Francesca Granelli
I'm currently a Teaching Fellow in the War Studies Department at King’s college, London and a member of the King’s Centre for Strategic Communications.
My research interests span trust, language, storytelling, memory creation, strategic communications, community cohesion, conflict, and revolution.
My book, “Trust, Politics, and Revolution: a European History” (IB Tauris, 2019), is the first full length study of the relationship of trust and revolution. My research disputes the conventional interpretation of revolution as a power struggle between conflicting social forces.
I hold a BA (Hons) in Geography from the University of Manchester, alongside my MA in International Relations and PhD in War Studies from King’s College London. I am a Fellow of the RGS-IBG and the RSA.
My research interests span trust, language, storytelling, memory creation, strategic communications, community cohesion, conflict, and revolution.
My book, “Trust, Politics, and Revolution: a European History” (IB Tauris, 2019), is the first full length study of the relationship of trust and revolution. My research disputes the conventional interpretation of revolution as a power struggle between conflicting social forces.
I hold a BA (Hons) in Geography from the University of Manchester, alongside my MA in International Relations and PhD in War Studies from King’s College London. I am a Fellow of the RGS-IBG and the RSA.
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Papers by Francesca Granelli
This paper advances disinformation research by asking how we can assess its impact more productively, and how research could better inform policy responses to disinformation. It uses examples from Britain between the 2016 ‘Brexit’ referendum campaign and the 2019 General Election, including some preliminary commentary on disinformation during the initial months of the COVID-19 outbreak. First it considers the limitations of existing disinformation research, and how it could address impact more effectively. It then considers how policy responses have been self-limiting by framing the solution as simply reducing the general amount of disinformation online and/or ‘inoculating’ citizens. Instead we argue for an event or issue-specific focus. This culturally- specific, sociological approach considers different forms of disinformation, the hybrid media systems through which they spread, and the complex offline and online social networks through which impact may occur.
First, it suggests that there is insufficient clarity about the meaning of trust. This can be resolved by turning to the philosophy of language and, in particular, the familiar notion of a speech act. How does trust apply to each type of speech act?
Second, it argues that trust might apply to the message, the medium, or the mouthpiece. It turns to communication theory to investigate how these might be related but also to pose a more fundamental question: are there different types of trust?
Third, it demonstrates that trust is a moving target and, having presented a brief history of trust in political communication, moves to political science in order to outline the forms of trust found in Western liberal democracies today. It focuses on the election of Donald Trump in the United States and the referendum on Brexit in the United Kingdom.
Fourth, the paper ends by considering what policy recommendations follow. The fundamental conclusion is that its case studies demonstrate that sometimes trust is misplaced; we therefore require not more trust, but better trust.
Conference Presentations by Francesca Granelli
Moreover, confidence in Theresa May to get a good deal for Britain in the Brexit negotiations has reached a new low (41 per cent according to a recent IPSOS Mori poll). Yet at the same time, more people trust this beleaguered Prime Minister to make the right decision on Brexit.
Using Theresa May’s Brexit as a case study, this paper explores what trust is and how it differs from related notions of confidence, reputation, and responsibility – which are often used as proxies for trust.
Furthermore, traditional yardsticks for trust – expertise, experience, and truth – are being replaced by authenticity, emotion, and post-truth narratives. At the same time, the nature of the trust relationship is changing: rigid hierarchies are being replaced by a number of weaer, horizontal networks that can overlap, reinforce, or compete.
While the Government has been slow to adapt, the paper concludes that ‘better’ rather than more trust is required if the Conservatives are to succeed.
Talks by Francesca Granelli
This paper advances disinformation research by asking how we can assess its impact more productively, and how research could better inform policy responses to disinformation. It uses examples from Britain between the 2016 ‘Brexit’ referendum campaign and the 2019 General Election, including some preliminary commentary on disinformation during the initial months of the COVID-19 outbreak. First it considers the limitations of existing disinformation research, and how it could address impact more effectively. It then considers how policy responses have been self-limiting by framing the solution as simply reducing the general amount of disinformation online and/or ‘inoculating’ citizens. Instead we argue for an event or issue-specific focus. This culturally- specific, sociological approach considers different forms of disinformation, the hybrid media systems through which they spread, and the complex offline and online social networks through which impact may occur.
First, it suggests that there is insufficient clarity about the meaning of trust. This can be resolved by turning to the philosophy of language and, in particular, the familiar notion of a speech act. How does trust apply to each type of speech act?
Second, it argues that trust might apply to the message, the medium, or the mouthpiece. It turns to communication theory to investigate how these might be related but also to pose a more fundamental question: are there different types of trust?
Third, it demonstrates that trust is a moving target and, having presented a brief history of trust in political communication, moves to political science in order to outline the forms of trust found in Western liberal democracies today. It focuses on the election of Donald Trump in the United States and the referendum on Brexit in the United Kingdom.
Fourth, the paper ends by considering what policy recommendations follow. The fundamental conclusion is that its case studies demonstrate that sometimes trust is misplaced; we therefore require not more trust, but better trust.
Moreover, confidence in Theresa May to get a good deal for Britain in the Brexit negotiations has reached a new low (41 per cent according to a recent IPSOS Mori poll). Yet at the same time, more people trust this beleaguered Prime Minister to make the right decision on Brexit.
Using Theresa May’s Brexit as a case study, this paper explores what trust is and how it differs from related notions of confidence, reputation, and responsibility – which are often used as proxies for trust.
Furthermore, traditional yardsticks for trust – expertise, experience, and truth – are being replaced by authenticity, emotion, and post-truth narratives. At the same time, the nature of the trust relationship is changing: rigid hierarchies are being replaced by a number of weaer, horizontal networks that can overlap, reinforce, or compete.
While the Government has been slow to adapt, the paper concludes that ‘better’ rather than more trust is required if the Conservatives are to succeed.