This thesis aims to conduct an in-depth study of the activism surrounding the #DeleteFacebook hashtag by applying Critical Discourse Analysis. By theorizing framing, digital colonialism, power relations, and antagonism, this thesis examines the qualitative analysis of 1.987 Tweets posted on Twitter between 20 February and 4 March 2021. This study identifies the key thematic content of these Tweets and then conducts an in-depth critical analysis. These questions will be addressed in the research: “What are the principle discourse typologies and their intertextual interpretation of hashtag activism #DeleteFacebook?”, “What were the key themes that emerged during the #DeleteFacebook hashtag movement?” and “How can we interpret the online engagement with #DeleteFacebook as hashtag activism?”. This thesis presents an analysis of #DeleteFacebook related Tweets through coding and then reveals an intertextual analysis of it, including the social context. Also, this study provides a thorough review of the related literature concerning the costs of connection, social movements, hashtag activism, and collective identity. Finally, it concludes with a discussion reflecting on the role of digital colonialism and the power of Facebook.

As concern regarding the environmental impact of the regular tourism industry grows, tourists are increasingly seen carrying out activism actions and rallying others to create changes in the industry. A segment of the tourism industry that meets the demand is ecotourism, a more sustainable form of travelling that is seen as environmentalism in and of itself. Despite growing demand and communication efforts, ecotourism bookings remain low. Activism from ecotourists should be able to turn this around, but very little research has been done on this. Interviews show that ecotourists see ecotourism as activism, perform activism actions, but have difficulty with self-identifying as activists. The reasons for this are a negative connotation with activism or an unachievable high set bar. Despite self-identifying as an ecotourist, ecotourists’ ecotourism knowledge is low. According to them, communication regarding ecotourism is too limited and not disseminated sufficiently enough. This makes it difficult for ecotourists to be informed about ecotourism while other topics such as sustainability and activism do not even require an active attitude to be informed. Ecotourists get their information on sustainability, ecotourism and environmentalism mainly from online, news and audio-visual sources.

How can an idea that critiques the global capitalist system persist? How can a concept that opposes growth as indicator of wealth gather more and more supporters inside and outside of academia? How can a radical theory that challenges almost any societal structure convince us that it is something we must pursue? The Degrowth movement is often referred to as utopia, and not without good reason, as it is a relatively new concept that certainly still has its flaws. This thesis aims to start the Degrowth dialogue outside the ivory tower of academia. We use qualitative data gained from five focus groups to determine which components of Degrowth need the most clarification to make a movement evolve into a genuine theory. Our findings, brought forward by engaged discussions during the focus groups, showed potential for improvements of the Degrowth theory in the areas of education, societal norms and values as well as governmental policies and regulations. These insights allowed us to more specifically address the ambiguities of degrowth and counter them with opinions from experts to make Degrowth more accessible.

In recent years, activism movements have shaken public consciousness, waking us up to the fact that there is no time to waste in light of the Social and Environmental Crises humanity is facing. Since the pivotal role of science and technology has in both creating and trying to solve those Crises, scientists’ political engagement has been the topic of an increasing number of publications. A number of authors call for academics to engage in activism, reasoning it with the responsibility academics have towards society as professionals and human beings. However, what this responsibility itself means in the context of academic activism has been largely overlooked. We identified Hans Jonas’ ethics of responsibility as the most apt theory to analyze the phenomenon. In fact, according to Jonas, science has unleashed the uncontrolled power of technology by only seeing the benefits of technological innovations, while forgetting to consider its costs. Therefore, ethical reflections should be brought back into science to move from a retroactive towards a future- oriented responsibility that focus of preserving the existence of future generations on Earth. Through semi-structured interviews with academics who are engaged in academic activism, we investigate the concept of responsibility in relation to their engagement. Our findings indicate that academic activism is a manifestation of individual future-oriented responsibility, sparked by the fear for a doomed future. Unfortunately, the attempt by academic activists to bring ethical reflections into the wider institutional context is faced with resistance by the prevailing neoliberal system, which prevents academia from taking collective responsibility and re-establishing its social mandate.

In just a few years, cancel culture has become the topic on everyone's lips. It's an exciting, but also to a certain extent a treacherous phenomenon that has etched into our society, both online and offline. It moves quickly and is constantly changing, but where does it come from, and what drives it?  In this study, I map out how cancel and call-out culture are constructed by conducting a research overview. The theoretical framework consists of theories about the scapegoat mechanism, the public sphere, and digital activism. The material consists of 33 peer-reviewed articles.  The results show that research has been conducted across several research areas, with the majority of the articles falling under the field of media and communication studies. There are divided opinions about the impact of cancel culture on the public debate. Some scholars define cancel and call-out culture on one hand as political tools that promote public debate and that can help access fundamental problems such as racism and sexism. On the other hand, the phenomena are defined as threats to democracy as the resurrection that arises when these phenomena are exercised can draw attention away from more important and more acute societal issues. Furthermore, the results show that cancel culture depends on a cross-platform engagement. Since the majority of the articles examine Twitter, this indicates that more studies need to be conducted to fully understand how cancel culture works.

Thesis "Activists on the Road to Zapatista Territory" gives a resonance of actual results of my research among activists in Chiapas and Germany with contemporary theories. Based in theories of globalization and social movement and in dialogue with fieldwork data, it elaborates proper analytical concepts. These concepts enable to study journeys of activists to the Zapatista territory in Mexican state of Chiapas. Thesis aims to follow concepts of neo- zapatistas networks, which emerged around indigenous Zapatists and spread all over the World. Middle-Class activists from Germany enter these networks while travelling to Chiapas. Thesis scrutinize the nature of six months' journeys of activists and especially focus on transformation of so-called Imaginative knowledge of the World to Experienced knowledge of the World in the context of exoticism, poverty and Zapatista resistence.

The subject of this thesis deals with the project of restoration of the defunct village Vyklice by society of its former habitants. This project is unique for they are the only former habitants of a commune that had to be liquidated due to the coal mining who are striving to restore it under the same name and on the same place. The answer to the question where has this idea appeared led me to the analysis of their society activism. On the background of their attempts I have identified wider "community of memory" of former friends from Vyklice. These people had been involuntarily displaced from their rural environment and resettled in the nearby housing estate. After that they felt nostalgia for their lost homes and were reflecting that on spontaneously formed reunions. The main subject of their recollections was the former society life in Vyklice. The most active ones in the community have than created a new "society", Society of inhabitants of Vyklice, among others to try to restore the old Vyklice. At first the idea was only one of the means to enhance their memory activities. Gradually, along with the political support of their effort, the project had become the main goal of the society, which still allows the whole community of memory to be continuously reaching their original goal, which was to meet...

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the polluted Great Lakes became a central focus of the North American environmental movement. A majority of this pollution stemmed from phosphate-based laundry detergent use, which had become the primary product households used to wash fabrics after World War II. The large volume of phosphorus in these detergents discharged into the lakes caused excess growths of algae to form in waterways, which turned green and smelly. As the algae died off, it reduced the oxygen in the water, making it less habitable for fish and other aquatic life, a process known as eutrophication. As primary consumers of laundry detergents during the time period, women, particularly white, middle-class housewives in the United States and Canada, became involved in state/provincial, national, and international discussions involving ecology, water pollution, and sewage treatment alongside scientists, politicians, and government officials. Their work as volunteers, activists, and lobbyists influencing the debate and ensuing policies on how best to abate this type of pollution, known as eutrophication, has often been ignored. This thesis recognizes the work women completed encouraging the enactment of key water quality regulations and popularizing the basic tenets of environmentally-conscious consumption practices during the environmental movement in the early 1970s.

This study explores how six teachers worked up becoming and being activists in response to education reforms in the southeastern US. The reforms, which involved increasing student testing and implementing high-stakes teacher evaluations, were enacted following the authorization of the Every Student Succeeds Act, federal legislation governing elementary and secondary education. Discourse analysis of interview data demonstrates how engaging in activism was constructed and positioned by teachers in response to these policy changes. We describe two interrelated patterns: (1) characterizing activism as requiring ‘professionalism’ on the part of the teacher-activist; and (2) justifying their actions by contrasting versions of activism in the media with their own activism, which they aligned with commonly accepted category-bound activities tied to ‘doing’ being a teacher. Findings shed light on the nuanced negotiation of educators’ roles as teacher-activists within the current policy context and the complicated nature of framing professionalism and activism for public audiences.

Cancelkultur kan beskrivas som kulturell ostracism och har kommit att bli ett omdebatterat Ämne i Sverige och övriga västvärlden, detta till följd av människors skilda åsikter om dess innebörd och betydelse. Syftet med denna studie är att belysa hur fenomenet cancelkultur skildras och diskuteras i svenska opinionsartiklar. Studien tar sin ansats i Norman Faircloughs kritiska diskursanalys för att synliggöra på vilket sätt opinionsjournalister konstruerar bilden av cancelkultur och vilka diskurser som är närvarande. Med hjälp av Faircloughs tredimensionella modell har tre artiklar djupare analyserats för att undersöka om dessa reproducerar eller utmanar den rådande diskursordningen. Resultatet visar att det pågår en diskursiv kamp om hur begreppet cancelkultur framställs och får sin betydelse. Utöver den pågående kampen visar resultatet att journalisterna åberopar, i en svensk kontext, förgivettagen kunskap för att visa på textens legitimitet.