Paderborn University’s INNOVADE research team (Prof Christian Fuchs, Joel Museba, Kevin Friesch) organised a panel at the 2026 conference of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR). The panel title was “Participatory Democracy and Participatory Fascism in the Age of Digital Capitalism”. The focus was on the role of participation in digital democracy and digital authoritarianism. The three researchers were joined…

What does democratic participation mean in the digital age? This question is explored by Christian Fuchs, Kevin Friesch, and Joel Museba from Paderborn University in their new open-access publication “What is participatory digital democracy?”. The article is an outcome of the Horizon Europe research project INNOVADE. The publication examines the opportunities, challenges, and current developments of digital participation, offering new…

In their latest publication, Christian Fuchs, Joel Museba and Kevin Friesch explore possible futures of digital democracy and society by 2050. As complex societies are inherently unpredictable, the study combines scenario methodology, STEEP analysis (social, technological, economic, ecological, and political factors), and elements of realist science fiction. Based on two dimensions—democracy vs. authoritarianism and representation vs.…

As part of the EU project INNOVADE – Democracy through Digitalisation, the Paderborn University research team will present the results of the “Future of Digital Democracy” (FDDS) survey. The webinar focuses on the following questions: What should the digital society of the future look like? How can digital democracy be strengthened and digital authoritarianism be weakened? What digital futures do we (not) want? In addition to insights into…

A recent publication by Christian Fuchs shows how democracy can be rethought in the digital age. The study expands on James S. Fishkin’s typology of models of democracy. The focus is particularly on digital democracy. A distinction is made between six dimensions of digital democracy: constitutional, representative, direct, pluralist, deliberative, and participatory digital democracy. At the same time, the study makes clear that these…

The Routledge Companion to Critical Marketing brings together the latest research findings from Critical Marketing Studies. This second edition includes new research on digital technologies including AI, social media, consumer data protection, and power relation as well as on sustainability and degrowth from the perspective of critical Marketing studies. Christian Fuchs’s chapter analyzes the significance of social media and big data from a…

Christian Fuchs has published an extended research article on the topic of “Digital Fascism and Digital Capitalism” in the critical theory and political philosophy journal Philosophy and Social Criticism.

The recently published ORF report “Cut to the Bone? Cost-Cutting in the Media World – What’s at Stake” examines the extent to which the media landscape is currently changing. While large tech companies are becoming increasingly powerful, public media are coming under growing pressure. But what does this mean for all of us—for information, diversity of opinion, and our democracy? With contributions from 18 European media experts (including…

The INNOVADE project has released a prototype of a new tool for measuring digital democracy: the Digital Democracy Score (DDS). The DDS is available online in English as a web-based tool at: https://www.digital-democracy.net. The tool uses survey questions to calculate a series of digital democracy scores, visualises the results, and provides tailored recommendations. The DDS is designed as a support tool for anyone who uses or operates digital…

As part of the EU research project INNOVADE (http://innovade-democracy.eu) Christian Fuchs has published a new journal article titeled „What is and How Do We Achieve a Resilient Digital Democracy?“ The article asks how democracy can survive in a digital world full of crises, lies, hate, and growing authoritarianism. It says democratic resilience is not a magic system feature, but something people actively build by resisting attacks on democracy…

The EU research project INNOVADE (http://innovade-democracy.eu) has published a new research report with the title “Interdisciplinary Knowledge Base on Digital Democracy“. This report presents an interdisciplinary knowledge base on digital democracy. It discusses the state-of-the-art of a variety of research aspects and dimensions of digital democracy. It asks what digital democracy is, what digital media’s potentials and challenges for…

As part of the EU research project INNOVADE (http://innovade-democracy.eu), Christian Fuchs, Joel Museba and Kevin Friesch published a new research report titeled “The Futures of Digital Democracy”. The report outlines four potential futures or scenarios of digital democracy. These scenarios illustrate how digitalisation could impact society and democratic governance. The method is storytelling, namely the construction of four realist science…

Christian Fuchs. 2025. The Question of Methodology in Critical Political Economy of Communication and the Media. Journal of Communication Inquiry, Online First, https://doi.org/10.1177/01968599251405272 Critical political economy of communication and the media (CPECM) is an approach and field of study that critically analyzes how the interaction of politics and the economy in society shapes and is shaped by (mediated) communication. This study…

Leider entfällt der für den 11.11.2025 geplante Vortrag Sibylle Bergs mit dem Titel "PNR: La Bella Vita" im Rahmen der RIngvorlesung "Wis­sen, Wir­ken, Wer­den - Ra­di­ka­le Fra­gen an Wis­sen­schaft, Kunst und Tech­nik". Die Vorlesungsreihe geht am 02.12.2025 mit Isabell Hermanns Vortrag "Die Anti-Dystopie als Widerstand gegen negative Zukünfte" weiter.