Women and the war of words: a social data science analysis of gendered political communication strategies during Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine

Thesis

This thesis investigates gender differences in political communication and digital diplomacy between Ukrainian politicians and international figures before and during Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, from February 2021 and March 2023. Three integrated articles analyse original datasets of tweets and Facebook posts from Ukrainian politicians and the international figures they target most, using structural topic modelling, social network analysis, and statistical regression. Disaggregating data by originator gender tests theories of gendered approaches to conflict and gender affinity on social media, informed by literature on the historical tension between Ukrainian feminism and nationalism. Chapter 3 applies a mixed-methods approach to 79,000 Facebook and Twitter posts from Ukrainian politicians to analyse gender differences in narrative and interaction during 23 February to 28 June in 2021 and 2022. The data show politicians update Ukrainians on Facebook during both periods but shift their Twitter strategy in 2022 towards digital diplomacy. Women produce more interactive communication and reports of human suffering, while men’s posts are more authoritative. Chapter 4 analyses 130,000 tweets by 74 Ukrainian politicians and 223 international figures from 11 February 2022 to 8 March 2023. These data show women do not convey pacifist narratives, and only men have significant narrative overlap with other men. Chapter 5 examines how men and women Ukrainian politicians initiate dialogue with international figures by analysing a subset of 14,000 dialogue attempts from Chapter 4. Women’s attempts surge in the first weeks of the invasion, but later men become the primary initiators. These analyses demonstrate that women—often excluded from conflict narratives—actively try to shape wartime digital diplomacy, with Ukrainians balancing nationalism and feminism in the digital realm. In doing so, they challenge dominant theories that portray women as pacifist during conflict. These findings advance understanding of gendered political communication and provide policy insights for countering information warfare.

Authors: Pavliuc, A

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-o8zdagag9
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: political communication; Ukraine; women and peace hypothesis; computational social science; conflict; feminist international relations; gender; digital diplomacy