Professional paper

Separating Echo Chambers from Epistemic Bubbles Within Populist Discourse

Ellen C. Byrne orcid.org/0000-0002-6417-2579 ; Central European University (CEU), Vienna, Austria

Abstract

The choice of populism as the focus of this article is due to the link between populism and echo chambers/epistemic bubbles can be viewed from two angles: the propensity for echo chambers and epistemic bubbles within populist discourse, amongst populists; and the prevalence of epistemic bubbles and echo chambers in the mainstream discussion surrounding populism. The first section of this article will clarify the terms “populism”, “echo chamber” and “epistemic bubble”, briefly analyze each phenomenon with particular emphasis on distinguishing echo chambers from epistemic bubbles. Secondly, it will be argued that such analysis should be applied to populist discourse. The third section of this article will consider the limitations of this applicability; particularly in terms of the areas of ambiguity surrounding the definitions of echo chambers and epistemic bubbles. The article will conclude with a final statement on the importance of distinguishing between echo chambers and epistemic phenomena and applying this analysis to populist discourse, so that epistemic practices surrounding populism may be understood with greater accuracy and clarity.

Keywords

echo chambers; epistemic bubbles; populism; discourse

Hrčak ID:

271242

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/271242

Publication date:

22.12.2021.

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