Laura Gianna Guntrum

What impact does technology have on con­flicts, processes of violence and their trans­formation?

Information and communication techno­logies (ICT), particularly social media such as Twitter, Facebook or messenger services like Telegram, play an in­creasingly important role in political crises and con­flicts. Especially since the Arab Spring in 2011, ICTs have been used by various actors to organize for protests, share war pro­paganda, spread dis­information, or generate attention. In my research, I empirically investi­gate how ICTs are used in political crises. I am in­terested in both risks and potentials. I plan to ex­plore the relationship between trans­formation processes and technical applications in more de­tail and find out to what extent ICTs have an impact on the trans­formation of political violence.

Research Area Forms: 1.2 New Forms of Polital Violence and Technological Change