Encoding and Decoding Algorithms: Stuart Hall and the Racial Debate in New Media

• Grant number: 24/17890-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: January 01, 2025
• End date: December 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - Political Theory
• Principal Investigator: Rúrion Soares Melo
• Grantee: Renato Xavier dos Santos
• Host Institution: Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento (CEBRAP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 19/22387-0 - Crises of democracy: critical theory and the diagnosis of present time, AP.TEM

Abstract

This project investigates how racial discourses are encoded and decoded in new media, controlled by algorithms from major technology companies such as Facebook and Google, in a context of growing democratic crisis. Utilizing Stuart Hall's theory of encoding and decoding (1973), the study explores how racial discourses are shaped and interpreted within the digital public sphere, marked by fragmentation and algorithmic modulation of content. The aim is to offer a new perspective on the interaction between hegemonic, negotiated, and oppositional discourses, and how algorithms influence the visibility and perception of these discourses. By applying critical theory to new digital media, the project contributes to the understanding of the social and political impacts of technology in reproducing racial inequalities.