Higher Seminar in Statecraft and Strategic Communication | Emma Rönngren
Abstract
Latvia’s Russian-speaking minority is often seen as vulnerable to Russian information influence. Young Russian speakers have, until recently, not received much attention from scholars and analysts. The difference in the views of different generations in Latvia is, in principle, little studied, and as for the Russian-speaking youth, practically nothing is known about them. They are often involuntarily politicized, instrumentalized and securitized by their home country and Russia. Since 24 February 2022, several Russian media outlets have been banned in Latvia, and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has accelerated various changes in Latvian society. What media do young Russian speakers in Latvia use? How do they decide what to think and what to believe? How do they experience being a young Russian speaker in Latvia? This seminar presents work in progress from a PhD research project on the reception of Russia’s strategic narratives among Russophone youth in Latvia. Combining focus groups, individual interviews and document analysis, this study seeks to identify strategic narratives and analyze their reception among a target audience.
Bio
Emma Rönngren is a PhD Candidate in Media and Communication at the Department of Informatics and Media (IM) and the Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies (IRES). Her research project explores the reception of Russia’s strategic narratives among young Russian speakers in Latvia from a media perspective. The doctoral project is set to finish in 2024. Emma is editorial assistant of the Journal of Baltic Studies and has been a guest researcher at the University of Latvia and Glasgow University.