64 research outputs found
The data in our faces
No full textA recent encounter at a London airport leads Veronica Barassi to reflect on the increasingly pervasive nature of facial recognition technology, and the implications of such data capture for our children’s privacy and surveillance. Veronica Barassi is an anthropologist and Faculty Member in the Department of Media and Communications at Goldsmiths University of London, where she convenes the BA Anthropology and Media Degree and teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students
My child is an anarchist, a feminist, a communist
No full textVeronica Barassi explores digital parenthood and the everyday construction of children’s digital profiles. She argues that children’s data flows are not only connected to questions about identity and privacy, but to new questions about ‘digital citizenship’. Veronica is an anthropologist in the Department of Media and Communications at Goldsmiths University. She is one of the founders of the Goldsmiths Media Ethnography Group and principal investigator on the ‘Social Movements and Media Technologies: Present Challenges and Future Developments’ ESRC Seminar series
Social media time, identity narratives and the construction of political biographies
No full textThe question of identity narrative is at the core of the interaction between social movements and temporalities. In this paper, we draw on long-term qualitative research amongst activists engaged in Italian social movements and argue that identity narratives are often the result of a complex mnemonic, contradictory and open-ended process that spans through a life-time of engagement with multiple collectives. We then question whether the use of social media reshape these dynamics. The analysis shows that the construction of identity narratives on social media tends to take place with knowledge of the complexity and overlaps that characterise these processes online. Nevertheless, the temporality of social media, based on immediacy, archival and predictive time, challenges the unpredictable, contradictory, and open-ended nature of political identity construction offline. The need to escape the hegemonic temporalities of social media poses new challenges to activists in their creative agency.The question of identity narrative is at the core of the interaction between social movements and temporalities. In this paper, we draw on long-term qualitative research amongst activists engaged in Italian social movements and argue that identity narratives are often the result of a complex mnemonic, contradictory and open-ended process that spans through a life-time of engagement with multiple collectives. We then question whether the use of social media reshape these dynamics. The analysis shows that the construction of identity narratives on social media tends to take place with knowledge of the complexity and overlaps that characterise these processes online. Nevertheless, the temporality of social media, based on immediacy, archival and predictive time, challenges the unpredictable, contradictory, and open-ended nature of political identity construction offline. The need to escape the hegemonic temporalities of social media poses new challenges to activists in their creative agen..
Social Media Activism, Self-Representation and the Construction of Political Biographies
No full textThis chapter will provide a overview of the current literature on social media activism. It will show that so far scholars questioned and analysed the different ways in which political activists are appropriating and using social media technologies, to organize and partake into collective actions and mass protests (Gerbaudo, 2012; Cammaerts et al, 2013; Mattoni, 2012; Barassi and Treré, 2012; Barassi, 2015; Kavada, 2014; Castells, 2012; Dencik and Leistert, 2015; Wolfson, 2014; Postill, 2014). They also investigated the complex relationship between technological affordances and the emergence of new political repertoires of protest (Gerbaudo, 2015; Wolfson, 2014) and considered collective understandings of online political identity construction (Kavada, 2015; Milan, 2015). Yet, the chapter will argue that very little attention has been placed on a fundamental aspect of social media activism: the relationship between political self-construction, digital storytelling and identity narratives.
Whilst some communication scholars in the past have considered the relationship between digital storytelling and ‘alternative’ publics (Toft and Bennett 2008; Couldry, 2008), within the current literature on social media activism the only example of work, which tackles the complex relationship between the self-construction of political activists, identity narratives and digital storytelling is the work of Vivienne (2016), which explores activists’ need to use digital technologies as tools for self construction through narratives. The chapter will thus try to overcome such gap in the field by introducing the concept of digital ‘political biography’. Drawing on an the findings of an ethnographic study of activists in Italy, the UK and Spain the chapter will argue that social media have become a platform where activists construct their political biographies with reference to both civic engagement and family life. The understanding of the interconnection between social media technologies and political biographies amongst activists is particularly important today, because it can enable us to ask questions about the tension between the creative elements of social media practices for political activists and the broader political economic implications activists data flows on the commercial Web
Contested Visions: Digital Discourses as Empty Signifiers from the ‘Network’ to ‘Big Data’
No full textThis paper engages with two key concepts that define our digital cultures: the ‘network’ and ‘big data’. It critically considers how these concepts are often framed by techno-utopian or techno-dystopian political understandings of historical transformation. In the last years, the relationship between technological discourses and political visions, has lead to the emergence of critical research in the field (Mosco, 2004; Hindeman, 2010; Morozov, 2011, 2013). This research has shown that we cannot fully understand digital discourses without considering the very Western belief that technological innovation necessarily leads to new political possibilities. By drawing on the findings of a cross-cultural ethnographic research amongst three different political groups in Europe, this paper argues that current research in the field has focused too long on how digital discourse is shaped by Western meta-narratives of technological progress. This is to detriment to a careful consideration of the fact that different political actors discorsively construct digital technologies with reference to different political visions. Understanding these contested visions, the paper will show, is of central importance as it could enable us to appreciate that digital discourses have become today ‘empty signifiers’ (Laclau, 1996), which define the basis of contemporary hegemonic struggles
Datafied Citizens: Civic Engagement on Social Media, Political Data Flows and the Question of Political Profiling
No full textThis article will show that in the study of social media activism we need to critically investigate the relationship between political data flows and digital traces and to highlight the multiple and complex ways in which social media use is tightly interconnected to the processes of political profiling. The scope of this article is one of openness and inquiry. Its aim is to explore the need to reflect on political data flows across and beyond social media platforms. Its goal is to set the tone for the emergence of new, and exciting research in the field
Ethnographic Cartographies: Alternative Media, Social Movements and the Spaces of Networks
No full textResearch on social movement networks has been defined by an emphasis on structural determinism and quantitative methodologies, and has often overlooked the spatial dimension of networking practices. This article argues that scholars have much to gain if (1) they move beyond the understanding of networks as organisational and communication structures, and analyse them as everyday social processes of human negotiation and construction, and (2) they pay attention to how networks between different organisations create multiple and overlapping spaces of action and meaning that define the everyday contexts of social movements. Drawing on ethnographic research within the Cuba Solidarity Campaign, this article explores the everyday dimension of political and communication networks. It shows that everyday networking practices are embedded in processes of identification and meaning construction, and are defined by a politics of inclusion and exclusion; introducing the concept of ethnographic cartography, it demonstrates that social movement networks are incorporated into everyday practices and narratives of place-making
Mediating Political Action : Internet related Beliefs and Frustrations amongst International Solidarity Campaigns in Britain
No full textPeer reviewedEl terreny de l'activisme en els mitjans de comunicació avui s'associa a internet; s'ha construït sobretot per mitjà de xarxes o plataformes en línia i, a poc a poc, va transformant la manera d'imaginar, experimentar i organitzar l'acció política. Aquest article explora els efectes que tenen les creences i frustracions relacionades amb internet sobre les formes contemporànies d'acció política. Partint del context etnogràfic en què se situen les campanyes de solidaritat internacional i els sindicats britànics, el treball proposa que la relació que mantenen els activistes amb les tecnologies d'internet és complexa i s'insereix en una doble tensió entre l'apoderament i la frustració. Tal com sosté l'article, és mitjançant una exploració etnogràfica d'aquesta tensió que els especialistes poden arribar a entendre més bé els conflictes permanents i les negociacions socials creats arran de les transformacions tecnològico-històriques dels últims quinze anys.The terrain of media activism today has become an internet connected one; one that is primarily constructed through online networks or platforms; one that is gradually transforming the way in which political action is imagined, experienced and organised. The following article explores the effects of internet related beliefs and frustrations on contemporary forms of political action. Drawing from the ethnographic context of international solidarity campaigns and the trade unions in Britain, the paper argues that activists' relationship to internet technologies is a complex one, which is embedded in a double tension of empowerment and frustration. It is by ethnographically exploring this tension, the paper contends, that scholars can gain important insights on the ongoing social conflicts and negotiations created by the techno-historical transformations of the last fifteen years. El terreno del activismo en los medios de comunicación hoy se asocia a internet; se ha construido sobre todo por medio de redes o plataformas en línea y, poco a poco, va transformando la forma de imaginar, experimentar y organizar la acción política. Este artículo explora los efectos que tienen las creencias y frustraciones relacionadas con internet sobre las formas contemporáneas de acción política. Partiendo del contexto etnográfico en el que se sitúan las campañas de solidaridad internacional y los sindicatos británicos, el trabajo propone que la relación que mantienen los activistas con las tecnologías de internet es compleja y se inserta en una doble tensión entre empoderamiento y frustración. Tal como sostiene el artículo, es mediante una exploración etnográfica de esta tensión que los especialistas pueden llegar a entender mejor los conflictos permanentes y las negociaciones sociales creados a raíz de las transformaciones tecnológico-históricas de los últimos quince años
When Materiality Counts: The social and political importance of activist magazines in Europe
No full textThis study examines the social and political importance of printed magazines at a time of social and mobile media. It draws on a cross-cultural ethnographic research amongst two different political organisations in Britain and Spain. Although differing in political cultures and strategies, both organisations invest their few economic resources in the production of printed activist magazines, as well as in the development of web platforms. This study investigates why for these political groups’ materiality matters. It argues that looking at why people – and especially grassroots political organisations – remain attached to material forms of communication, whilst at the same time developing online ones, can raise critical questions on the connection between subjectivity, political association and new technologies, as well as on the difference between individualised and collective forms of communication
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