Visual Diplomacy in Virtual Summitry : Status Signalling During the Coronavirus Crisis
(2021) In Review of International Studies 48(2). p.243-261- Abstract
- On March 26, 2020, the leaders of the Group of 20 major economies (G20) convened in an emergency virtual meeting to discuss the extraordinary situation facing the world. Virtual summitry provided a stark visual contrast to the traditional staging of modern multilateral diplomacy―leaders were suddenly responsible for their own staging, leaving them with new opportunities to create a favourable impression of how they, and their respective state, would be seen. Taking the disruption of virtual summitry as a starting point, we focus on the resulting new opportunities for visual diplomacy. We draw on the symbolic interactionism of Erving Goffman and we argue that status signalling in this context was based on a shared understanding of the... (More)
- On March 26, 2020, the leaders of the Group of 20 major economies (G20) convened in an emergency virtual meeting to discuss the extraordinary situation facing the world. Virtual summitry provided a stark visual contrast to the traditional staging of modern multilateral diplomacy―leaders were suddenly responsible for their own staging, leaving them with new opportunities to create a favourable impression of how they, and their respective state, would be seen. Taking the disruption of virtual summitry as a starting point, we focus on the resulting new opportunities for visual diplomacy. We draw on the symbolic interactionism of Erving Goffman and we argue that status signalling in this context was based on a shared understanding of the symbols and resources that have social value in the interaction order of summit diplomacy. Based on a visual analysis of 51 photographs from the G20 video conference, we find that the visual performances during the extraordinary meeting reflected evident, but not necessarily intentional, attempts at status seeking. The article thus contributes to an increased understanding of how visual performances contribute to uphold status distinctions in multilateral diplomacy. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/c3482475-a1ce-4156-8bda-bba569af63ab
- author
- Danielson, August and Hedling, Elsa LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021-11-12
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- summit diplomacy, status, signalling, visual politics, COVID -19
- in
- Review of International Studies
- volume
- 48
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 243 - 261
- publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85126082770
- ISSN
- 0260-2105
- DOI
- 10.1017/S0260210521000607
- project
- Digital Diplomacy in a Turbulent Global World
- Social Information and Hybrid Power: A Strategic Platform for Political Communication at Lund University
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- c3482475-a1ce-4156-8bda-bba569af63ab
- date added to LUP
- 2021-08-12 20:44:50
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 14:55:54
@article{c3482475-a1ce-4156-8bda-bba569af63ab,
abstract = {{On March 26, 2020, the leaders of the Group of 20 major economies (G20) convened in an emergency virtual meeting to discuss the extraordinary situation facing the world. Virtual summitry provided a stark visual contrast to the traditional staging of modern multilateral diplomacy―leaders were suddenly responsible for their own staging, leaving them with new opportunities to create a favourable impression of how they, and their respective state, would be seen. Taking the disruption of virtual summitry as a starting point, we focus on the resulting new opportunities for visual diplomacy. We draw on the symbolic interactionism of Erving Goffman and we argue that status signalling in this context was based on a shared understanding of the symbols and resources that have social value in the interaction order of summit diplomacy. Based on a visual analysis of 51 photographs from the G20 video conference, we find that the visual performances during the extraordinary meeting reflected evident, but not necessarily intentional, attempts at status seeking. The article thus contributes to an increased understanding of how visual performances contribute to uphold status distinctions in multilateral diplomacy.}},
author = {{Danielson, August and Hedling, Elsa}},
issn = {{0260-2105}},
keywords = {{summit diplomacy; status; signalling; visual politics; COVID -19}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{11}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{243--261}},
publisher = {{Cambridge University Press}},
series = {{Review of International Studies}},
title = {{Visual Diplomacy in Virtual Summitry : Status Signalling During the Coronavirus Crisis}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0260210521000607}},
doi = {{10.1017/S0260210521000607}},
volume = {{48}},
year = {{2021}},
}