Maria Bakardjieva
Biographic Data
| ID | 304696 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Maria Bakardjieva |
| GIVEN NAMES | Maria |
| FAMILY NAME | Bakardjieva |
| SIGNATURE | BAKARDJIEVA M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Calgary |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 28 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 108 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 28 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1992 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
On Communicative Rationality with Passion
This paper reflects on the reception and application of Habermas’ concept of the public sphere in media and communication studies at various points in recent history. It argues that it is urgent to focus the scholarly community’s intellectual efforts not on decrying the utopian nature of the concept, but on salvaging and honing its normative edge. Its central philosophical kernel, rational-critical debate, and its connection to concepts such as c…
Politics vs. Antipolitics in the Mediatised Public Sphere
This article offers a review of influential theoretical positions endeavouring to conceptualise the conditions and mechanisms through which civil society can become productively involved in the articulation of public opinion and contribute its voice to political decision-making. It focuses specifically on the contested relationship between civil and political society and the specifics of the discourses they produce in the political public sphere.…
In Memoriam
The other civil society
The goal of the small-scale exploratory study presented in this article is to examine the digital mediation of grassroots processes unfolding within Bulgarian civil society that contribute to the strengthening of the social base and cultural influence of illiberal ideologies and citizen organisations. While ample attention has been paid to the utility of digital media in progressive movements and mobilizations, much less is known about their use …
“Say It Loud, Say It Clear…”
The Canadian Refugees Welcome Movement (2015-2016) was one of the most sizeable, visible, and effective instances of collective action in recent Canadian history. It had a nationwide scope and grassroots initiation. It comprised a wide variety of participants and actively employed social media in its constitution. This article reports the results of a multimethod case study that seeks to explain how collective action frames emerged in the context…
The mediatization of leadership
Scholars of both resource mobilization theory and new social movement theory recognize leadership as integral to traditional social movements. Following global protest movements of 2011, some now characterize movements relying on social media as horizontal and leaderless. Whether due to an organizational shift to networks over bureaucracies or due to a change in values, many social movements in the present protest cycle do not designate visible l…
Framing the Pipeline Problem
Background This article responds to the need for additional research into the role that social media play in the debate on energy transition in Canada.Analysis Based on a qualitative case study of the most recent protests against the Kinder Morgan pipeline project, this article raises questions concerning the strengths and weaknesses of the contemporary communication opportunity structure for “claimsmaking” (as Joel Best defines it in Social Prob…
Framing the Pipeline Problem
Background This article responds to the need for additional research into the role that social media play in the debate on energy transition in Canada. Analysis Based on a qualitative case study of the most recent protests against the Kinder Morgan pipeline project, this article raises questions concerning the strengths and weaknesses of the contemporary communication opportunity structure for “claimsmaking” (as Joel Best defines it in Social Pro…
The personalization of engagement
This article explores the symbolic construction of civic engagement mediated by social media in Canadian newspapers. The integration of social media in politics has created a discursive opening for reimagining engagement, partly as a result of enthusiastic accounts of the impact of digital technologies upon democracy. By means of a qualitative content analysis of Canadian newspaper articles between 2005 and 2014, we identify several discursive ar…
Critical approaches to communication technology – the past five years
Critical approaches to information and communication technology have seen five very busy years as the central trends of ‘communicative capitalism’ have consolidated and taken distinct shapes hand in hand with the proliferation of social media. This article offers an overview of some of the key developments that have preoccupied the attention of critical scholars over that period. With some inevitable gloss-over and reduction of complexity and nua…
Computer‐Mediated Communication
Computer‐mediated communication (CMC) refers to a wide variety of communication processes that involve individuals or groups and are realized through computer technologies. As an object of study in the social and human sciences, it lies at the intersection of two academic fields with different intellectual traditions—the study of technology and society, and the study of communication and media. This entry traces the evolution of three distinct pa…
Do clouds have politics? Collective actors in social media land
This commentary reviews some of the central theoretical concepts and contentions that represent the intellectual scaffold of this special issue. It looks closely at the notions of collective identity and collective action as they figure in the work of Alberto Melucci. It then critically assesses the argument that these notions should give way to a new model emphasizing how social media connect the actions undertaken by independent individuals. Th…
Rationalizing Sociality
This article takes the concept and some of the existing applications of socialbots—software robots that operate on social networking sites and present themselves as human users—as an occasion to trace the evolution of online sociality. The argument mobilizes theories of social rationalization from Max Weber to contemporary critical theory to demonstrate that the appearance of automated profiles (socialbots) on social networking platforms can be s…
Web 2.0 Technologies of the Self
Dedication
At age
Mundane Citizenship
This essay examines the new forms of civic and political engagement that the increasing accessibility of internet-based media has precipitated in the Bulgarian context. It discusses the results of three case studies which focus respectively on online forum discussions of a significant political event; a campaign of eco-protests; and the activism emerging from a website and forum dedicated to motherhood. The essay argues that new media have brough…
Reconfiguring the mediapolis
The summer of 2007 marked the growing visibility of blogs and bloggers in the Bulgarian public sphere. A case in point was a spontaneous civic protest spurred by a decision of the Supreme Administrative Court to strip a territory in the south-east of Bulgaria (Strandja Mountain) of its status as a protected natural reserve. Young people and environmentalist groups went out in the streets to challenge the decision, their actions being organized an…
New Editor Introduction
It is both a great privilege and a great responsibility to be taking on the editorship of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication at a time when computer-mediated communication has officially taken over the world.What started as an odd experiment confined within laboratory walls has permeated every sphere and every corner of society.I hardly need to remind this audience that since its inception in 1995, JCMC has established itself as one o…
Super Network on the Prairie
This paper focuses on the case of the SuperNet, an infrastructure project designed and sponsored by the provincial government of Alberta, Canada with the objective of providing broadband connectivity to public facilities, businesses and residences in rural communities. The data were collected through individual interviews, focus groups, and town hall meetings in the course of a collaborative research initiative (The SuperNet Research Alliance) th…
Subactivism
The potential of the Internet to enhance civic participation has been examined in numerous theoretical and empirical studies. This article concentrates specifically on the role the medium plays in affording and supporting new forms of making sense of public issues and getting involved in civic activities that evolve at the level of everyday life. Characteristically, these forms do not square neatly with elevated notions of political and civic par…
Internet Society
Maria Bakardjieva investigates Internet use and its implications for society through insights into the daily experiences of ordinary users. She also examines how people interpret domesticate and creatively appropriate the Internet
Virtual Community
Virtual togetherness
Virtual Togetherness
This article examines the place and value of online relationships and interactions in Internet users' everyday lives. The analysis is based on an in-depth study of the practices of 21 domestic users of the Internet in Vancouver, Canada, focusing on their engagement with electronic forums. The main questions are: Why do users participate in these forums? What does it mean to them? How does it reflect on the public understanding of the Internet? Th…
Community Technology and Democratic Rationalization
The objective of this paper is to explore questions of human agency and democratic process in the technical sphere through the example of "virtual community." The formation of relatively stable long-term group associations--community in the broad sense of the term--is the scene on which a large share of human development occurs. As such it is a fundamental human value mobilizing diverse ideologies and sensitivities. The promise of realizing this …
Virtual Togetherness
This article examines the place and value of online relationships and interactions in Internet users' everyday lives. The analysis is based on an in-depth study of the practices of 21 domestic users of the Internet in Vancouver, Canada, focusing on their engagement with electronic forums. The main questions are: Why do users participate in these forums? What does it mean to them? How does it reflect on the public understanding of the Internet? Th…
The Internet in Everyday Life
This article reports the findings of an ethnographic study of internet use conducted in Vancouver, Canada. Our goal was to examine how non-professional users interpret, `domesticate' (Silverstone, 1994) and creatively appropriate (Feenberg, 1999) the internet in order to integrate it into the relevance structures and activities of their everyday lives. We identify new cultural practices emerging on this basis and reflect on what these practices m…
Subactivism
The potential of the Internet to enhance civic participation has been examined in numerous theoretical and empirical studies. This article concentrates specifically on the role the medium plays in affording and supporting new forms of making sense of public issues and getting involved in civic activities that evolve at the level of everyday life. Characteristically, these forms do not square neatly with elevated notions of political and civic par…
Virtual Community
Rationalizing Sociality
This article takes the concept and some of the existing applications of socialbots—software robots that operate on social networking sites and present themselves as human users—as an occasion to trace the evolution of online sociality. The argument mobilizes theories of social rationalization from Max Weber to contemporary critical theory to demonstrate that the appearance of automated profiles (socialbots) on social networking platforms can be s…
Mundane Citizenship
This essay examines the new forms of civic and political engagement that the increasing accessibility of internet-based media has precipitated in the Bulgarian context. It discusses the results of three case studies which focus respectively on online forum discussions of a significant political event; a campaign of eco-protests; and the activism emerging from a website and forum dedicated to motherhood. The essay argues that new media have brough…
Community Technology and Democratic Rationalization
The objective of this paper is to explore questions of human agency and democratic process in the technical sphere through the example of "virtual community." The formation of relatively stable long-term group associations--community in the broad sense of the term--is the scene on which a large share of human development occurs. As such it is a fundamental human value mobilizing diverse ideologies and sensitivities. The promise of realizing this …
Reconfiguring the mediapolis
The summer of 2007 marked the growing visibility of blogs and bloggers in the Bulgarian public sphere. A case in point was a spontaneous civic protest spurred by a decision of the Supreme Administrative Court to strip a territory in the south-east of Bulgaria (Strandja Mountain) of its status as a protected natural reserve. Young people and environmentalist groups went out in the streets to challenge the decision, their actions being organized an…
The personalization of engagement
This article explores the symbolic construction of civic engagement mediated by social media in Canadian newspapers. The integration of social media in politics has created a discursive opening for reimagining engagement, partly as a result of enthusiastic accounts of the impact of digital technologies upon democracy. By means of a qualitative content analysis of Canadian newspaper articles between 2005 and 2014, we identify several discursive ar…
Home Satellite TV Reception in Bulgaria
This article examines recent changes in the media situation in Bulgaria, particularly in the field of television supply and consumption. It focuses on the problem of how changed social conditions have influenced the adoption of home satellite TV reception equipment. The growing pluralization of Bulgarian society and the increasing differentiation of personal information and entertainment needs are indicated as major prerequisites for the diffusio…
Critical approaches to communication technology – the past five years
Critical approaches to information and communication technology have seen five very busy years as the central trends of ‘communicative capitalism’ have consolidated and taken distinct shapes hand in hand with the proliferation of social media. This article offers an overview of some of the key developments that have preoccupied the attention of critical scholars over that period. With some inevitable gloss-over and reduction of complexity and nua…
Home Satellite TV Reception in Bulgaria
This article examines recent changes in the media situation in Bulgaria, particularly in the field of television supply and consumption. It focuses on the problem of how changed social conditions have influenced the adoption of home satellite TV reception equipment. The growing pluralization of Bulgarian society and the increasing differentiation of personal information and entertainment needs are indicated as major prerequisites for the diffusio…
The New Media Landscape in Bulgaria
This article situates the dynamics of the mass media transformations in post-totalitarian Bulgaria in the context of the political and economic conditions specific to the country. After an initial period of proliferation of numerous party and independent publications, the highly liberalized press market has entered a process of concentration. The political parties represented in parliament have established themselves as the only decision-making a…
The Internet in Everyday Life
This article reports the findings of an ethnographic study of internet use conducted in Vancouver, Canada. Our goal was to examine how non-professional users interpret, `domesticate' (Silverstone, 1994) and creatively appropriate (Feenberg, 1999) the internet in order to integrate it into the relevance structures and activities of their everyday lives. We identify new cultural practices emerging on this basis and reflect on what these practices m…
Community Technology and Democratic Rationalization
The objective of this paper is to explore questions of human agency and democratic process in the technical sphere through the example of "virtual community." The formation of relatively stable long-term group associations--community in the broad sense of the term--is the scene on which a large share of human development occurs. As such it is a fundamental human value mobilizing diverse ideologies and sensitivities. The promise of realizing this …
Virtual togetherness
Virtual Togetherness
This article examines the place and value of online relationships and interactions in Internet users' everyday lives. The analysis is based on an in-depth study of the practices of 21 domestic users of the Internet in Vancouver, Canada, focusing on their engagement with electronic forums. The main questions are: Why do users participate in these forums? What does it mean to them? How does it reflect on the public understanding of the Internet? Th…
Virtual Community
Internet Society
Maria Bakardjieva investigates Internet use and its implications for society through insights into the daily experiences of ordinary users. She also examines how people interpret domesticate and creatively appropriate the Internet
Subactivism
The potential of the Internet to enhance civic participation has been examined in numerous theoretical and empirical studies. This article concentrates specifically on the role the medium plays in affording and supporting new forms of making sense of public issues and getting involved in civic activities that evolve at the level of everyday life. Characteristically, these forms do not square neatly with elevated notions of political and civic par…
Super Network on the Prairie
This paper focuses on the case of the SuperNet, an infrastructure project designed and sponsored by the provincial government of Alberta, Canada with the objective of providing broadband connectivity to public facilities, businesses and residences in rural communities. The data were collected through individual interviews, focus groups, and town hall meetings in the course of a collaborative research initiative (The SuperNet Research Alliance) th…
Reconfiguring the mediapolis
The summer of 2007 marked the growing visibility of blogs and bloggers in the Bulgarian public sphere. A case in point was a spontaneous civic protest spurred by a decision of the Supreme Administrative Court to strip a territory in the south-east of Bulgaria (Strandja Mountain) of its status as a protected natural reserve. Young people and environmentalist groups went out in the streets to challenge the decision, their actions being organized an…
New Editor Introduction
It is both a great privilege and a great responsibility to be taking on the editorship of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication at a time when computer-mediated communication has officially taken over the world.What started as an odd experiment confined within laboratory walls has permeated every sphere and every corner of society.I hardly need to remind this audience that since its inception in 1995, JCMC has established itself as one o…
Web 2.0 Technologies of the Self
Dedication
At age
Mundane Citizenship
This essay examines the new forms of civic and political engagement that the increasing accessibility of internet-based media has precipitated in the Bulgarian context. It discusses the results of three case studies which focus respectively on online forum discussions of a significant political event; a campaign of eco-protests; and the activism emerging from a website and forum dedicated to motherhood. The essay argues that new media have brough…
Do clouds have politics? Collective actors in social media land
This commentary reviews some of the central theoretical concepts and contentions that represent the intellectual scaffold of this special issue. It looks closely at the notions of collective identity and collective action as they figure in the work of Alberto Melucci. It then critically assesses the argument that these notions should give way to a new model emphasizing how social media connect the actions undertaken by independent individuals. Th…
Rationalizing Sociality
This article takes the concept and some of the existing applications of socialbots—software robots that operate on social networking sites and present themselves as human users—as an occasion to trace the evolution of online sociality. The argument mobilizes theories of social rationalization from Max Weber to contemporary critical theory to demonstrate that the appearance of automated profiles (socialbots) on social networking platforms can be s…
Computer‐Mediated Communication
Computer‐mediated communication (CMC) refers to a wide variety of communication processes that involve individuals or groups and are realized through computer technologies. As an object of study in the social and human sciences, it lies at the intersection of two academic fields with different intellectual traditions—the study of technology and society, and the study of communication and media. This entry traces the evolution of three distinct pa…
Critical approaches to communication technology – the past five years
Critical approaches to information and communication technology have seen five very busy years as the central trends of ‘communicative capitalism’ have consolidated and taken distinct shapes hand in hand with the proliferation of social media. This article offers an overview of some of the key developments that have preoccupied the attention of critical scholars over that period. With some inevitable gloss-over and reduction of complexity and nua…
The mediatization of leadership
Scholars of both resource mobilization theory and new social movement theory recognize leadership as integral to traditional social movements. Following global protest movements of 2011, some now characterize movements relying on social media as horizontal and leaderless. Whether due to an organizational shift to networks over bureaucracies or due to a change in values, many social movements in the present protest cycle do not designate visible l…
Framing the Pipeline Problem
Background This article responds to the need for additional research into the role that social media play in the debate on energy transition in Canada.Analysis Based on a qualitative case study of the most recent protests against the Kinder Morgan pipeline project, this article raises questions concerning the strengths and weaknesses of the contemporary communication opportunity structure for “claimsmaking” (as Joel Best defines it in Social Prob…
Framing the Pipeline Problem
Background This article responds to the need for additional research into the role that social media play in the debate on energy transition in Canada. Analysis Based on a qualitative case study of the most recent protests against the Kinder Morgan pipeline project, this article raises questions concerning the strengths and weaknesses of the contemporary communication opportunity structure for “claimsmaking” (as Joel Best defines it in Social Pro…
The personalization of engagement
This article explores the symbolic construction of civic engagement mediated by social media in Canadian newspapers. The integration of social media in politics has created a discursive opening for reimagining engagement, partly as a result of enthusiastic accounts of the impact of digital technologies upon democracy. By means of a qualitative content analysis of Canadian newspaper articles between 2005 and 2014, we identify several discursive ar…
“Say It Loud, Say It Clear…”
The Canadian Refugees Welcome Movement (2015-2016) was one of the most sizeable, visible, and effective instances of collective action in recent Canadian history. It had a nationwide scope and grassroots initiation. It comprised a wide variety of participants and actively employed social media in its constitution. This article reports the results of a multimethod case study that seeks to explain how collective action frames emerged in the context…
Politics vs. Antipolitics in the Mediatised Public Sphere
This article offers a review of influential theoretical positions endeavouring to conceptualise the conditions and mechanisms through which civil society can become productively involved in the articulation of public opinion and contribute its voice to political decision-making. It focuses specifically on the contested relationship between civil and political society and the specifics of the discourses they produce in the political public sphere.…
Sociology (23 works) · Political science (19 works) · Social Media and Politics (19 works) · Law (14 works) · Politics (12 works) · Computer Science (11 works) · Media studies (11 works) · Law (8 works) · Media Studies and Communication (8 works) · Psychology (8 works)