TED University Graduate School Seminar Applied Data Science Program Digital Contention: Collective Action Dynamics in Social Movements for Internet Freedom” By Dr. Jared M. Wright
Tarih: -
Konum: https://tedu.zoom.us/j/92515665154?pwd=a1AvRWZ6MkVpSEJxdlU5czhCR3Fidz09
TED University
Graduate School Seminar
Applied Data Science Program
Digital Contention: Collective Action Dynamics in Social Movements for Internet Freedom”
Abstract: How does collective action operate in digital space, particularly for those at the cutting edge of technologically innovative contentious politics? This study analyzes activist (and hacktivist) groups engaged in what I call digital contention with institutions over the future of Internet policy and governance, or what they see as “the freedom of the Internet.” Through a combination of computational and qualitative analyses of four years of archival texts, along with participant-observation at meetings and protest events, I explore how certain collective action processes are changing among these data activists in digital space. I find that: 1) The more effectively the technological affordances of the Internet are leveraged by activists, the less reliant they are on political opportunity structures for mobilization; 2) The digital divide and technological knowledge gap create a barrier to frame resonance which digital activists address either through practices of “strategic inclusiveness” or “communities of anonymity”. Both encourage diversity among participants while also reifying other inequalities in different ways. This study has significant empirical and methodological contributions for the studies of sociology, social movements, communication and technology studies, and Internet policy. I argue that they portend changing dynamics that may ultimately affect all forms of future collective action, and indeed the balance of power in whole societies, as digital technology continues to spread into every facet of our lives.
By
Dr. Jared M. Wright,
Date: December 22, 2020 Tuesday
Time: 16:00 Room: B-141 and via Zoom
Link : https://tedu.zoom.us/j/92515665154?pwd=a1AvRWZ6MkVpSEJxdlU5czhCR3Fidz09
Meeting ID: 925 1566 5154
Passcode: 449378
Bio of the speaker: Dr. Jared M. Wright received his PhD in Sociology from Purdue University in August 2020, and his MA in Sociology from the University of Houston in 2012. Broadly, his research and teaching interests include digital sociology, social movements, political sociology, social media and digital culture, along with both computational and qualitative research methods. Jared is primarily interested in how new technologies are reshaping societies, particularly in relation to power dynamics, social inequalities, and contentious politics.