Periodic Reporting for period 1 - POPAMLO (Constructing AMLO: Political Persona, Visual Media and Populism in Mexico)
Reporting period: 2024-02-01 to 2026-01-31
Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project
The rise of right-wing populist movements in Europe and beyond is of growing concern, particularly given their track record regarding human rights, media independence and mis/disinformation. This threatens the resilience, inclusivity and democracy of European societies. Though usually based on the central antagonism of the people and the elites, populism is not necessarily always harmful and does not innately pose a threat to liberal democracy. For instance left-wing movements tend to advocate for working and marginalised classes in the face of global capitalism. With this in mind, this project understands populism as a performative political style where populist actors perform across a growing range of media.
This central importance of media is crucial to understanding how populist performances operate. In this age of 24-hour news cycles and algorithmic feeds, populists are noted for their pioneering use of digital media to bypass traditional channels and connect with audiences. POPAMLO problematises this relationship using video-centric methods to explore how performances are visually articulated in digital media.
The study focuses on Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024) one of the most visible leaders of his time. Alongside his divisive rhetoric and trailblazing political career, López Obrador is known for the proliferation of his image. From cartoons and plush dolls to documentary features and daily televised press conferences, the leader is not just highly recognisable but connects directly with the Mexican people across media and formats.
POPAMLO applies political science theories on populist performance and style to López Obrador’s expansive visual archive. It uses a videographic approach, derived from digital humanities, where video editing software is used to interact with and interrogate video footage. The methodology functions as both experimental research method and publishable final output in the form of video essay. Through its innately visual approach, the project is able to foreground medium over content, eschewing the typical challenge of studying populist performance without being drawn into its rhetoric.
This project problematizes and exposes the articulation of populist performance. Its state-of-the-art methodology in turn aims to support improved education in media literacy, using easily familiar video materials and presentations methods to deconstruct modes of visual communication.
Despite the increasingly visual nature of this communication, there remains a lack of significant and wide-ranging studies into the relationship between populist performance and its visual representation. One reason for this is the paucity of interdisciplinary methodologies to grapple with these diverse media case studies (including but not limited to documentaries, television shows, televised political appearances, visual-first social media platforms – such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram – news imagery, memes, posters). Leading scholars within the field call for more creative, innovative and wider-reaching approaches to the study of the visual (Moffitt 2022; Melito & Zulianello, 2024).
This project takes up that call. With so much written on right-wing populists, this project asks what we can learn from left-wing populist media performance beyond the European context. Within that, it seeks to understand the role of visual media in articulating populist performances. Moving beyond questions of how the people and elites are represented, this study deconstructs the mechanisms of visual outputs attending to questions about production, quality, dissemination and reception.
This central importance of media is crucial to understanding how populist performances operate. In this age of 24-hour news cycles and algorithmic feeds, populists are noted for their pioneering use of digital media to bypass traditional channels and connect with audiences. POPAMLO problematises this relationship using video-centric methods to explore how performances are visually articulated in digital media.
The study focuses on Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024) one of the most visible leaders of his time. Alongside his divisive rhetoric and trailblazing political career, López Obrador is known for the proliferation of his image. From cartoons and plush dolls to documentary features and daily televised press conferences, the leader is not just highly recognisable but connects directly with the Mexican people across media and formats.
POPAMLO applies political science theories on populist performance and style to López Obrador’s expansive visual archive. It uses a videographic approach, derived from digital humanities, where video editing software is used to interact with and interrogate video footage. The methodology functions as both experimental research method and publishable final output in the form of video essay. Through its innately visual approach, the project is able to foreground medium over content, eschewing the typical challenge of studying populist performance without being drawn into its rhetoric.
This project problematizes and exposes the articulation of populist performance. Its state-of-the-art methodology in turn aims to support improved education in media literacy, using easily familiar video materials and presentations methods to deconstruct modes of visual communication.
Despite the increasingly visual nature of this communication, there remains a lack of significant and wide-ranging studies into the relationship between populist performance and its visual representation. One reason for this is the paucity of interdisciplinary methodologies to grapple with these diverse media case studies (including but not limited to documentaries, television shows, televised political appearances, visual-first social media platforms – such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram – news imagery, memes, posters). Leading scholars within the field call for more creative, innovative and wider-reaching approaches to the study of the visual (Moffitt 2022; Melito & Zulianello, 2024).
This project takes up that call. With so much written on right-wing populists, this project asks what we can learn from left-wing populist media performance beyond the European context. Within that, it seeks to understand the role of visual media in articulating populist performances. Moving beyond questions of how the people and elites are represented, this study deconstructs the mechanisms of visual outputs attending to questions about production, quality, dissemination and reception.
Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far
The main objective of the project was to to broaden understanding of populism and its global rise, particularly its use and leverage of digital media. Drawing on scholarship and training from Latin American scholars offered a more nuanced understanding of the phenomenon that decentralised the Eurocentric conflation of populism and the political right that exists at present.
By isolating visual examples of populist performance, specifically in the Mexican context, and applying digital visual methods of research and analysis, the project problematizes and exposes the increasingly mediated relationship between politician and viewer/citizen.
Phase 1: Literature Review
A thorough literature review of populist theory was conducted and extensive review of López Obrador’s visual archive was completed. This included documentary films, social media posts and hundreds of YouTube videos depicting live daily press conferences. Primary materials were selected for the study.
Although a secondment and digital humanities methodology training was planned at this phase world events and changes to data accessibility led to a shift in both host institution and timing.
In addition to providing a theoretical framework and informing all four research objectives, the purpose of this project is to bridge global approaches to the study of populism and the current rise of the right. By focusing on the Mexican case study, this project draws on Spanish-language research on populist studies and brings this to bear to English-speaking debate, while bringing into question blanket negative depictions of populism as right-wing.
Phase 2: Data Collation: Close textual analysis of all visual texts to identify how populist performance is articulated and to interrogate and theorise the relationship between visual culture and populist narratives. In addition to the documentary texts that capture López Obrador’s campaign, an indicative range of daily press conferences were examined to further determine the extent to which televisual representations provide a distinct rendering of populist leaders.
An appropriate secondment partner was identified allowing for further training in digital humanities methods, the strengthening of the researcher’s network and crossinstutional collaborations in the form of workshops and guest lectures. The fieldwork phase also included: the collection of archival materials and documentation such as editorials and relevant online data seen in the form of social media posts that offer direct and contemporaneous reactions to the visual outputs.
Phase 3: Data analysis: In keeping with the research objectives, the analysis brought together results from phases 1 and 2 to better understand populist performance and the role of the visual in sustaining populist narratives, as well as the distinct role of the platform/medium of communication. Media was isolated into format types enabling a four-step data analysis process:1 )establishing the specific contents and contexts of the texts collated; 2) undertaking a close textual analysis of the visual texts; 3) identifying the types of discursive strategies deployed; and 4) interpreting these types to determine the patterns and themes (tokens) that exist therein. These results (under review for publication in the form of multiple peer-reviewed publications including a video essay, as well as a forthcoming special issue with contributions from leading scholars in the field of populist style and performance) will enrich and develop global understanding of the relationship between populism, media and visual culture.
By isolating visual examples of populist performance, specifically in the Mexican context, and applying digital visual methods of research and analysis, the project problematizes and exposes the increasingly mediated relationship between politician and viewer/citizen.
Phase 1: Literature Review
A thorough literature review of populist theory was conducted and extensive review of López Obrador’s visual archive was completed. This included documentary films, social media posts and hundreds of YouTube videos depicting live daily press conferences. Primary materials were selected for the study.
Although a secondment and digital humanities methodology training was planned at this phase world events and changes to data accessibility led to a shift in both host institution and timing.
In addition to providing a theoretical framework and informing all four research objectives, the purpose of this project is to bridge global approaches to the study of populism and the current rise of the right. By focusing on the Mexican case study, this project draws on Spanish-language research on populist studies and brings this to bear to English-speaking debate, while bringing into question blanket negative depictions of populism as right-wing.
Phase 2: Data Collation: Close textual analysis of all visual texts to identify how populist performance is articulated and to interrogate and theorise the relationship between visual culture and populist narratives. In addition to the documentary texts that capture López Obrador’s campaign, an indicative range of daily press conferences were examined to further determine the extent to which televisual representations provide a distinct rendering of populist leaders.
An appropriate secondment partner was identified allowing for further training in digital humanities methods, the strengthening of the researcher’s network and crossinstutional collaborations in the form of workshops and guest lectures. The fieldwork phase also included: the collection of archival materials and documentation such as editorials and relevant online data seen in the form of social media posts that offer direct and contemporaneous reactions to the visual outputs.
Phase 3: Data analysis: In keeping with the research objectives, the analysis brought together results from phases 1 and 2 to better understand populist performance and the role of the visual in sustaining populist narratives, as well as the distinct role of the platform/medium of communication. Media was isolated into format types enabling a four-step data analysis process:1 )establishing the specific contents and contexts of the texts collated; 2) undertaking a close textual analysis of the visual texts; 3) identifying the types of discursive strategies deployed; and 4) interpreting these types to determine the patterns and themes (tokens) that exist therein. These results (under review for publication in the form of multiple peer-reviewed publications including a video essay, as well as a forthcoming special issue with contributions from leading scholars in the field of populist style and performance) will enrich and develop global understanding of the relationship between populism, media and visual culture.
Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)
The research carried out during the Fellowship has produced significant results in understanding how videographic methodologies can deepen understanding of populism and its articulation. The project has made significant inroads in establishing this digital humanities approach as a practice-based interdisciplinary methodological framework for the study of populist media. This can be adopted and advanced by future scholars working on audiovisual media in this and other social science fields.
Key results include:
- The initial establishment of a cutting-edge videographic methodological framework for audiovisual analysis of visual populist performance.
- The introduction of an intermedial approach to studying audiovisual media in political communications, tested through practice-based analysis.
- The initiation of a visual-first model for deconstructing and understanding political performance more widely, a tool with potential applications beyond populism studies (e.g. political sciences and social sciences more broadly).
- Peer-reviewed outputs in progress, including a special issue journal with contributions from leading populist scholars, journal articles, and peer-reviewed video essay, as well as a edited book volume proposal to be submitted in late 2026.
The project’s findings also have broader societal and academic impacts. By demonstrating how populist performance is constructed, disseminated and received, POPAMLO contributes to current European priorities promoting media literacy, media independence and the fight against dis/misinformation. Its open-access dissemination plan ensures that results are accessible to both academic and non-academic audiences, including educators, cultural institutions, and policymakers interested in the rise of populism and its close connections with digital media.
To ensure further uptake and success, future research will build on the methodological and quantitative tools developed during the Fellowship. Priorities include expanding the methodological approach to other leading politicians and media, investigating its use on different platforms and exploring the affective dimensions of both the methodology and the performances it analyses. This will be achieved through future interdisciplinary collaboration and digital resources, strengthening international partnerships, and securing further funding (such as an ERC Consolidator Grant or Postdoctoral Fellowships at interdisciplinary institutes within a university setting) to consolidate the project into a wider research programme on populism and its visual articulation.
Key results include:
- The initial establishment of a cutting-edge videographic methodological framework for audiovisual analysis of visual populist performance.
- The introduction of an intermedial approach to studying audiovisual media in political communications, tested through practice-based analysis.
- The initiation of a visual-first model for deconstructing and understanding political performance more widely, a tool with potential applications beyond populism studies (e.g. political sciences and social sciences more broadly).
- Peer-reviewed outputs in progress, including a special issue journal with contributions from leading populist scholars, journal articles, and peer-reviewed video essay, as well as a edited book volume proposal to be submitted in late 2026.
The project’s findings also have broader societal and academic impacts. By demonstrating how populist performance is constructed, disseminated and received, POPAMLO contributes to current European priorities promoting media literacy, media independence and the fight against dis/misinformation. Its open-access dissemination plan ensures that results are accessible to both academic and non-academic audiences, including educators, cultural institutions, and policymakers interested in the rise of populism and its close connections with digital media.
To ensure further uptake and success, future research will build on the methodological and quantitative tools developed during the Fellowship. Priorities include expanding the methodological approach to other leading politicians and media, investigating its use on different platforms and exploring the affective dimensions of both the methodology and the performances it analyses. This will be achieved through future interdisciplinary collaboration and digital resources, strengthening international partnerships, and securing further funding (such as an ERC Consolidator Grant or Postdoctoral Fellowships at interdisciplinary institutes within a university setting) to consolidate the project into a wider research programme on populism and its visual articulation.