The (Trans)formation of Ideas in Global Politics

This Paper proposes a network-analytic, Twitter-based method for analyzing the (trans)formation of ideas in world politics. We argue that this method has an added-value in two key respects. First, on a descriptive level, it enables us to trace the emergence, diffusion, and fading of ideas within Twitter as a communicative sphere that is distinct but also inter- linked with other (trans)national spheres of communication. Second, on an analytic level, the method allows us to inquire into to the processes of ideational transformation. To illustrate the value of this method, we use the Twitter-based debate on the global governance of nuclear weapons as a case study. Drawing on data that we collected before, during, and after the 2015 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, we present preliminary, descriptive findings on key participants in the debate, its intensity, and shifting thematic patterns.