Presentamos el monográfico dedicado a debatir la vigencia y las problemáticas asociadas a las políticas de identidad. Aun reconociendo el enorme impacto, en términos de derechos, de los movimientos sociales identitarios, se invita a reflexionar sobre las consecuencias perversas de la apropiación de la lógica identitaria en el escenario político contemporáneo. Las contribuciones analizan, por un lado, cómo la actual institucionalización de las políticas de identidad dificulta formas liberadoras de agregación política y, por otro, exploran ensamblajes emergentes que desplazan el foco analítico de la identidad excluyente hacia las problemáticas estructurales compartidas. Estos debates se complementan con aportaciones que arrojan luz sobre cómo los ensamblajes sociotécnicos actuales influyen en la conformación de las disciplinas científicas, las subjetividades y la acción política. En conjunto, las contribuciones invitan a cuestionar el esencialismo identitario para forjar coaliciones políticas transversales orientadas a la justicia redistributiva y la emancipación colectiva.
This article examines ten nonviolent direct actions of Extinction Rebellion Madrid (XR Madrid) carried out between 2019 and 2024. The analysis applies the categories of play proposed by Roger Caillois (1994), with an emphasis on playful-artistic objects and their capacity to subvert symbols of power and generate critical reflection. The central focus is on 'mimicry' as a performative tool in activism, capable of combining artistic aesthetics and political action to defuse adverse responses from the public and the authorities. Through qualitative analysis of visual, symbolic and narrative elements, togetherwith participant observation at protests, it explores how these performances transform protest into aesthetically innovative nonviolent resistance. The hypothesis argues that mimicry not only reduces confrontation and generates empathy but also exposes the contradictions of the current political-economic system. It concludes that mimicry, integrated with 'artivism', reimagines protest as a key aesthetic-political act in the face of the climate crisis.
This article analyzes the communication processes employed in websites focused in rural depopulation in Spain between 2018 and 2020. It focuses on identifying whether their communication aims to promote rural areas or responds to commercial marketing strategies that we have termed ruralwashing, in line with the phenomenon of greenwashing. A qualitative methodology is used, employing web content analysis from a gender perspective. The type of communication was examined in relation to ownership, sponsorship, and website structure, the content offered on their blogs, and a quantitative analysis of their social media presence was conducted. The results show a high level of involvement from large corporations behind these rural projects, which sometimes leads to the use of communication as a marketing strategy to improve their reputation.
This article analyzes the role of the mobile phone as a technology of connection in the migratory experience of young Africans heading to Spain, exploring the communicative, emotional, and symbolic roles of the device. The research is based on a qualitative, phenomenologically inspired study, which includes interviews with young migrants in transit or settled, and with experts. The findings show that the mobile phone serves as a tool for safety and agency, but also as a source of emotional dependency, transnational pressure, and symbolic overload. Four key areas of analysis emerge: its instrumental use during the journey and upon settlement; the construction of transnational ties; technological fragility as a form of vulnerability; and creative reappropriations of the device as a space for youth autonomy. Moving beyond 'technodeterminist' views, the article offers a situated and critical perspective: the mobile phone is not a neutral artifact, but a relational infrastructure that encapsulates inequalities, strategies, and affective tensions inherent to contemporary migration.
The impact of algorithmic management on work-related stress has been studied, comparing it with other predictors. The relationship between this use of algorithms or artificial intelligence for work organization and other psychosocial risk factors that may affect mental health has also been examined. The analysis is integrated into the Demand-Control-Social Support (DCS) theoretical model. Data from a representative survey of the Spanish working population, AMPWork 2023 (n=1930 cases), is used to empirically test a comprehensive explanatory model of stress. The results found that the main predictor is the workload (long hours), followed by job status. These are followed, in terms of importance, by the intensity of algorithmic management and performing complex tasks. Then the moderating factors appear (taking breaks and communicating with the boss). Those who work more with algorithmic management tend to experience high job demands and do not benefit from moderating factors.
This article analyses Spanish generalist television schedules, presenting a categorisation of programming linked to the eco-social transition (ET), a concept that addresses issues of environmental, socio-economic and human rights justice. A total of thirty-seven programmes has been identified on national television and one hundred and thirteen on regional channels. The analysis was carried out in different months of 2024, considering eleven thematic variables. The aim is to highlight television programmes that provide keys to promoting new imaginaries for ET, with proactive and transformative content that generates debate about the benefits of adopting an eco-social perspective. To this end, a conceptual and observational information over antidote information, and the existence of programmes with ambivalent content on ET.
This study analyses humour as a tool for confrontation in digital political debate. A total of two hundred twenty-six posts published on X between November 3 and 15, 2023, during a period of political unrest surrounding the upcoming investiture of Spain's President Pedro S & aacute;nchez, were examined using a mixed methodology based on Grounded Theory and Critical Discourse Analysis. The results show that humour reinforces group identities, contributes to affective polarization, and is predominantly used to attack political opponents. Hostile messages often rely on audiovisual formats and are associated with multiple contributors and masculinized language. The study concludes that political humour on social media strengthens group cohesion through the symbolic exclusion of the other, thereby weakening democratic debate.
The presence of the Spanish far right is no longer extraordinary, and social networks have had a key role. Departing from the vernacular digital concept of 'lore', we analyze how the political party Vox creates a living narration, a feeling, or an atmosphere that mythologizes its history and figure, generating a collective memory. This article shows how Vox deploys memes on the Internet as a way of self-mythologization and memory construction. The analysis focuses on the ethnographic observation of the'meme's booth', a physical structure full of setups and screenshots that Vox built to easily disseminate its imaginary during the political festivity VIVA21. In this booth, memes are not only multimedia content that communicate some claims, but also a form of online communication that defines a way of being that reshapes the party's collective narration.
This video essay juxtaposes two digitally created long takes from Alfonso Cuarón’s 2103 film Gravity to argue that the function and mode of these sequences forces the viewer to contemplate and dwell in the present in an analogous fashion to how Paul Schrader interprets ‘slow cinema’.
Carmen Machi is one of Spain’s most renowned actresses, with an extensive career spanning film, television, and theatre. She rose to fame through the character Aída García García in 7 vidas and its spin-off Aída, where she portrayed a working-class, resilient mother figure—embodying a notion of the “authentic Spanish woman.” This role cemented her status as a character actress often associated with marginal and peripheral identities, distant from conventional beauty standards. Nevertheless, Machi has demonstrated remarkable versatility, taking on both comedic and dramatic roles, in leading and supporting capacities. The video essay focuses on her maternal portrayals, a recurring element in her career, to explore the tensions between typecasting and diversity. It reveals how Machi reconfigures the archetype of the Spanish mother across different genres and contexts, while also reflecting contemporary feminist debates on motherhood and media representation.
Este estudio analiza el humor como herramienta de confrontación en el debate político digital. Se examinan doscientos veintiséis posts publicados en X entre el 3 y el 15 de noviembre de 2023, durante una época de agitación política por la futura investidura del presidente Pedro Sánchez, a partir de una metodología mixta sustentada en la Teoría Fundamentada y el Análisis Crítico del Discurso. Los resultados evidencian que el humor refuerza identidades colectivas, contribuye a la polarización afectiva y es empleado prioritariamente para atacar al adversario. Se constata un predominio de formatos audiovisuales en los posts más hostiles, una mayor agresividad en mensajes con múltiples emisores y una presencia significativa de humor masculinizado. El estudio concluye que el humor político digital potencia la cohesión grupal mediante la exclusión del otro, lo que debilita el debate democrático.
Pedro Almodóvar’s The skin I live in (2011) explores revenge, identity transformation, and the limitations of binary gender categories through surgical horror and melodrama. The film depicts Dr. Robert Ledgard’s forced transformation of Vicente into Vera, modeled after his deceased wife, interrogating bodily autonomy and male control over female identity. It critiques patriarchal fantasies while engaging with trans and queer identities, though problematically linking surgical transition to trauma and punishment. The film portrays Vera’s transformation as both violent and potentially liberating. Incorporating melodramatic elements, it subverts traditional resolutions, leaving the protagonist in an ambiguous state. This videoessay functions as an audiovisual ‘surgical operation’, using images, sounds, scholarly quotations, and intertitles from the film to dissect its representation of bodily transformation and examine how gender identity is constructed, coerced, and ultimately reclaimed, offering a nuanced critique of hegemonic gender constructs and power dynamics. This video essay functions as an audiovisual “surgical operation,” using images, sounds, critical quotations, and intertitles from the film to dissect its representation of bodily transformation and examine how gender identity is constructed, coerced, and ultimately reclaimed, offering a nuanced critique of hegemonic gender constructs and power dynamics.
Este artículo examina diez acciones directas noviolentas de Extinction Rebellion Madrid (XR Madrid) realizadas entre 2019 y 2024, analizadas bajo las categorías de juego propuestas por Caillois (1994), con énfasis en objetos lúdico-artísticos y su capacidad para subvertir símbolos de poder y generar reflexión crítica. El enfoque central es el mimicry como herramienta performativa en el activismo, capaz de combinar estética artística y acción política para desactivar respuestas adversas del público y las autoridades. Mediante análisis cualitativo de elementos visuales, simbólicos y narrativos, junto con observación participante en protestas, se explora cómo estas performances transforman la protesta en resistencia noviolenta estéticamente innovadora. La hipótesis sostiene que el mimicry no solo reduce confrontación y genera empatía, sino que también expone las contradicciones del sistema político-económico actual. Concluye que el mimicry, integrado al artivismo, reimagina la protesta como un acto estético-político clave frente a la crisis climática.
Este artículo analiza el papel del teléfono móvil como tecnología del vínculo en la experiencia migratoria de jóvenes africanos hacia España. A partir de una investigación cualitativa de inspiración fenomenológica, basada en entrevistas a jóvenes migrantes, en tránsito o asentados, y a personas expertas, se exploran las funciones comunicativas, afectivas y simbólicas del dispositivo. Los resultados muestran que el móvil actúa como soporte de seguridad y agencia, pero también como fuente de dependencia emocional, presión transnacional y sobrecarga simbólica. Se identifican cuatro ejes de análisis: su uso instrumental en ruta y asentamiento; la construcción de vínculos transnacionales; la fragilidad tecnológica como forma de vulnerabilidad; y las reapropiaciones creativas del dispositivo como espacio de autonomía juvenil. Lejos de visiones tecnodeterministas, se propone una lectura situada y crítica: el móvil no es un artefacto neutro, sino una infraestructura relacional que condensa desigualdades, estrategias y tensiones afectivas propias de la migración contemporánea.
El presente artículo analiza los procesos comunicativos desarrollados por diversos portales web dedicados a la despoblación rural en España surgidos entre 2018 y 2020. El objetivo principal es determinar si dichas estrategias de comunicación promueven realmente el fortalecimiento del medio rural o si, por el contrario, responden a intereses corporativos de mercadotecnia que reproducen lo que denominamos ruralwashing, en analogía con el fenómeno del greenwashing. La investigación adopta una metodología cualitativa basada en el análisis de contenido web con enfoque de género. Se examinan la estructura de propiedad y patrocinio de los sitios, su arquitectura y diseño, los contenidos publicados en sus blogs y la actividad de sus redes sociales, complementada con un análisis cuantitativo descriptivo. Los resultados evidencian una notable participación de grandes corporaciones en la financiación y gestión de estos proyectos, lo que en numerosos casos deriva en el uso instrumental de la comunicación rural como estrategia reputacional y de marketing.
La presencia de la ultraderecha española ya no es extraordinaria y las redes sociales han sido un espacio clave. Utilizando el concepto vernáculo digital de ‘lore’, analizamos cómo Vox crea una narración viva o una atmósfera que mitifica la historia y la figura del partido generando una memoria colectiva. El artículo muestra cómo Vox despliega memes en Internet como una forma de auto-mitificación y de construcción de memoria. Este análisis surge de la observación etnográfica de la ‘caseta de memes’, una estructura física repleta de montajes y capturas de pantalla que el propio partido construyó para difundir su imaginario en la fiesta política VIVA21. En esta caseta, los memes no son contenidos multimedia que buscan la comunicación de ciertas consignas, sino formas de comunión online que definen unos modos de estar y renuevan la narración colectiva del partido. crea y despliega memes en Internet como una forma de auto-mitificación y de construcción de memoria. Este análisis surge de la observación etnográfica de la ‘caseta de memes’, una estructura física repleta de montajes y capturas de pantalla que el propio partido construyó para difundir fácilmente su imaginario en la fiesta política VIVA21. En esta caseta, los memes no son contenidos multimedia que buscan la comunicación de ciertas consignas, sino formas de comunión online que definen unos modos de estar y renuevan la narración colectiva del partido.
From a historical point of view, photography has been able to help us reflect and reinterpret the concept of death, so diverse in different cultures. In fact, digital images resulting from technological advances and the Internet, understood as an interconnected network, have made it possible to create new spaces to reflect on death. From the video game environment, where it is treated superficially as a narrative resource, to social networks, where people have the opportunity to share grieving processes, the visuality of death takes on multiple forms. In these hyperconnected spaces where users coexist under the appearance of profiles and avatars, sharing their concerns, tastes and experiences, a new memory paradigm exists for post-mortem interaction and remembrance.
In the context of platform capitalism, where citizens increasingly socialise in online spaces, this study analyses how female streamers perceive themselves and their experiences on Twitch in relation to the gender-based violence they suffer online. Based on twenty-six in-depth interviews, the research reveals that Twitch is a masculinised platform that cannot be considered as a safe space for female streamers. Cyberbullying occurs on the platform through different forms of violence, prompting the deployment of cyberfeminist strategies to counteract this violence. These actions help mitigate the inadequate measures
