17452: Polarization as a Communication-Born Grand Societal Challenge

Tuesday, July 29, 2025

13:45 - 15:15 CEST (GMT+2)

Location: Bella Center: Hall D- D4-m2

Session Type: Symposium (panel)
Orientation: International,Research
Highlight: Showcase Symposium
Shareable link: https://cdmcd.co/qdkDaE

Organizer(s)

ML

Milena Leybold

Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
DS

Dennis Schoeneborn

Copenhagen Business School, Denmark

Panelist(s)

IC

Itziar Castelló

Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), City, U. of London, United Kingdom
SL

Salla-Maaria Laaksonen

University of Helsinki, Finland
LP

Linda L. Putnam

U. of California, Santa Barbara, United States
AS

Andreas Georg Scherer

U. of Zurich, Switzerland

The proposed panel symposium suggests considering polarization as a communication-born grand societal challenge (GSC), hindering collective action needed to tackle other pressing GSCs such as climate change, pandemics, or inequalities. By addressing how polarization, fueled by political, corporate, or civil society actors and boosted by (social) media, divides public discourses in democratic societies through “Us vs. Them” logics, the panel symposium explores the communicative underpinnings of polarization. The interdisciplinary session features insights from management and organization as well as media and communication studies. The session format also brings the expert panel in interaction with the audience to move the debate on polarization as GSC forward.