Arab Spring: Communication and Collective Action

Arab Spring Collective Action / Media Revolution In what way is it possible to understand collective protest as a general phenomenon? Under what circumstances does digital media technology have political consequences?

Arab Spring and Digital Media 5 Phases Preparation Phase Shared Content of Injustice Creates Community of Dissent Ignition Phase Dramatic event creates “Cognitive Liberation” in which individual anger forms collective community of outrage Street Protests Collective community of outrage targets public space for collective action International Outreach Protestors draw from diasporas and target international media to isolate the regime Climax Phase Protests succeed or succumb to counter-movement in a protracted war, ideological or real

Howard / Hussain Theory of Collective Action and Communication Digital media helped turn individualized, localized, and community-specific dissent and outrage into a structured movement with a collective consciousness about shared plights and opportunities for action. Phillip N. Howard, and Muzzamil M Hussain, Democracy's Fourth Wave: Digital Media and the Arab Spring (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), p. 25.

Merlyna Lim Network Theory of Collective Action and Communication Social movements can be understood in terms of an initial cluster of strong ties – a core group -- that then mobilizes weakly-linked individuals through social media, spreading discontent into a mass movement. Merlyna Lim, “Clicks, Cabs, and Coffeehouses: Social Media and Oppositional Movements in Egypt, 2004–2011,” Journal of Communication, Vol. 62, no. 2 (2012), pp 231–48, p. 234.

Blowback The Unintended Consequences of Social Movements