1st Edition
Influencers, Online Alliances and Reconciliation in Southeast Europe #Balkans
This book explores the transformative role of social media in fostering reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia, a region still grappling with unresolved conflicts and ethnic divides. Focusing on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, it highlights how Balkan influencers blend personal storytelling with commercial outreach to promote interethnic understanding. The study employs digital ethnography and narrative analysis to reveal the intricate dynamics between human actors and algorithms, uncovering how social media facilitates grassroots reconciliation initiatives.
The author critiques traditional reconciliation efforts driven by political elites and emphasizes the potential of bottom-up approaches enabled by social media. It presents the concept of "algorithmic reconciliation," where social media algorithms inadvertently foster interethnic collaborations and create transnational online communities. By examining the economic and cultural practices of influencers, the book illustrates how digital platforms can serve as modern arenas for peacebuilding.
This book is primarily aimed at undergraduates and postgraduates in social history, digital media studies, and peace studies, but will also be relevant to academics, policymakers, and anyone interested in the intersection of technology and social change.
Introduction 1. From Transitional Justice to Hashtag Strategies: Reconciliation Projects in Former Yugoslavia and Beyond 2. Transnationalism and Influencer Marketing as Informal Reconciliation 3. #Balkan: A Topological, Cultural, and Algorithmic Signifier 4. Exploring the Commodification of Balkan Stereotypes and Identity Reconstruction on YouTube and TikTok 5. Precarious Play Labour: Self-Commodification Strategies of Balkan Influencers 6. It’s Complicated: The Relationship of Balkan Influencers with Platform Algorithms 7. The Quiet Peacebuilders: Hidden Reconciliation Practices on Social Media 8. Policy Recommendations 9. Conclusion
Biography
Ivana Stepanovic is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies Kőszeg in Hungary since February 2021. She has previously served as a Research Fellow at the Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research in Serbia from February 2014 to December 2022.
"This is an original and innovative book. It explores how influencers, through their online activism and new technologies, potentially promote reconciliation in the Balkans. By referring to a still unusual amount of sources, the author broadens the public sphere analysis to an "algorithmic citizenship", targeting platform communities and paving the way for further investigations about suggested, stimulating strategies of new networks of tools and narratives." - Stefano Bianchini, University of Bologna, Italy
