Active citizenship or activist citizenship? a framework for studying citizenship in new social movements and the role of ICTs
Journal
Journal of the MeCCSA
Date Issued
November 2013
Author(s)
DOI
10.31165/nk.2013.63.303
Abstract
The latter half of the twentieth century witnessed an upsurge in mobilization and collective
action by a wide range of activists and groups engaging in social and political protest, all over
the world, which continues to this day. New media are not only greatly facilitating the ways
in which activists communicate and protest, but are also altering the relation of the
movements to territorial boundaries and localities. Scholars from a wide range of disciplines
have tended to focus on questions about the internet’s role in protest, without attempting to
answer the changing meaning of what it means to be a citizen within such movements and
through their practices. This article responds to this need by developing an analytical
framework for studying the connection between citizenship and ICT-mediated social
movements, drawing on existing scholarship on social movements, citizenship and ICTs.
Specifically, using citizenship studies as a starting point, it brings together elements that are
necessary for a two-level analysis: a) the tangible aspects that are seen as the concrete
practices of movements and their participants and b) the ideational aspects that are seen as the
abstract practices of movements and their participants. This provides a theoretical structure
that facilitates connections between different disciplines that might otherwise be difficult to
discern, so that the construction of citizenship can be studied on an interdisciplinary basis.
action by a wide range of activists and groups engaging in social and political protest, all over
the world, which continues to this day. New media are not only greatly facilitating the ways
in which activists communicate and protest, but are also altering the relation of the
movements to territorial boundaries and localities. Scholars from a wide range of disciplines
have tended to focus on questions about the internet’s role in protest, without attempting to
answer the changing meaning of what it means to be a citizen within such movements and
through their practices. This article responds to this need by developing an analytical
framework for studying the connection between citizenship and ICT-mediated social
movements, drawing on existing scholarship on social movements, citizenship and ICTs.
Specifically, using citizenship studies as a starting point, it brings together elements that are
necessary for a two-level analysis: a) the tangible aspects that are seen as the concrete
practices of movements and their participants and b) the ideational aspects that are seen as the
abstract practices of movements and their participants. This provides a theoretical structure
that facilitates connections between different disciplines that might otherwise be difficult to
discern, so that the construction of citizenship can be studied on an interdisciplinary basis.
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