Constructing counter-hegemony on Twitter: Discourse of Ibero-American political women of “change” in the digital environment

Abstract

Women are occupying more and more space in the public sphere, not only through pressure on the streets, but increasingly in digital spaces. It is at this intersection that different ways of engaging in politics coalesce with the presence of women who demand their own voice and visibility beyond the mechanisms of traditional politics. Those requiring a transformation of the current political reality are the political women “of change.” One of their main attributes is that they generate and spread counter-hegemonic narratives as a form of empowerment and a way to question the dominant political discourse through digital media. Our objective herein is to analyze, in a comparative way, the use of this communicative strategy to understand its articulation and mechanisms. To do this, we study the discourse of ten Ibero-American political women on Twitter who are linked to social change. The methodology is based on the application of the content analysis technique that combines a quantitative dimension with another of a qualitative nature focused on critical discourse analysis. The results show that criticism and denunciation, to give voice to the voiceless and make social problems visible, are the main components of these political actors’ counter-hegemonic discourse on Twitter. Likewise, they display a practical and constructive counter-hegemony oriented in applied and positive terms. Finally, the institutional position in the government–opposition axis sharpens or minimizes the use of these types of communication strategies.