{"id":197,"date":"2021-11-06T18:20:43","date_gmt":"2021-11-06T17:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpmu.mau.se\/nmict21group5\/?p=197"},"modified":"2024-04-19T12:00:18","modified_gmt":"2024-04-19T10:00:18","slug":"new-media-and-activism-for-social-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmu.mau.se\/nmict21group5\/2021\/11\/06\/new-media-and-activism-for-social-change\/","title":{"rendered":"New media and activism for social change"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This blog post will be based on my previous publications with New Media, New World<\/a> project. It was developed within the theme \u2018New media, activism and development\u2019 and spoke about stories of change-makers around the world and how activism is happening in and through social media.<\/p>\n

While new media activism pursues social change agendas and is \u201cbroadly conceived as a public assembly of critical voices mobilized against injustice\u201d (Ristovska, 2021, p.8), the dark side or the \u201cblack activism\u201d in social media is unfortunately an augmenting global tendency (for instance check out Esme\u2019s, my colleague’s from New Media, New World,<\/em> post about persecutions of activists: \u201cAttacks on activists and the double edged sword of digital development\u201d<\/a>).<\/p>\n

In this entry, I will combine insights from my previous posts<\/a> into a coherent structure and will discuss the positive aspect of empowerment through new media.<\/p>\n

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The good and the bad of new media<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

When marginalized groups are enabled to create content according to their own knowledge, then they do \u201cchallenge the racism, sexism, and post-colonial power inequalities that form part of the landscape of the online environment and the resources or content available\u201d (O\u2019Donnell and Sweetman, 2018, p.222). Social media offers a platform where these voices can be heard:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf development is seen as a process designed to enable people to free themselves from structural disadvantage, ICTs for development need to be seen in terms of their scope to help do this\u201d (O\u2019Donnell and Sweetman, 2018, p.219).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

New media can contribute to empowerment of marginalized and vulnerable members of the global society. However, the same new media platforms also allow for an online abuse, especially against women (again, I would like to refer to another post by Esme about global trends in online violence against women journalists \u201d#JournalistsToo: The chilling effect of gendered violence online\u201d<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Should the owners of new media platforms take more responsibility, or should governments take action to prevent spreading the hate online? Unfortunately, in authoritarian contexts, it\u2019s those same governments that have learned how to \u201cstrike back\u201d online to block opposition from organizing protests. Their target is at the individual level:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe aim of twenty-first-century powers is to break the causal chain linking information dissemination to the generation of individual will and agency, individual will and agency to protests, and protests to social movement action. Rather than attempt to break the first link, information dissemination, censorship through information glut focuses on the second link, weakening the agency that might be generated by information\u201d (Tufekci, 2017, p.229).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While these adverse aspects of participation in new media can\u2019t be ignored, in my own New Media, New World<\/em>posts I wanted to talk about how social change can be carried off by successful online protests and to look at some positive examples of impactful new media campaigns and emphasize their encouraging impact.<\/p>\n

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How new media can help challenge structural inequalities<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

In my first (ever) published individual post called \u201c#NotAnotherAuthor and social change on Twitter\u201d<\/a>, I followed up on my essay submitted last semester (Spring 2021, Malm\u00f6 University, Communication For Development Master programme) for the course \u201cCommunication, Culture and Media Analysis\u201d, under theme \u2018Difference and power: representations of gender, race and class\u2019. The reason for the follow up was that my previous topic examined a hashtag protest on Twitter. It is very closely linked to\u00a0New Media, New World’s<\/em>\u00a0core theme of \u2018New media, activism and development\u2019.<\/p>\n

To briefly remind of the issues presented in the post, it was based on a tweet<\/a> by the contemporary British novelist Bernardine Evaristo, that she wrote as a response to the 2019 Booker Prize winner announcement, when on a television program a BBC news presenter excluded her name in saying that the award was shared between the renowned writer Margaret Atwood (for \u201cThe Testaments\u201d) and \u201canother author\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Booker Prize is a high-profile literary award in the British culture and grants significant international publicity. Bernardine Evaristo is the first black woman and the first black British person to win this prestigious award for her novel \u201cGirl, Woman, Other\u201d<\/a>. The book depicts experiences of black British women and their struggles with various forms of oppression and portrays their agency in addressing racism, inequality and stereotypes.<\/p>\n

Bernardine Evaristo\u2019s tweet was followed by a wave of support (9,800 retweets using emotionally charged hashtags like #BlackWoman, #SayHerName, #NotAnotherAuthor, #BBCBias<\/em>, #NotGoodEnough, <\/em>as well as 1,100 quote tweets and 13.6k likes, including a retweet by the co-winner Margaret Atwood<\/a>). BBC reacted and apologized<\/a>\u00a0saying that the presenter was speaking live without a script.<\/p>\n

My academic essay looked at structural erasure in representations of black women in modern British society and analyzed the tweet within a theoretical context of \u201cotherness\u201d and black feminism, as well as explored the potential of Twitter\u2019s connective action to foster social change. Analysis of intersectional gender and race representation in traditional (BBC) versus social media platforms demonstrated that new communication forms can help the silenced voices of excluded groups of \u201cothers\u201d be heard.<\/p>\n

Finally, my blog post \u201c#NotAnotherAuthor and social change on Twitter\u201d<\/a> was also a recommendation to fellow student\u2019s (or anyone else\u2019s who would come across the post) \u00a0to add \u201cGirl, Woman, Other\u201d<\/a> to their personal reading list \u2013 or to select any other book from the \u201cBlack Britain: Writing Back\u201d<\/a> project, curated by Bernardine Evaristo. To sum up, \u201cGirl, Woman, Other\u201d and the controversies around it are an excellent example of how new media can help transform structurally embedded inequalities.<\/p>\n

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ICT4W: agency, ability, and breaking news<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cOnline activism is challenging the daily, demoralizing violence that women have endured until now. It does this by naming, outing and combating violence and the harmful social norms and attitudes that drive it, and enabling women and girls who have survived it to call it out and challenge the perpetrators\u201d (O\u2019Donnell and Sweetman, 2018, p.224).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

New Media, New World<\/a> blog has touched upon some impactful social media campaigns led by women of the Global North. For instance, \u201cBreaking the rules for social change\u201d<\/a> talked about the Olympics and how the Norwegian women\u2019s volleyball team protested sexualized official attires refusing to wear them again:<\/p>\n

\u201cRisking expulsion and penalty fees, the pushbacks have resulted in a turning point for women athletes, who are taking control of their rights and image in the international spotlights, reflected all over social media. The online activism that has taken place on Instagram, Twitter, and the news in general, is not only a step in the right direction but a strong message that we need to change the way we sexualize women and drive positive social change in our constructed and oppressive societies\u201d (Post by Felicia, New Media, New World<\/em>, 2021-10-30).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When we speak about Global South (which is however not a unitary category, as neither Global North is), some scholars claim that \u201cgender should be seen as a central issue in our understanding of ICTs [information and communication technologies] in developing countries\u201d (Walsham, 2017, p.26). Our emphasis should be put on women as key players in ensuring diversity, equity and inclusion. In this regard, digital platforms provide with spaces to fight gender-based brutality and enable activists to achieve substantial changes around the world at local, national and global levels (O\u2019Donnell and Sweetman, 2018, p.217), for instance:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to collective action and mobilisation through #MeToo, local online campaigns like #mydressmychoice and #iwillgoout, have led to concrete actions and outcomes that benefit women\u201d (O\u2019Donnell and Sweetman, 2018, p.218).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Academic research as well indicates that the ICT4D\u2019s (ICTs for development) potential to impact and ultimately change gender relations goes from removing focus on access and emphasizing empowerment (O\u2019Donnell and Sweetman, 2018, p.220).<\/p>\n

However, as another New Media, New World<\/em> post about impactful social media campaign for women\u2019s rights\u201cHow local turns global: Should movements be represented in the same way regardless of where they are in the world?\u201d<\/a> concluded that \u201csocial media is a great way for movements to start, and for awareness to be raised. However, until usage and safety measures can be addressed, it may be that methods that work in the developed world are not the right fit for the developing world at present\u201d (post by Let\u2019s go digital (pseudonym), New Media, New World<\/em>, 2021-10-25).<\/p>\n

So how can ICTs empower women who are \u201cliving challenging lives in difficult contexts\u201d (O\u2019Donnell and Sweetman, 2018, p.220)? A case study by Hussain and Amin (2018), conducted in urban areas of Afghanistan, revealed how at a household level confrontation with controlling and policing men prevents women from exercising their \u2018transformative\u2019 agency, that in principle should be enabled by ICTs (O\u2019Donnell and Sweetman, 2018, p.220).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#DoNotTouchMyClothes protest<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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My second New Media, New World<\/em> blog post \u201c#DoNotTouchMyClothes protest\u201d <\/a>showcased an online campaign led by the expat Afghan women. It seeks to address current human right violations and gender-directed restrictions imposed by the Taliban rule. On Twitter and Instagram #AfghanWomen post pictures of themselves wearing traditional attire seeking to defend the image of a woman in Afghanistan culture<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This ongoing online protest revolves around #DoNotTouchMyClothes<\/a> and #AfghanistanCulture<\/a> hashtags. It was started in September, following women led street demonstrations in major cities in Afghanistan, by the international development expert and gender specialist, former history professor at the American University in Kabul Dr. Bahar Jalali<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Digitally networked protests offer ability to organize without formal organizations, which \u201cspeeds things up and allows for great scale in rapid times\u201d (Tufekci, 2017, p.xiii). Activism happening in and through the new media seeks to maintain the momentum of traditional media picking up on their struggle:<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a key instrument for publicity, journalism helps recognize and legitimize human rights violations as they unfold. In this sense, it gives human rights collectives a vehicle for immediacy, recognition, and agenda setting while also serving as a platform for branding and fund-raising\u201d (Ristovska, 2021, p.178).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Moreover, \u201conline communications can post breaking news and almost instantaneously create movements to challenge injustices\u201d (O\u2019Donnell and Sweetman, 2018, p.224). As in any protest, sustaining media attention is of crucial importance, it is also a declared goal<\/a> of #DoNotTouchMyClothes protest. Here are some selected examples of #DoNotTouchMyClothes making international headlines:<\/p>\n