The terms 'fake news' and 'alternative facts' have lost their shock value in today's public disco... more The terms 'fake news' and 'alternative facts' have lost their shock value in today's public discourse and seem to have become part of our normal political vocabulary. Fake news, mis-and disinformation are not a problem of a particular country but are found in politics around the world. In this paper, I look at how disinformation appears as a problem for democracy. Empirically, this paper explores dominant patterns of argumentation with a focus on the US, Germany and Czechia. I discuss the themes of media literacy, hybrid warfare and the emergence of fringe media. This paper argues that more attention needs to be paid to the affectual dimension of why people share fake news. Even though there is no easy solution for dealing with fake news, a first step is to stop denouncing people for believing in fake news and putting all our hope in media literacy.
This article contributes to the emerging literature on publics within critical security studies. ... more This article contributes to the emerging literature on publics within critical security studies. Its particular focus is on contestation in the context of diffuse security technology. Contemporary security practices are characterized by diffusion and dispersion. As a result, contestation of security technology is also dispersed and diffuse and requires an account of publics that is sensitive to this aspect. The article conceptualizes 'multiple publics' as a mode of fundamental contestation of established political institutions. In order to do so, it discusses previous approaches to sociotechnical controversies and material participation. As a result of this discussion, it becomes apparent that we need a concept of publics that does not reduce political contestation to a pre-existing set of institutions. I develop a notion of publicness that emphasizes the way in which publics are embedded in societal struggles. This is achieved by reading John Dewey as a theorist to whom contestation is a vital part of democracy. It becomes possible to understand contestation against diffuse security practices-such as surveillance-as forms of emerging publics, even though they might not feed back into governmental decisionmaking.
A war against truth’ - understanding the fake news controversy, 2020
Fake News, dis-and misinformation campaigns are a core concern for current democratic societies. ... more Fake News, dis-and misinformation campaigns are a core concern for current democratic societies. Whereas most academic interventions have focused on the epistemological and political implication, this paper provides an empirically informed analysis of the fake news controversies. Through an empirical analysis of the German fake news controversy, this paper advances two points: It first gives insights into how the fake news controversy unfolded in Germany. The article shows how multiple issues such as racism, social media and the geopolitical threat of Russia were bound together. Second, on a conceptual level, this article argues for analysing security controversies as a valuable tool to understand new security anxieties. In the context of fake news, studying the controversy reveals how anxieties concerning fake news are produced and reinforced by linking them through a multiplicity of issues. (In)security emerges in controversies where threats in and through new media are linked with the problem of fake news. As a result, 'fake news' becomes part of the broader security landscape of contemporary societies.
Crypto-Politics.Encryption and Democratic Practices in the Digital Era, 2020
This book examines current debates about the politics of technology and the future of democratic ... more This book examines current debates about the politics of technology and the future of democratic practices in the digital era.
The volume centres on the debates on digital encryption in Germany and the USA, during the aftermath of Edward Snowden’s leaks, which revolved around the value of privacy and the legitimacy of surveillance practices. Using a discourse analysis of mass media and specialist debates, it shows how these are closely interlinked with technological controversies and how, as a result, contestation emerges not within one public sphere but within multiple expert circles. The book develops the notion of ‘publicness’ in order to grasp the political significance of these controversies, thereby making an innovative contribution to Critical Security Studies by introducing digital encryption as an important site for understanding the broader debates on cyber security and surveillance.
The terms 'fake news' and 'alternative facts' have lost their shock value in today's public disco... more The terms 'fake news' and 'alternative facts' have lost their shock value in today's public discourse and seem to have become part of our normal political vocabulary. Fake news, mis-and disinformation are not a problem of a particular country but are found in politics around the world. In this paper, I look at how disinformation appears as a problem for democracy. Empirically, this paper explores dominant patterns of argumentation with a focus on the US, Germany and Czechia. I discuss the themes of media literacy, hybrid warfare and the emergence of fringe media. This paper argues that more attention needs to be paid to the affectual dimension of why people share fake news. Even though there is no easy solution for dealing with fake news, a first step is to stop denouncing people for believing in fake news and putting all our hope in media literacy.
This article contributes to the emerging literature on publics within critical security studies. ... more This article contributes to the emerging literature on publics within critical security studies. Its particular focus is on contestation in the context of diffuse security technology. Contemporary security practices are characterized by diffusion and dispersion. As a result, contestation of security technology is also dispersed and diffuse and requires an account of publics that is sensitive to this aspect. The article conceptualizes 'multiple publics' as a mode of fundamental contestation of established political institutions. In order to do so, it discusses previous approaches to sociotechnical controversies and material participation. As a result of this discussion, it becomes apparent that we need a concept of publics that does not reduce political contestation to a pre-existing set of institutions. I develop a notion of publicness that emphasizes the way in which publics are embedded in societal struggles. This is achieved by reading John Dewey as a theorist to whom contestation is a vital part of democracy. It becomes possible to understand contestation against diffuse security practices-such as surveillance-as forms of emerging publics, even though they might not feed back into governmental decisionmaking.
A war against truth’ - understanding the fake news controversy, 2020
Fake News, dis-and misinformation campaigns are a core concern for current democratic societies. ... more Fake News, dis-and misinformation campaigns are a core concern for current democratic societies. Whereas most academic interventions have focused on the epistemological and political implication, this paper provides an empirically informed analysis of the fake news controversies. Through an empirical analysis of the German fake news controversy, this paper advances two points: It first gives insights into how the fake news controversy unfolded in Germany. The article shows how multiple issues such as racism, social media and the geopolitical threat of Russia were bound together. Second, on a conceptual level, this article argues for analysing security controversies as a valuable tool to understand new security anxieties. In the context of fake news, studying the controversy reveals how anxieties concerning fake news are produced and reinforced by linking them through a multiplicity of issues. (In)security emerges in controversies where threats in and through new media are linked with the problem of fake news. As a result, 'fake news' becomes part of the broader security landscape of contemporary societies.
Crypto-Politics.Encryption and Democratic Practices in the Digital Era, 2020
This book examines current debates about the politics of technology and the future of democratic ... more This book examines current debates about the politics of technology and the future of democratic practices in the digital era.
The volume centres on the debates on digital encryption in Germany and the USA, during the aftermath of Edward Snowden’s leaks, which revolved around the value of privacy and the legitimacy of surveillance practices. Using a discourse analysis of mass media and specialist debates, it shows how these are closely interlinked with technological controversies and how, as a result, contestation emerges not within one public sphere but within multiple expert circles. The book develops the notion of ‘publicness’ in order to grasp the political significance of these controversies, thereby making an innovative contribution to Critical Security Studies by introducing digital encryption as an important site for understanding the broader debates on cyber security and surveillance.
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Papers by Linda Monsees
Books by Linda Monsees
The volume centres on the debates on digital encryption in Germany and the USA, during the aftermath of Edward Snowden’s leaks, which revolved around the value of privacy and the legitimacy of surveillance practices. Using a discourse analysis of mass media and specialist debates, it shows how these are closely interlinked with technological controversies and how, as a result, contestation emerges not within one public sphere but within multiple expert circles. The book develops the notion of ‘publicness’ in order to grasp the political significance of these controversies, thereby making an innovative contribution to Critical Security Studies by introducing digital encryption as an important site for understanding the broader debates on cyber security and surveillance.
The volume centres on the debates on digital encryption in Germany and the USA, during the aftermath of Edward Snowden’s leaks, which revolved around the value of privacy and the legitimacy of surveillance practices. Using a discourse analysis of mass media and specialist debates, it shows how these are closely interlinked with technological controversies and how, as a result, contestation emerges not within one public sphere but within multiple expert circles. The book develops the notion of ‘publicness’ in order to grasp the political significance of these controversies, thereby making an innovative contribution to Critical Security Studies by introducing digital encryption as an important site for understanding the broader debates on cyber security and surveillance.