Social Media and Activist Participation Jakob Svensson Cyberculture and Politics 2015

Outline of the lecture Different levels of participation D Activist participation Social Media Activist identification A typology of activists Activists and power (activist capitals)

Different levels of Participation What is Political Participation? The Political deals with the organization of society, distribution of its resources and how to conduct our lives together (Svensson 2011) Participatory Practices can be subdivided on the basis from where they are initiated

Different levels of Participation Wide / Narrow Participation? Maximalist / Minimalist participation

Different levels of Participation Verba & Nie (1972: 2) famously delineated participation as attempts to influence public decision-makers. But participation also has come to refer to activities with the purpose of influencing society at large and not only decision-makers

Different levels of Participation Parliamentary Participation – initiated from within the Parliament and directed towards it Activist Participation - initiated from outside the Parliament but direct their participation towards the people and institutions of representative democracy Popular Cultural Participation – initiated from people and places outside the Parliament and not from the beginning directed towards it

Activist Participation Aspudden bathhouse

Activist Participation Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Ning

Activist Participation Connection  Information/Communication  Action The importance to be updated Expressive motivations

Activist Participation UniBrennt

Activist Participation Anti Fascist Protests

Social Media Social media as communication platforms where the user him/ herself is able to contribute to the platforms content (O’Reilly, 2005) Social network sites (SNS) are defined as web-based services that allows users to construct a public, or half-public profile, tie this profile to other users, sometimes self- selected, whose contacts in turn are made available by the service (Ellison and boyd 2007, p. 2).

Social Media Important to include both interactive and networking functions of social media (i.e. possibilities for user-centric multipath communication and collaboration, what is often implied as the “social” in social media, which is a very narrow understanding of the social, see Fuchs, 2014, ch. 2). Without downplay their broadcasting functions that continue to be central for social media practices

Social Media Jenkins, Ford & Green’s (2013) account of social media as “spreadable”. Spreading (cf. Sharing). Kaplan and Haenlein’s (2010, p. 60) definition of social media as internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of web 2.0

Activist Identification Turkle concluded already in 1995 that computers in general, and the internet in particular, redefine the ways humans negotiate their identities Social media platforms also influence the ways individuals negotiate their activist identities and communicate their political positions A marker of contemporary activist participation in connected societies is the increasing use of social media platforms

Activist Identification social media platforms increasingly afford the exploration and expression of multi-faceted identities (expressive rationality) How individuals negotiate their collective identities as activists and how these identities contribute to the collective action? Processes of identification as driving forces/incentives for collective actions

Activist Identification The importance of the “Other”

Activist Identification the ordinary people, opposed to the politicians, The emptiness/ vagueness of the signifier “Us” protecting the city from Nazis, protecting the constitution, protecting religious values, as well as the broader project of anarchism and anti-fascism vague “equivalent bonds” The Left – vs. the Right

Activist Identification Freedom of speech - pro grass roots democracy Action Frames Authoritarian politicians vs. ordinary citizens The Left – vs the Right

A Typology of Activists What types of activist identifications could we see? Focusing on identifications – we depart from a radical democratic perspective If the other is seen as an adversary or enemy Difference between “militants” (acting in civil disobedience (seeing themselves as activist)) and supporters of such activists (which arguably has become more easy with social media

A Typology of Activists

Activists and Power What about power relations within activist demands/ groups? Networking power -being in a position, or being positioned in a network to exert influence by setting the agenda and defining the reality as well as getting the attention for the information you spread. Depends on recognition social media have specific mechanisms (algorithms) for the generation of reputation (which in turn determines who’s information will get noticed or not (van Dijck, 2013)

Activists and Power Activist are seen as forming social field in which positions are negotiated through interactions between field specific values, the activists habitus and capital Core-periphery positions (who engaged/ were engaged by others Value of location bound community Value of being proactive (rather than reactive) Values of connectiveness and responsiveness

Activists and Power Habitus – a kind of luggage giving the activist a sense of knowing how to navigate the field Belief in change (interlinked with the value of being active) Animal rights movement Engagement in non profit cinema Student councils (Nations) Scout movement

Activists and Power Capital – a social relationship, an energy/ resource that exists and produce its effects within the field its being used Participating capital Mobilizing capital Connecting capital Engaging capital

Activists and Power

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