Actions Of Activists Research Articles

Digital Activism as a Sociopolitical Phenomenon: an Integrated Analytical Model

Research goal: To map actions of digital activism and categorize them according to their purpose. Theoretical framework: Discussions about potential combinations between different forms of digital activism and traditional activism, in addition to considerations about different conceptions of strategy, form the theoretical framework of this study. Methodology: The categorization was carried out according to the content analysis technique. Results: The research analyzed case studies published between 2008 and 2018 related to digital activism, hacktivism, data activism and cyberactivism, categorizing activist actions into 12 modalities and three main categories to create a model for analyzing digital activism. Originality: By focusing on the purpose of activist actions, this study demonstrates how the same purpose can be achieved through different actions, in addition to allowing the prognosis of actions that were not found in the literature. Theoretical and practical contributions: The work presents a set of tactics found in the literature review carried out, offering a representation of the possibilities of action that allow the reach of the activists' objectives according to their strategies.

The Growing Problem of ‘Cop-Baiting’ by the Public

The political landscape has shifted, and police are increasingly the target of activist actions aimed at discrediting the institution and its members. Police must be more proactive in managing communications during political and other events. External communications – particularly monitoring and responding to social media posts across multiple platforms – should be a key component of incident and public order command and not an afterthought. Combating misinformation requires faster and/or real-time information release when possible, including photographs, live streaming, body-worn and dash camera footage, and other videos from events.

Unmasking Consumer Behavior: A Deep Dive into Brand Boycotts in the Social Media Age – Exploring Filipino Demographic Variances, Perceptual Constructs, and Activist Actions

The effectiveness of boycotting brands and companies as a means of nonviolent protest has come under increasing examination due to various factors affecting the lives of individuals and organizations involved in such movements. This study aims to learn the various elements of a boycott and assess its effectiveness. The study utilizes descriptive-correlational quantitative research methods to measure consumer’s perceptions of boycotted brands. A random sample of 18–45-year-olds, including both working professionals and students, can capture a wide range of opinions, providing a measurable view of public sentiment and its correlation with boycott practices. The results of this study show that boycotts are an effective way to raise awareness. Although its focus is on social media platforms, which can fundamentally limit the reach and impact of boycott campaigns, research shows that boycott campaigns can still bring forth a call for action to create change. In our society, where social media has a significant influence, especially in the marketing environment, using these platforms for activism can have tangible results. The study acknowledges the limitations of the boycott, particularly its reliance on social media, but emphasizes its potential as a means for dialogue and social change.

Public Demonstrations in Bulgaria and the Faces of Bulgarian Activism Today: A Case Study of the 2022 Lukov March and a Counter-Demonstration Organised by Feminist Mobilisations

This article is a case study of the 2022 Lukov March and a counter-demonstration to this march. The Lukov March is an annual event organised in Sofia by the far-right Bulgarian National Union, and the so-called Anti-Lukov March is a counter-demonstration organised by, among others, the group called Feminist Mobilisations. The article is based on two years of research conducted while working on a co-authored master’s thesis, involving netnography, participant observation and narrative interviews with women who identify with feminist or far-right activism. The study aims to analyse both events and both groups in the context of performative activist actions in the urban space of Sofia, with a particular focus on the issue of the performative body and performance in social space. In our work, we use the method of critical discourse analysis and anthropological methods.

Immigrant activism and emotional strategies for online deliberation: case of the webpage Brasileiras não se calam

This paper investigates how mediatization theories, and the notion of public sphere and deliberation are articulated by personal narratives as an emotional discursive strategy and interactional device aimed at online deliberation. For this purpose, we examine the case of the Instagram page “Brasileiras não se calam,” an activist organization that denounces cases of misogyny and xenophobia experienced by Brazilian women in Europe. Specifically, we analyze the commentaries under a harassment report. As a result, we argue that the personal report is an important interactional device for fostering public debate and for developing concrete activist actions against discriminatory situations.

Safety and Security Battles: Unpacking the Players and Arenas of the Safe Standing Movement in English Football (1989–2022)

This article advances recent debates on social movement (relational) fields, outcomes, and successes by suggesting that the analysis of such fields as a whole must be temporal. The relational interpersonal and intersubjective choices made by interdependent actors in social life take place in fields of interaction, but these interactions and their networks of social relations have a history. Hence, the social movement field is characterised by multiple temporal periods through which the actions of activists both shape and are shaped by the long-term socio-political environments in which they are embedded. To develop this analysis, we identify a football supporter-movement in England, ‘Safe Standing’, revealing the complex interplay of cultural and technological patterns of interaction across the compelling timeframes and orientations of a 30-year movement field. Adopting a theoretical framework which synthesises research on the strategic interactions of movement ‘players’ and ‘arenas’, and sport-focused security fields, we identify a series of compound and sub-players across the political, symbolic, mediatised, technological, and legislative arenas which constitute the security field of contention, in what is an under-researched lifeworld in sociology.

The Effect of Exogenous Critical Events on the Mobilization of Digital Social Movements

We study the effect of exogenous critical events on the mobilization of digital social movements in the context of Finnish citizens’ initiatives. Critical events are occurrences that direct unusual and high levels of public attention to an issue for a brief and limited point in time. We argue that critical events mobilize social movements because they focus attention on movement issues, trigger activating emotions, and synchronize the actions of activists. Our study combines data from the Finnish justice ministry, the national public broadcasting agency YLE, Google Trends search interest data, and hand-collected data from online sources for a sample of 573 initiatives. We find that critical events greatly increase the mobilization of supporters for initiatives. Critical events increase mobilization especially when events are unpredicted or stay salient for longer times. Media attention and coalition resources also increase mobilization. Our findings suggest that timing can substitute for coalition resources. The combination of critical events and high coalition resources is rare as only small coalitions seem to be quick enough to mobilize in response to critical events. The results imply that timing matters but that it is difficult for large and well-resourced coalitions to time campaigns opportunistically.

Political catastrophe and firm strategies: Evidence from the capitol riot

This study explores firms’ reactions to the 2021 U.S. Capitol Attack. We find that firms donating more to the 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election are more likely to speak out against the Capitol Attack to suspend political contributions. By doing so, firms mitigate negative stock market reactions and subsequently lower their political risk. Suspension of corporate political donations has profound impacts on the 147 Republicans that they almost lost all political contributions from private sectors right after the Capitol Attack. Our findings suggest that, when facing unexpected political catastrophes, firms make strategic political activist actions.

Love or crime? Law-making and the policing of teenage sexuality in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo

ABSTRACT Age-of-consent legislation serves to protect children from sexual abuse. In Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, however, the reform of laws against sexual violence has led to a criminalisation of non-violent and consensual sexual interactions with and between underage teenagers. These reforms have been inspired by evolving international norms, but discourses in both countries emphasised the regulation of female and youth sexuality over norms of self-determination. This contribution unpacks the interlocking actions of activists, parliaments, police, judges and parents, which turned protective anti-sexual violence legislation into an instrument of patriarchal control. Methodologically, the comparative analysis charts discourses and practices in both countries based on ethnographic, qualitative and statistical data. We trace legislative debates, demonstrate the significance of policing and prosecution of consensual youth sexuality, and discuss incentives for police and justice institutions to engage in this field. We contrast young people’s diverse views on underage sexuality with parental attempts to uphold patriarchal norms with the help of the police. The conclusion discusses the social cost of criminalising consensual teenage sexuality and asks whether these violent interventions indicate a crisis of patriarchal authority.

Incidence of Activist Actions on Politically Connected Companies: Examining a ‘Cost’ of Connection

Despite both politicians and activists residing in the non-market sphere, research at their interface has been scarce. Our understanding of the dynamics of the firm’s relationship with these non-market stakeholders is inadequate. This study partly addresses this void by arguing that the presence of board political connections (BPC) results in the firm being preferred as a target by activists. Two mechanisms are suggested: i. association with politicians imposes higher normative expectations on the firm, resulting in it being held more accountable for violations, ii. violations by such firms generate higher media interest, thereby drawing the attention of other activists – resulting in the lowering of the costs of mobilization, as well as the risks of reprisal for the activist(s) involved the action(s). For empirical analysis, I utilize, among others, a novel dataset covering activist actions from the years 2010 to 2016. I restricted my analysis to firms located in the US and employed a variety of identification techniques to alleviate endogeneity concerns. The results reveal that politically connected firms are more likely to receive activist actions and face greater number of actions. Moreover, actions on such firms are likely to elicit harsher criticism from activists and also generate higher media coverage.

An impossible public problem or the paradox of activist resistance: Unwillingly depoliticizing immigrants’ schooling in France

In France as in other European countries, access to education for immigrants beyond compulsory schooling is selectively achieved, through a triage implemented by education administrations. Support organizations are increasingly solicited on this matter. Considering the twofold policy role of non-profits which both act as advocates and providers, this paper sheds light on the reciprocal relationship between the way activists manage enrollment in education and the way this issue is framed in the public sphere. Indeed, militants play a gatekeeping role and can discretely negotiate the access to school at the margins of the official institution. Nevertheless, because this struggle for education is individualized and silent, this issue is not likely to become a public and visible cause, around which a political reaction from public authorities could be claimed. Hence, while they largely counteract the infringement of the right to education, the actions of activists paradoxically participate in making it socially acceptable. That is why, beyond the case of immigrant education, the analysis eventually provides an empirical understanding of the social conditions of the construction of education public problems.

Installation Art and the Issue of Gentrification: Exploring the Expanded Scenography of Zelige Door on Golborne Road

The concept of expanded scenography is applied to the analysis of the design and public interaction with the multisensory digital art installation Zelige Door on Golborne Road. This is an attempt to re-think visual and live art practices with communities and the creation of immersive digital environments in terms of a “scenographic ecology of relations.” The analysis aims to reconceptualise the field of environmental-centric live performance in the digital context by exploring an art installation designed to facilitate a synchronic dialogue amongst different design elements and participants on issues related to the aesthetics of the place, urban development, Community Memories, heritage and migration. Concepts such as participatory dramaturgy and remediation will be employed to analyse and theoretically locate the expanded scenography of relations of Zelige Door on Golborne Road within the wider context of activist actions in Britain aimed at preserving and making visible the intangible heritage of migrant communities in contested urban areas undergoing gentrification.

The Neutrality Pyramid: A policy framework to distribute power over the net

The internet used to be considered as a catalyst of positive social change. Yet such claims have become rare. Structured as a document for action in four steps, this report seeks to provide a rough compass for those trying to understand the underlying causes of much of what is problematic with the internet and the web today. I argue that paying attention to who shapes internet traffic (and how) is crucial. It will allow us to understand the connection between issues often considered unrelated (such as net neutrality and misinformation), as well as to anticipate challenges that are yet to emerge. Step 1: Understanding the context: How the internet came to be seated on the defendant’s bench. Here I describe how the inventors and developers of the internet and the web upheld the principle of decentralization to ensure the network was robust in the face of failure, and how this sparked hope for systematically excluded groups that had long been marginalized from public debate. I then describe four types of problems for which the web is often considered responsible, and explain the subset of these that I believe can be resolved through digital policies, narrowing the scope of this report to the issue of centralization. Step 2: Understanding the present and future risks triggered by a centralized information system. Here I describe how the internet and the web have been centralized. I explain how, given the characteristics of the process of centralization, the ongoing deployment of connected devices (also known as internet of things), as well as the growing developments in the fields of augmented reality and virtual reality are likely going to fuel the process of centralization further. Lastly, focusing on search and person-to-person communications, I explore the types of risks centralization poses to the present and future of our political system. Step 3: Deploying the Neutrality Pyramid framework in order to redistribute power. Here I present the Neutrality Pyramid, a framework around which we can rally to neutralize the process of centralization and reduce the scope of power of the incumbent gatekeepers. After explaining how and why the framework builds upon and extends the definition of net neutrality to other layers of the stack, I describe the technological, regulatory and activist actions taking place around the globe to forward and enforce the principles of net neutrality, device neutrality, platform neutrality and personal control over personal data. Step 4: Enabling robust public deliberation towards a positive agenda. I go beyond negative actions and explain how the Neutrality Pyramid can enable the development of a positive agenda. I explain that even though the neutrality principle presupposes a hands-off approach, it does include a set of exceptions enshrined by law. I argue that we should leverage the process of defining such exceptions as a means to ensure the institutions of democracy play a role in guiding the process of development of the internet, and I suggest some of the key questions public officials need to put forward. This section then discusses the development of public infrastructure and services as a way to bake democratic institutions into the growing digital sphere. In the Conclusion, I outline the backdrop of weakened governments and global institutions of governance in which the upcoming debates regarding digital policy will take place, and the challenges the cold war discourse, with its militaristic undertones, poses in this context.

Offences and Procedures in the Iranian and United State Capital Markets

Economic development in the today's societies has provided the bed for development of economic offences and consequently, the offences relevant to stock exchange. Today, one of the simplest and sometime safest ways to make money can be investment in field of stock exchange. Investing personal money through investment in economic cycle has helped economic cycle a lot and has prevented inflation and stagnation in this cycle and on the other hand, it has provided conditions for some offences. Stock exchange can be a good platform to commit classic offences such as betrayal of trust, theft and fraud and also can ease offences such as different types of fraud, cybercrimes and so on. Therefore, the governments have always thought about controlling and protecting the capital and the investors to prevent the chaos in the stock exchange and consequently, economy of the society. The actions of activists in the capital market, which are against the principles and regulations of the market, can be classified in 3 groups: 1. Regulative offences 2. Disputes 3. Offences. The occurrence of any of these acts is inevitable and can pave the way for distort of regulation and the security of governor on the investment activities of the states. Therefore, this study has attempted to consider the abovementioned issues as much as possible in Iran and US countries. Then, the study tends to analyze and investigate the supervising officials and tends at last to present types of lawsuits and procedures for them in field of stock exchange.

On Ignoring Risk

This paper explores the political impact of protest actions that explicitly make use of performance practices in their execution, and takes the activist work of Margaretta D’Arcy as the central object of analysis. Concentrating on D’Arcy’s protest actions at Shannon Airport and her subsequent trial(s), the paper examines the ways in which Ireland’s ‘Guantanamo Granny’ tries to engage the Irish state in a ‘meaningful’ public debate about its ‘complicity’ in the global ‘war on terror’, despite a stated position of neutrality. This debate, the essay argues, is facilitated in part by D’Arcy’s capacity to turn the legal and disciplinary systems of the state back on themselves, so to speak. The contention is that by ‘ignoring’ risk, both physical and legal, and leveraging a lifetime’s experience and understanding of theatre and performance as a mechanism of protest, D’Arcy’s performative activist actions render the state ‘ridiculous’ socially, politically and legally.

The Performance Document: Assimilations of Gesture and Genre

Artist or activist actions and performances often take place just once and are intended to be experienced live. These actions are recorded and disseminated through photography and video taken from a range of perspectives, from paid-up and pre-briefed “professional” photographers or videographers through to spontaneously taken images by audience members or passers-by. Inevitably “documentation” is never neutral and these records are infused with the stylistic intervention and conventions of the photographer in question. Within our conversation, we locate the performance document as the site of a potential two-way assimilation of gesture and stylistic attributes of diverse photographic conventions. In our co-writing, we track parallel analyses of photographs taken by commercial photographer Françoise Masson of the 1970s actions of artist Gina Pane and the utilization of photographs within the contemporary lens-based practice of Dinu Li, in which gesture and conventions are assimilated and move fluidly backwards and forwards between political propaganda, film, documentary, and domestic photography.

O socjologię nieracjonalnego działania. Recenzja książki Marka Nowaka pt. Teoria nieracjonalnego działania. Socjologiczne studium na temat wolontariatu i społecznego aktywizmu, Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM, Poznań 2015

Celem niniejszego artykułu recenzyjnego jest „pozytywna krytyka” – tak jak pojmowali ją Max Weber, a za nim wielu socjologów, m.in. Stanisław Kozyr-Kowalski – głównych tez oraz pól problemowych zawartych w książce Marka Nowaka pt. Teoria nieracjonalnego działania. Główne z nich to: teza o przeracjonalizowaniu współczesnej socjologii, szczególnie socjologii działania, próby teoretycznej rekonceptualizacji działań „nieracjonalnych” w odwołaniu do idei voluntas, następnie zaś dyskusja wokół warunków strukturalnych dla działań aktywistycznych. Szczególnie istotny wydaje się w tym kontekście problem badań nad trzecim sektorem oraz ambiwalentny kontekst jego postępującej NGO-izacji. Wszystkie wskazane wątki zostały poddane krytycznej dyskusji.

‘Making space public’ through occupation: The Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Canberra

Through the actions of activists involved in the Arab Spring uprisings, European anti-austerity movements and the Occupy and Umbrella movements among others, long-term occupations of public space have re-entered the repertoire of insurgent social movements to spectacular effect. These events have dramatised the challenges and limits of occupation as a spatial strategy for ‘making space public’. This paper seeks to make a contribution to the critical geographical literatures on occupation and public space, through analysis of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy – a politically motivated occupation of a patch of land in the Australian capital that is now entering its 45th year. The Embassy activists mobillised occupation in the process of making and sustaining a counterpublic. Counterpublic participants face a distinct set of geographical challenges in making space for both withdrawal and representation in the face of spatial subordination. Occupations like the Embassy seek to resolve these challenges by combining both of these activities in a single site. The Embassy draws our attention to two important sets of issues in relation to the counterpublic geography of occupations. First, it has much to teach about how space is made public through occupation, including dynamics related to the location, duration, reproduction and relations of occupation. Second, the Embassy issues a challenge about whose space is made public through occupation – as an embodied enactment of indigenous sovereignty, the Embassy reminds us that democratic politics in settler colonial nations like Australia is premised on a violent dispossession that has yet to be fully acknowledged or addressed.

A biopolítica do corpo feminino em estratégias contemporâneas de ativismo digital

Resumo: Neste trabalho, observamos a utilização da imagem do corpo feminino como uma estratégia recorrente em ações ativistas em diferentes partes do mundo. Os elementos estético-políticos do corpo, historicamente utilizados pelas artes, tais como o nu, a dor, o erotismo e a identidade (ou o anonimato) são reconduzidos para um projeto de cultura ativa e participativa dentro das redes de comunicação digital. Nossa análise insere-se no campo da biopolítica e faz uso de três exemplos recentes: os autorretratos da egípcia Aliaa Magda Elmahdy e as ações dos coletivos Pussy Riot (Rússia) e Femen (Ucrânia).

Victim Blaming, Protests, and Public Space: News Coverage of the Occupy Wall Street Sexual Assaults

Occupy Wall Street was a national protest centered on wealth redistribution and sparked a national dialogue about economic reform. The movement faced internal challenges of crime occurring in the camps including sexual assault; these crimes were covered by news outlets as part of their Occupy Wall Street coverage. This article will expand upon previous feminist research on sexual violence news coverage by using a feminist media analysis to examine the coverage of sexual assaults occurring during Occupy Wall Street. Previous feminist research on sexual assault coverage argues that newspapers use myths about rape to discredit the crime and blame the victim. I argue that the coverage of sexual assaults during Occupy Wall Street used a “blame the victim” narrative to link the participation of women protesting in public space to gender based violence. I will explore how the actions of activists, the physical space of Occupy camps and the lack of crime prevention of the protesters and police were used by reporters to shift the blame from the perpetrator onto the victim. News coverage is considered an objective source of information so biased narratives of sexual assaults can reinforce society's traditional ideology about sexual assault, which can affect the needs of survivors.