Exclusion versus Solidarity: Online Narratives of the Crisis in Latin America

In this time of crisis and predominant institutional and social uncertainty, narratives of solidarity and exclusion come to be two sides of the same coin in the sense-making concerning otherness. In Latin America, social inequalities that were invisibilized before are now broadly discussed in everyday news coverage, and the hopes of many rely on the corona crisis as a pivot for addressing future institutional change. Amidst this situation, the continuous production of online narratives shapes more than ever referents of the self and of otherness. The public sense-making of solidarity forges possibilities for agency and change but is also, in some occasions, trapped by discourses of exclusion. Cuba and Brazil are two paradigmatic cases that represent this paradox. In my lecture, I mainly focus on selected online narratives concerning these nations. Applying Wallaschek's notion of coalition discourses (2019), I address the question of how groups of actors make sense of the crisis by means of solidarity or exclusion frames.

About the speaker(s)

Elizabeth Pinilla Duarte, MA
Elizabeth Pinilla Duarte is a PhD candidate at the Graduate School for the Humanities, University of Groningen. She was awarded a scholarship from the program PhD scholarships abroad by Colciencias- Minciencias, Colombia (announcement 783, 2017). Elizabeth has worked as a lecturer in the humanities, focusing on cultures and narratives. Her main research interests are online narratives, communication, language and cognition theory, public opinion, and technology. She is currently conducting research on narratives and online expressions of public opinion during the Colombian post-accord time.