneliu Bjola 12. Rethinking International Organisations in the Digital Age Corneliu Bjola and Ruben Zaiotti
About the author
Corneliu Bjola is Associate Professor in Diplomatic Studies at the University of Oxford and Head of the Oxford Digital Diplomacy Research Group, UK.
Ruben Zaiotti is Jean Monnet Chair in Public Diplomacy, Director of the European Union Centre of Excellence, and Associate Professor in the Political Science department at Dalhousie University, Canada.
Summary
This book examines how international organisations (IOs) have struggled to adapt to the digital age, and with social media in particular.
The global spread of new digital communication technologies has profoundly transformed the way organisations operate and interact with the outside world. This edited volume explores the impact of digital technologies, with a focus on social media, for one of the major actors in international affairs, namely IOs. To examine the peculiar dynamics characterising the IO–digital nexus, the volume relies on theoretical insights drawn from the disciplines of International Relations, Diplomatic Studies, Media, and Communication Studies, as well as from Organisation Studies. The volume maps the evolution of IOs’ "digital universe" and examines the impact of digital technologies on issues of organisational autonomy, legitimacy, and contestation. The volume’s contributions combine engaging theoretical insights with newly compiled empirical material and an eclectic set of methodological approaches (multivariate regression, network analysis, content analysis, sentiment analysis), offering a highly nuanced and textured understanding of the multifaceted, complex, and ever-evolving nature of the use of digital technologies by international organisations in their multilateral engagements.
This book will be of much interest to students of diplomacy, media, and communication studies, and international organisations.
