Digital Enclaves:

A Case Study of The Root

Roderick Graham, Rhode Island College

Context of Study• A part of a larger work that develops an approach

to studying sociological processes in the digital environment

• Discusses new “Digital Practices” in the “Digital Environment”

• Uses the African American experience as an illustration

Theoretical Background

Bourgeois Public Sphere Subaltern CounterpublicsJürgen Habermas (1962) Nancy Fraser (1990), Michael

Dawson (1995, 2001)Bourgeois = Property Owners,

middle classSubordinated Groups

Liberalism Group ConcernsHegemonic Counterhegemonic

Two Views of Political Discourse in the Physical Environment

Theoretical Background

From Physical Environment to the Digital Environment

Physical EnvironmentBourgeois Public Sphere

vs.

Subaltern Counter Public

Digital EnvironmentNetworked Individualism

vs.

Segmentation and Polarization

Theoretical Background

Networked Individualism Segmentation and Polarization

Yochai Benkler (2006) Cass Sunstein (2007)Information from Non-Market

Actors“The Daily Me” produced by dominant Internet entities

Clusters of nested, moderately read sites

Echo Chambers

Viable Option to Concentrated Mass Media

Strong understanding of group concerns

Two Views of Political Discourse in the Digital Environment

Theoretical Background

• Cultural precedent for building counterpublics online

• In physical environment, faced punishment for developing black rhetorics and public agendas

• Developed “hidden transcripts” (Scott 1990)

Theoretical Background

Hush Harbors

Juke Joints and Barbershops

Digital Enclaves

Theoretical Background

• Digital Enclaves perform the same function as subaltern counterpublics in the PE

• They are, by design, places of segmentation and polarization

Case Study of The Root

• Purpose of study is to explore a probable “digital enclave”

• The Root is one possible enclave

• African American newsmagazine

• Alexa.com Statso Rank of 3298o Skews African American and

Caucasian; users above 35

Case Study of The Root

Research Questions:

1. Does The Root occupy a separate space in the digital environment? [Network Analysis]

2. What are some of the ways in which the users of The Root discuss societal issues? [Content Analysis]

Case Study of The Root

Network Analysis Content Analysis• URL Citations

o Ex. www.theroot.com

• Inlinks show popularity• Outlinks show

connections

• Explore structural distance from public sphere

• Discussion board of politics section

• Explore content of articles and user comments

• Explore degree of segmentation/polarization

Network AnalysisSample and Method• Sample of 40 top websites plus The Root (41

total)• Web traffic data as measured by Alexa• 20 African American websites ;10 news sites; 10

opinion sites• URL citations are collected and analyzed using

the software Webometric Analyst (http://lexiurl.wlv.ac.uk/index.html )

Network AnalysisSample and Method• A total of 87, 629 URL Citations (links)

• Two algorithms derive conclusions from raw data

1. Newman's Community Algorithm (2006) – Shows which websites cluster together

2. Fruchterman-Rheingold Algorithm – Helps construct the layout of a network diagram

Red = AA Digital EnclaveBlue = Mainstream/AAYellow = MainstreamGreen = Opinion

Network AnalysisKey Insights• 4 clusters formed – one cluster can be considered

a digital enclave • The Root is a part of the enclave cluster• Digital enclave cluster is composed of only

African American sites, and is positioned towards the periphery of the diagram

• Note: African American itself site is not the deciding factor – several African American sites are in the core and are a part of other communities

Content Analysis• One month of articles: January 1st 2013 to January

31st , 2013; 25 articles total

• Discussion boards for each article

• Prominent news items of the month:o Obama’s inauguration speecho Gun policy in the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut shootingso The 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade o The birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.. o The Root ran a special series on education

Content AnalysisKey Findings

1. Counterhegemonic Interpretations of Societal Events o One of the primary functions of counterpublics

2. Emphasizing Historyo Uniquely African American?

3. America’s Consciouso Uniquely African American?

Content AnalysisCounterhegemonic Interpretations

“The problem with the Acting White Theory is that it promotes the misconception that black students underachieve because of their corrupted attitudes. Meanwhile, many black students are relegated to under-resourced schools, and they lack motivation because of low expectations from teachers and school leaders, unfair discipline and fewer opportunities for academic enrichment.” – Ivory Toldson*

*“The Acting White Theory Doesn’t Add Up” - http://www.theroot.com/views/acting-white-theory-doesnt-add

Content AnalysisEmphasizing History

“Now, 150 years later, as we commemorate the sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, I can't help thinking of Annie and all our ancestors. I reflect on how they agitated for their own freedom through protest, revolt, escape, prayer and petition. I am reminded that this observance is about not only the stroke of Lincoln's pen but also the vision of Harriet Tubman, the appeal of abolitionist David Walker and the genius of Frederick Douglass…” - A’Lelia Bundles*

*“Slave’s Letter Reveals Pace of Freedom” - http://www.theroot.com/views/slaves-letter-reveals-pace-freedom

Content AnalysisEmphasizing History

“I mean, I know that racism is a problem, just like theft is a problem, but we have more recourses to recover from any ill effect of racism than we do against the common thief. So why is that such a big spot on the black agenda, rather than actually bringing up all of our people to a level that our ancestors would be proud of?” – Logical Leopard*

*“Are We Black No More – Not Quite” -http://www.theroot.com/views/are-we-black-no-more-not-quite

Content AnalysisAmerica’s Conscious

“Until the problems of black America--to the degree that they exist--are seen as America's problems, and not just a black problem, and black children are seen as America's children, and a black future is seen as America's future, the problems that you find vexing will continue and persist. In short, the problems of the black community are not just a black problem, but a national problem, and it will take the whole nation to address those problems and repair what's broken.” – Black Diaspora*

*http://www.theroot.com/views/are-we-black-no-more-not-quite

Conclusion• The Root is an example of a subaltern

counterpublic space in the digital environment – a digital enclave for the production of African American rhetoric

• Structurally, it is a part of a distinct community - based on links - in the digital environment

• The Root is a space for the production and circulation of uniquely African American rhetoric

Future Directions• Network analysis is relatively small (although

links were plentiful)

• Different algorithms produce different results?

• Future studies may decide to look at a cluster of sites and look for commonalities across sites

ReferencesBenkler, Yochai. 2007. The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Dawson, Michael. 1995. “A Black Counterpublic?: Economic Earthquakes, Racial Agenda(s), and Black Politics”, pp. 199 – 228 in The Black Public Sphere: A Public Culture Book, edited by The Black Public Sphere Collective. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.  Dawson, Michael. 2001. Black Visions: The Roots of Contemporary African-American Political Ideologies. Chicago, Il: The University of Chicago Press.

Fraser, Nancy. 1990. “Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy,” Social Text 25/26: 56 – 90.

Fruchterman, Thomas M. and Edward Reingold. 1991. “Graph Drawing by Force-Directed Placement”, Software – Practice and Experience 21(11):1129–1164.

Habermas, J. (1989 [1962]) The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Newman, Mark. E. J. 2006. “Modularity and Community Structure in Networks”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103(23): 8577 – 8582.

Scott, James C. 1990. Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Sunstein, Cass. 2001. Republic.com. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.