César Jiménez-Martínez

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor (Assistant) at London School of Economics and Political Science

Nation Branding in the Americas: Contested Politics and Identities provides an overview of nation branding in the Americas, an often neglected con- tinent(s) in debates about the creation, dissemination, and management of national images. Drawing on insights from promotional cultures, nationalism, geopoli- tics, media, and communication, as well as...

Although the "protest paradigm" remains the default analytical framework in mediated protest studies, recent scholarship has questioned its explanatory capacity, particularly in light of changes to collective action and the increasing criminalization of protests. We advance these discussions by analyzing 361 reports on the 2019 Chilean uprising air...

Although protests are an essential part of modern politics, scholars in nation branding, public diplomacy and soft power have had very little to say about these episodes. Discussions in the field have only marginally addressed dissent and disruption , falling into a methodological statism that emphasises what states do to construct and legitimise s...

In this article, we explore the tensions and blurred boundaries between dominance and resistance in promotional contexts by critically examining the notion of ‘visibility’, a commonly used yet largely unproblematised concept within the field of promotion. More specifically, we argue that contemporary promotional industries sustain and perpetuate a...

While digital technologies were initially seen as harbingers of globalisation and cosmopolitanism, scholars increasingly acknowledge their role in the rise of nationalism and right‐wing populism. Yet this surge of interest leaves at least two important questions unanswered. Where was nationalism before its apparent resurgence? Are contemporary form...

This study analyzes and compares nation branding strategies implemented by Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, since their first initiatives until 2020. Literature on nation branding in the countries under study is explored. The strategies implemented by each country were analyzed and compared. Argentina maintained a strategy focu...

This study analyzes and compares nation branding strategies implemented by Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, since their first initiatives until 2020. Literature on nation branding in the countries under study is explored. The strategies implemented by each country were analyzed and compared. Argentina maintained a strategy focu...

This themed section seeks to initiate a debate about the changing nature of what we call nation promotion. That is, promotional practices aimed at creating, communicating and managing versions of national identity to advance economic or political goals. These practices-badged as 'nation branding', 'public diplomacy', 'country branding' or 'soft pow...

June 6th, 2023 Hybrid seminar with in-person simultaneous rooms at Loughborough University (London Campus) – Future Space, and at Loughborough University (Midlands Campus) – International House Program 1 pm (London time) Roundtable: What do people on the streets mean to democracy? Fanny Vrydagh (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium), Ricardo Fabr...

With the coronavirus pandemic deepening pre-existing social issues, protests have re-emerged around the world. It is, however, noteworthy that debates in public diplomacy and place branding have remained largely silent about these episodes. This contribution argues that protests should be taken into account within the field. They not only stress th...

The last decade has witnessed the development of pernicious polarization in Brazil, partly due to the emergence of a conservative, populist-nationalist, and neoliberal agenda. This article addressees the viewpoints of individuals who identify themselves as part of the right-wing, drawing on 21 semi-structured interviews with members of the Moviment...

The last decade has witnessed the development of pernicious polarization in Brazil, partly due to the emergence of a conservative, populist-nationalist, and neoliberal agenda. This article addressees the viewpoints of individuals who identify themselves as part of the right-wing, drawing on 21 semi-structured interviews with members of the Moviment...

Blog Post - The Hague Journal of Diplomacy Blog

A recent scholarly debate at ICA 2021 covered various media interpretations of social protests and implications for PD. https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/blog/protests-and-national-images-public-emerging-problem-public-diplomacy

Despite a growing recognition of the role of the media in nation branding, a clear understanding of the relationship between the latter and foreign correspondents is absent and needed. Although foreign correspondents are a key target of nation branding, studies generally depict these journalists as vehicles exploited by authorities and consultants...

This text works as an introduction for the special issue “The legacy of Paulo Freire. Contemporary reflections on participatory communication and civil society development in Brazil and beyond”. The text outlines the contribution that each of the six articles constituting this issue makes, examining how they state the relevance of Paulo Freire’s id...

The last decade has witnessed the development of pernicious polarization in Brazil, partly due to the emergence of right-wing organizations promoting a conservative, populist-nationalist and neoliberal agenda. Despite the attention that this process has received, the viewpoints of individuals who identify themselves as part of the right-wing have b...

Black Lives Matter might be the biggest movement in US history, the New York Times recently reported, with polls showing that 15 million to 26 million people in the US have participated in demonstrations over the death of George Floyd and others in recent weeks. Other countries around the world have also seen massive protests since Floyd was killed...

Studies examining protest news coverage often look at it through a “protest paradigm,” arguing that “mainstream” media delegitimize protests by emphasizing violence and marginalizing grievances. Focusing on the June 2013 protests in Brazil, this article takes the discussion in a different conceptual and empirical direction, examining the forces tha...

This book explores the struggles over the mediated construction and projection of the image of the nation at times of social unrest. Focusing on the June 2013 protests in Brazil, it examines how different actors –authorities, activists, the national media, foreign correspondents– disseminated competing versions of ‘what Brazil was’ during that pivo...

This concluding chapter summarises the main arguments of this book. The examination of the June Journeys throws into sharp relief the profound transformation of mediated nationhood in a digital, transnational and difficult to control media environment, whilst acknowledging the continuing influence of ‘old’ media and their adaptation to the opportun...

This chapter presents the theoretical basis for the book. It outlines pertinent theories of nations and nationalism, particularly in relation to Latin America, which stress conflict and transformation as essential characteristics of the nation, in an age when globalisation and populism have amplified external and internal struggles. This chapter al...

This introductory chapter summarises the main events and significance of the series of demonstrations that stormed Brazil in June 2013. The protests, which over time have become known as the ‘June Journeys’, amounted to the largest period of social unrest in the country since 1992. Although the drivers and implications of the June Journeys are stil...

This chapter examines the visible nation, that is, the version of Brazil produced by different actors across various types of media. By looking at media coverage of the June Journeys, the chapter shows how the demonstrations were not only driven by diverse and sometimes contradictory agendas, but they were also understood, framed and communicated d...

This chapter examines the second dimension of analysis, the strategies of mediated visibility. Drawing on the analysis of interviews, the chapter provides a more nuanced examination of how some of the struggles for the mediated visibility of Brazil were conducted during the June Journeys. It argues that, as part of the struggles to make the previou...

This chapter examines the conditions of mediated visibility within which the different actors operated. These are institutional, normative, technological and commercial. The four conditions stress how various professional practices, working environments, technological developments, as well as commercial and institutional aims may facilitate or cons...

This chapter supplies the context for the struggles for and over the mediated visibility of Brazil during the June Journeys. The chapter seeks to put in perspective the three aforementioned analytical dimensions. Firstly, it summarises some of the official efforts to portray Brazil in a positive light in the early twenty-first century, period in wh...

O diálogo reproduzido a seguir fez parte do painel de conclusão do seminário “Brazil Seminar: Civil so- ciety development and participatory communication in the new political context. Dialogues around the legacy of Paulo Freire”, realizado na Loughborough University, em Londres, nos dias 5 e 6 de junho de 2019. Os participantes eram cerca de 25 pes...

Full text available in English and Spanish This article explores the “mindprint” of Paulo Freire upon processes of social change in Brazil, with a particular focus on how his liberating pedagogy has influenced practices of participatory communication and civil society development. In exploring the legacy of Freire, his work is approached from the...

Brazil has a strong legacy in the field of participatory communication and articulation of bottom-up development processes. Many innovative experiences and key conceptual foundations that have enriched and informed the field of participatory communication in Latin America and internationally have strong Brazilian roots. A reference of seminal impor...

Have you seen what’s happening in Brazil?’ It was a cloudy afternoon in London in June 2013, and I was attending my very first conference as a PhD student. I was jumping from café to café, meeting academics whose work I had found inspiring. I told them I was researching the branding and marketing efforts of the Brazilian government ahead of the 201...

Since the beginning of this century, and up to the protests that preceded the 2014 World Cup, a common point made by academics, journalists and commentators interested in Brazil was the alleged ‘rise’ or ‘emergence’ of this country as a global power in the international arena. A significant feature in these discussions has been how positive, or not...

Chile has become the paradigm of nation branding in Latin America, employing branding initiatives to try to shake off the uncomfortable past of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, as well as to create a ‘new’ image that fits into a globalised and neoliberal world. Whilst there has previously been some analysis of Chile’s branding efforts, the viewpoin...

In June 2013, the largest series of protests that Brazil had experienced in more than twenty years erupted in cities across the country. News from Brazil and abroad reported that people protested against the money that local authorities spent on hosting the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, rather than on the provision of basic public...

Foreword: As media and communication scholars we have been troubled by the problematic way in which the British media has systematically attacked Jeremy Corbyn ever since he came to national prominence in the summer of 2015. At the same time, we also acknowledge that the media needs to fulfill an important watchdog role in a democracy. Indeed, we e...

Generally speaking, the study of media events as tools of political communication seems to have mainly focused on “integrative” events, such as sports competitions or staged celebrations (e.g. Dayan & Katz, 1992; Rivenburgh, 2010). Lately, there have also been calls to study “disruptive” situations, particularly terrorist acts (e.g. Katz & Liebes,...

Focusing on the 2010 rescue of Chilean miners, this article problematizes some current perspectives on media events, particularly in relation to disasters. An analysis of the narratives constructed during the live broadcast of the rescue by the Chilean government and a national and a global television station suggests that media events theories sho...

In this article, we argue that the June 2013 protests in Brazil, which some dubbed the V-for-Vinegar protests, is a highly productive case to explore the complex and highly dynamic relationship between media, communication and protest today. While mainstream media representations of protest remain important, the concept of mediation crosses the bou...

RESUMO Neste artigo argumentamos que os protestos de junho de 2013 no Brasil, que alguns apelidaram de "V-de-Vinagre", constituem um caso extremamente produtivo para explorar as atuais relações complexas e altamente dinâmicas entre mídia, comunicação e protesto. Embora a representação dos fatos feita pela grande imprensa continue sendo importante,...

During the past 20 years, Chile has implemented several strategies to enhance its visibility and reputation in the world. These efforts have been primarily targeted at the United States, Europe and Asia, aiming to position the country as a stable and blossoming nation that escapes some unfavourable stereotypes associated with Latin America. A diffe...