CONTENTION BEYOND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS:

Activism and its BenefitsMary Joyce

MA Student | Department of Communication | University of Washington

ICA Pre-Conference on Qualitative Political Communication Research | May 22, 2014

ACTIVISMA Nested Model

SOCIAL MOVEMENTCAMPAIGN CAMPAIGN CAMPAIGN

Tactic Tactic Tactic Tactic Tactic Tactic Tactic Tactic

Individual actions not part of collective tactics

Tactics not part of campaigns

Campaigns not part of social movements

ACTIVISM

SOCIAL MOVEMENTCAMPAIGN CAMPAIGN CAMPAIGN

Tactic Tactic Tactic Tactic Tactic Tactic Tactic Tactic

The Current Scholarly Approach

ACTIVISMAn Alternative Approach

CAMPAIGN CAMPAIGN CAMPAIGNTactic Tactic Tactic Tactic Tactic Tactic Tactic Tactic

SOCIAL MOVEMENT

METHODSUsing Digital Accounts to Study Remote Activism Events

• Content analysis

• Global Digital Activism Data Set source documents

• News stories describing 426 digital campaigns in 100 countries from 2010-2012

• Main document sources: LexisNexis and Global Voices Online

• Random sample of 100 campaigns from 61 countries drawn for this study

• Identification and collection of goal statements in the texts

Assertive

Defensive

Proactively Seeking Benefits

Reactively Removing

Threats

Proactively Protecting Benefits

Reactively Preventing

Threats

For the

resig

natio

n of

Preside

nt Sale

h in Y

emen

For a m

orator

ium on

deep

sea oi

l drill

ing in

the U

S

To end

cargo

fee l

imita

tions

affect

ing tru

ckers

in C

olombia

To pun

ish an

inter

net

troll’s

haras

smen

t

To free

a

politi

cal

prison

er

Vs. proposed

gay death penalty

in Uganda

Vs. the sale of a looted

artifact in the UK

Vs. an upcoming performance by a

misogynistic singer in India

Vs. the planned removal of urban

cattle in Hong Kong

Vs. planned reductions in coal

subsidies in Spain

To allow Mexican citizens

to present initiatives directly to

Congress

To increase the national

minimum wage in Egypt

To recognize

minority languages

in France

[Empty set]

[Empty set][Empty s

et]

[Empty set]

[Empty set]

[Empty set]

[Empty set]

Reactive Proactive

Financial

Institutional

Physical

Psychological

Environmental

Benefits Provided by Activism Campaigns

TAKEAWAYS

• Scholarly attention on social movement distracts attention from a wide array of more numerous activism efforts.

• Online news accounts, particularly citizen journalism, are valuable for the qualitative analysis of globally dispersed efforts.

• Reactive (threat-reducing) campaigns are far more common than proactive (benefit-seeking) campaigns.

• More campaigns are organized around immediate threats, such as a planned reduction of pension benefits, than abstract threats, such as global warming.

THANK YOU

Mary JoyceMA Student | Department of Communication

University of Washington

@MetaActivism | mjoyce@uw,edu

This presentation is available @ www.meta-activism.org

Assertive

Defensive

Proactively Seeking Benefits

Reactively Removing

Threats

Proactively Protecting Benefits

Reactively Preventing

Threats

For the

resig

natio

n of

Preside

nt Sale

h in Y

emen

For a m

orator

ium on

deep

sea oi

l drill

ing in

the U

S

To end

cargo

fee l

imita

tions

affect

ing tru

ckers

in C

olombia

To pun

ish an

inter

net

troll’s

haras

smen

t

To free

a

politi

cal

prison

er

Vs. proposed

gay death penalty

in Uganda

Vs. the sale of a looted

artifact in the UK

Vs. an upcoming performance by a

misogynistic singer in India

Vs. the planned removal of urban

cattle in Hong Kong

Vs. planned reductions in coal

subsidies in Spain

To allow Mexican citizens

to present initiatives directly to

Congress

To increase the national

minimum wage in Egypt

To recognize

minority languages

in France

[Empty set]

[Empty set][Empty s

et]

[Empty set]

[Empty set]

[Empty set]

[Empty set]

Reactive Proactive

Financial

Institutional

Physical

Psychological

Environmental

Benefits Provided by Activism Campaigns