Virtuous networks: Machiavelli, speed and global social movements

Abstract

This article uses accounts of the different ‘Facebook Revolutions’ of 2011–2012 (the Arab Spring, European Anti-Austerity protests, Occupy) to speak to a broader narrative in contemporary culture: the cyber-utopian belief in social media as a fast track to political change. To critique this narrative, the article turns to the work of Machiavelli (specifically the vision of temporality expressed in his concept of fortuna). Machiavelli’s nuanced theory of politics, with its attentiveness to both slow-moving community-building, as well as audacious, fast-moving action, makes him ideal for thinking through transnational activism in a globalized and accelerating world. Such a framework can help us think critically about social media, avoiding the pitfalls of cyber-utopianism, while embracing opportunities that information technologies might provide us with. It also reorients our thinking about Machiavelli, rescuing him from his caricature as a ‘thinker of speed’, instead highlighting his attentiveness to the multiple temporalities of political life.