New research highlights the growing use of irony in contemporary politics and radical online communities as a means to navigate political and economic changes. The study emphasizes the role of irony in mobilizing people, animating beliefs, and gathering political collectives, even in the face of uncertain futures and contradictory ideas.
Researchers have found that irony is increasingly being used as a vehicle for the spread of toxic ideas online, with its presence growing in both contemporary politics and radical online communities. Irony serves as a tool that helps individuals make sense of and navigate major political and economic changes, according to the analysis.
The study, conducted by a research team from various institutions including University College London, the University of Exeter, and the University of St. Andrews, suggests that examining the use of irony can provide insights into the dynamics of influential political movements such as the Brexit campaign, which unite people from diverse backgrounds and ideologies. Irony is seen as a means to mobilize individuals and encourage their commitment to emergent, unclear, ambivalent, fraught, or contradictory ideas.
Irony generates intensity and energy, transforming beliefs into convictions and instilling a sense of possibility that compels people to take action. The research team explored the use of irony across different groups, including Black American abolitionist literature, contemporary Black Lives Matter activism in Ghana, the alt-right movement, the Greek socialist party PASOK, and the gun-loving Boogaloo Bois.
Dr. Susannah Crockford from the University of Exeter explained, “Irony enables people to critique the crippling political and economic restructuring of their worlds, to navigate an uncertain present, and to reorient toward the future.” In an era characterized by economic governance complexities, social inequality, and political uncertainty, it becomes challenging to envision plausible near futures and comprehend political cause and effect. Irony serves as a means for individuals to challenge political issues, stand for something, and gather in political collectives, even in the midst of existential uncertainty.
Dr. Farhan Samanani from University College London stated, “By playing with incongruity between text and subtext, or between points of view, irony provides new ways of making meaning and make sense of a fraught, contradictory world.” Irony offers individuals the opportunity to engage with communities, even without subscribing to specific ideologies, as participation is driven by the pleasure of being part of a living language community. Irony’s understanding enhances comprehension of political movements that may seem defined by clear-cut ideologies but are anchored and animated by more ironic terms.
The analysis sheds light on the role of irony in shaping political discourse and mobilizing individuals within online communities, highlighting its impact on political beliefs and the formation of collective identities.
