UKAIS is delighted to invite you an online seminar delivered by Serhii Prokopenko, Researcher & Media Practitioner at Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics, Ukraine. The seminar will take place on the 4th of June 12-1pm on zoom
Serhii’s talk is entitled ‘Counter-Institutionalization and the Struggle for Epistemic Authority in the Age of Disinformation’ and draws on a paper which received the runner-up place for a research-in-progress paper in the UKAIS conference this year. You can find an abstract and a brief bio below.
ABSTRACT:
The paper examines contemporary disinformation as a process of counter-institutionalization through which institutional interventions reshape epistemic authority within global information ecosystems. Drawing on neo-institutional theory (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983) and the concept of counter-institutionalization (Zürn, 2018), the study employs a qualitative critical case study design that integrates discursive analysis, comparative institutional analysis, and network-oriented examination of transnational information infrastructures.
The paper contributes to research on disinformation and global media governance by shifting the analytical focus from content-level manipulation to institutional-level strategies of epistemic contestation.
The findings show how credibility-producing institutional forms are selectively replicated and reoriented to contest the authority of established fact-checking networks, underscoring the need for resilience approaches that extend beyond content correction to institutional safeguards.
BIO:
Serhii Prokopenko is a PhD researcher at Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics (Ukraine) and an editor at Gwara Media, an independent newsroom in Kharkiv. His research examines disinformation and organizational resilience, focusing on epistemic authority, digital infrastructures, and organizational management in the context of geopolitical instability. His work combines organizational theory with field-based data from extreme contexts, including sustained infrastructural disruption and information warfare.
ZOOM INVITE
Dimitra Petrakaki is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: UKAIS June Seminar
Time: Jun 4, 2026 12:00 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting
https://universityofsussex.zoom.us/j/85681721940
Meeting ID: 856 8172 1940