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The Meme’s-Eye View of Strategic Communication : A Case Study of Social Movements from a Memetic Perspective

Seiffert-Brockmann, Jens ; Wiggins, Bradley and Nothhaft, Howard LU (2023) In International Journal of Strategic Communication 17(3). p.245-265
Abstract

The article argues that a memetic approach, or meme’s-eye view, could help bring together the strategic management view and the CCO-school. ‘Memes’ are understood as a second-order concept, i.e., as a reference to ‘memory traces’ in people’s minds and anchor-point of joint or collective intentionality. This view, it is argued, permits the conceptualization of communication as a resource. To illustrate, two cases are analyzed: 1) the Montagsdemos in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) with its core meme Wir sind das Volk (We are the people); 2) the so-called ‘Satanic Panic’ and the QAnon movement with its ‘Save the Children'-meme’. The analysis illustrates how memes endure and resurface in new and different environments. In... (More)

The article argues that a memetic approach, or meme’s-eye view, could help bring together the strategic management view and the CCO-school. ‘Memes’ are understood as a second-order concept, i.e., as a reference to ‘memory traces’ in people’s minds and anchor-point of joint or collective intentionality. This view, it is argued, permits the conceptualization of communication as a resource. To illustrate, two cases are analyzed: 1) the Montagsdemos in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) with its core meme Wir sind das Volk (We are the people); 2) the so-called ‘Satanic Panic’ and the QAnon movement with its ‘Save the Children'-meme’. The analysis illustrates how memes endure and resurface in new and different environments. In conclusion, the article proposes that the shift to memetic population dynamics allows strategic communication-researchers to reformulate often unanswerable questions (“What does the strategic actor want?”) into more operationalizable ones (“What memes are launched? How are they constructed?”).

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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
International Journal of Strategic Communication
volume
17
issue
3
pages
21 pages
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • scopus:85174524121
ISSN
1553-118X
DOI
10.1080/1553118X.2023.2234348
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
5a87b1ea-9741-4d21-9a05-423fd7cfe0f8
date added to LUP
2024-01-12 13:19:42
date last changed
2024-01-12 13:19:42
@article{5a87b1ea-9741-4d21-9a05-423fd7cfe0f8,
  abstract     = {{<p>The article argues that a memetic approach, or meme’s-eye view, could help bring together the strategic management view and the CCO-school. ‘Memes’ are understood as a second-order concept, i.e., as a reference to ‘memory traces’ in people’s minds and anchor-point of joint or collective intentionality. This view, it is argued, permits the conceptualization of communication as a resource. To illustrate, two cases are analyzed: 1) the Montagsdemos in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) with its core meme Wir sind das Volk (We are the people); 2) the so-called ‘Satanic Panic’ and the QAnon movement with its ‘Save the Children'-meme’. The analysis illustrates how memes endure and resurface in new and different environments. In conclusion, the article proposes that the shift to memetic population dynamics allows strategic communication-researchers to reformulate often unanswerable questions (“What does the strategic actor want?”) into more operationalizable ones (“What memes are launched? How are they constructed?”).</p>}},
  author       = {{Seiffert-Brockmann, Jens and Wiggins, Bradley and Nothhaft, Howard}},
  issn         = {{1553-118X}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{245--265}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Strategic Communication}},
  title        = {{The Meme’s-Eye View of Strategic Communication : A Case Study of Social Movements from a Memetic Perspective}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1553118X.2023.2234348}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/1553118X.2023.2234348}},
  volume       = {{17}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}