The present study explores the contemporary shaping of transnational protest networks through the analysis of online documents of contention. In particular, the investigation focuses on a 222-node sample from the World Social Forum (WSF) online umbrella network. The central question addresses the embedded participation of information and communications technologies in the interplay of local and global dynamics of contention. In doing so, the attention is also drawn on the way traditional and new dynamics exert different effects on protest network performing. The sample was drawn with a snowball technique run on the Web following out the relational ties among social forum websites. The research design comprised a triangular investigation. While hyperlink network analysis provided information on the network structure, the exploration of web-specific tools uncovered different patterns of technological employment and textual analysis shed light on specific protest frames. The results show that two distinct dimensions characterize any social forum online production. Content frames display an actual local involvement in civic action and mobilization while the global dimension emerges in more symbolic calls for action against unjust systemic processes. Moreover, while innovative practices fully exploit the potential of new technological devices, more traditional dynamics emerge in the recalling of icons from the past. Online protest performing is then crossnationally compared to discuss how technological access and political structures interplay in the heterogeneous development of contemporary protest performance.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:494991 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Vicari, Stefania |
| Publisher | University of Reading |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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