Religion and Politics in the Age of Deep Mediatization, Digital Throwing, and Media Diet Consumption

Deep mediatization processes are considered an advanced stage of mediatization, in which all elements of our social world are closely linked to digital media and their underlying infrastructure. This is an advanced process of constructivist mediatization, which petrifies the vision of a generation of “digital natives”, resulting from a previously unseen deep embedding of media in social processes. What is crucial in deep mediatization processes is not the logic of the media institution, but the audience, who views media in the context of the content and media technology being transmitted. This is a changing and constantly redefined process. The concept of digital thrownness, in turn, is a philosophical attempt to define the human condition, their search for meaning and security within the context of the pervasive digital technology. In the context of digital ecology, the elusive operation of algorithms, and rapid technological change, human life, our sense of time, being, memory, space, identity, and death, is becoming increasingly entangled in digital infrastructure. As Amanda Lagerkvist notes, drawing on Martin Heidegger’s thought, humans are thrust into a digital existence where grasping one’s fragile existential situation is an ambivalent and formidable challenge, particularly when operating amidst social media technologies that strongly shape communication practices, memory, and identity. From this perspective, contemporary media become existential media, addressing four classic Heideggerian themes: death, related to time and being, and being-in-the-world and being-with-others. The concept of a media diet refers to the regular set of media sources that users access to political news and information. In an era of growing importance of digital infrastructure, a petrification of certain online behaviors is observed (e.g., visiting the same websites and searching for specific information). The project aims to analyze the impact of traditional media and social media platforms on the lives of citizens and institutions in the digital age. The research explores human identity in the context of religiosity and participation in socio-political life, as well as the relationship between religion and politics, with a focus on dialogue and respect for human dignity.

The project is primarily media studies in nature, although it draws on the achievements of other scientific disciplines. Social communication and media studies provide tools for analyzing processes of deep mediatization. Political science enables the study of political communication, state-church relations, and the instrumentalization of religion in the public sphere. The sociology of religion allows for the capture of transformations in religiosity in the digital environment, including changes in religious authority and community forms. The project also draws on sociology and social psychology, analyzing identities, emotions, polarization, and information bubbles. It also draws on ethics and philosophy, which enable normative reflection on pluralism, religious freedom, and media responsibility. It also draws on security studies, analyzing phenomena that impact social, information, and cultural security.

Specific topics addressed in the project include: the Church and religious denominations in the face of the development of artificial intelligence; the deontological implications of the concept of deep mediatization for media and platform audiences; religious and media education; and qualitative journalism in the age of disinformation.

The project involves researchers representing research centers in Poland, Germany, Italy, and Croatia. The research findings will be presented in a special issue of the Polish Journal of Political Science (special issue 2027).

Project duration: February 1, 2026–March 1, 2027

Project Team

Project Director: Rafał Leśniczak (Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw)

Research Team:

Agnieszka Łukasik-Turecka (John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin)

Cezary Smuniewski (University of Warsaw)

Matilda Kolić Stanić (University of Slavonski Brod, Croatia)

Giovanni Tridente (Pontificia Universita della Santa Croce, Italy)

Juan Narbona (Pontificia Universita della Santa Croce, Italy)

Janusz Surzykiewicz (Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Germany)

Mariusz Chrostowski (Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Germany)

Erasmo Storace (Universita’ Insubria Varese-Como)

Luca Daris (Universita’ Insubria Varese-Como)