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MERGE- Media, religion, and gender: transnational digital media actions of progressive and conservative social movements

Project description

Exploring gender equality in transnational Catholic social media

Within Catholicism, there are different approaches to gender equality, ranging from conservative to progressive perspectives. Both factions extensively use social media platforms to disseminate their views. In this context, the MSCA-funded MERGE project aims to investigate how conservative and progressive Catholic-inspired social movements employ social media platforms to engage in transnational discussions on gender-related issues. The project will focus on conservative Catholic anti-gender movements that oppose LGBTQ+ rights and feminism, as well as progressive movements within the Catholic Church in Europe and North America that advocate for the inclusion of women and LGBTQ+ individuals. MERGE seeks to advance our understanding of the ways in which Catholic activism unfolds on social media in relation to gender-related topics.

Objective

The project explores how conservative and progressive Catholic-inspired social movements employ social media transnationally to discuss
gender. It is original, first, in analyzing the heterogeneity of Catholicism in supporting or opposing gender equality; second, in focusing on relevant social issues such as reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ rights; third, in exploring social media use within transnational Catholic activism, often overlooked by existing literature. The fellow will focus on two case studies: 1) Conservative Catholic anti-gender movements that oppose LGBTQ+ rights and feminism 2) Progressive movements within the Catholic Church that advocate for the inclusion of women and LGBTQ+ people. The cases are based on the European and North American context. Hence, the fellow will work in the following institutions: for the outgoing phase, the University of Colorado, U.S. under the supervision of Professor Stewart Hoover, who leads a world-renown center for the study of religion and media, and is an expert in gender; for the return phase, the University of Bologna, Italy, under the supervision of Professor Alice Mattoni, who has expertise in transnational social movements and digital media, research ethics, and grant writing. In the two institutions, the fellow will acquire the skills to address these objectives: 1) Explore transnational social media narratives of Catholic movements through big data analysis, a skill acquired in training in both host institutions 2) Compare the online discourses of progressive and conservative Catholic groups through qualitative analysis, helped by the supervisor’s expertise in software for textual analysis 3) Research Catholic actors’ online and offline strategies through interviews and participant observation, a method honed during a secondment at the University of Pittsburgh. The project will produce results useful for the scientific and social understanding of social media use, contemporary religion, and gender equality

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01

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Coordinator

ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - UNIVERSITA DI BOLOGNA
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 288 859,20
Address
VIA ZAMBONI 33
40126 Bologna
Italy

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Region
Nord-Est Emilia-Romagna Bologna
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data

Partners (3)

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