Minorities and online political mobilization: Investigating ‘acts of

citizenship’    

Cheryll Ruth R. Soriano���Communications and New Media, National University of Singapore���

Citizenship as performance •  Substantive citizenship

•  Analysis of subjects as they become claimants of citizenship, even under unexpected conditions (Benhabib, 2004; Isin, 2002).

•  Citizenship is not merely state-given, but cultivated, learned, and fought for (Isin, 2002)

•  “Acts of citizenship” are acts through which citizens, strangers, and aliens emerge not as beings already defined, but as beings acting and reacting with others, as they enact ways of becoming political actors

•  Particularly salient for minorities

“Democratization of technology” ���and “technologization of democracy” dialectic (Chuliariki, 2010)  

•  minority productions bypass traditional distribution systems and can serve as a promising vector for minority groups as they insert their own stories and struggles into national narratives

•  issues of “strategic essentialism”, “objectification”,

commercialism, and state controls shed doubt on whether online media can truly be localized and emancipatory for minorities

Research Question What constitutes minority activist agency and ‘acts of citizenship’ within a technological discourse?  

INDIGENOUS  

MUSLIM  (Bangsamoro)  

QUEER/LGBT  

Case Study Evidence •  Ethnographic interviews with group leaders,

members, and experts

•  Thematic analysis of online spaces (January to May 2010-in preparation for and during field interviews; October to December, 2010, and May-July 2011; politically – relevant time periods)

•  Secondary data (i.e. historical archives published materials on the organizations’ communication strategies, internal newsletters/documents, website analytics)

Organization

Type Website E-Magazine Facebook E-group Twitter

Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance

Ethnic/ indigenous

√ √*

Ladlad LGBT √ (3)**

√ (2) √ √

Moro Islamic Liberation Front

Muslim √ (3)***

√ √ (2) undisclosed √

Based on interviews and review of online spaces (Jan  to  May  2010,  Oct  to  Dec,  2010,  and  May-­‐July  2011)  *Exclusive to members; not accessible to researcher ** 2 mirror sites *** One is the original website, another a mirror website; and a third one, an Arabic version of the website (only original website is reviewed)  

Alternative forms of political practice: ���‘acts of citizenship’?���

Nego8a8on  of    technological  risks  and  possibili8es  

(internet  as  an  arena  of  struggle)  

Crea8ve  uses  of  technology  (internet  as  a  context  for  

struggle)  

Subpoli8cal  acts  

Public  &  hidden  trancripts  and  infrapoli8cs  

Indigenous  (CPA)   Moro  (Islamic  Lib  Front)   Queer  (Ladlad)  

•  Managing  online  content  and  produc8on  to  prevent  commercializa8on  of  ritual-­‐based  indigenous  knowledge  

•  Managing  threats  to  security  through  selec8vity  in  online  features  

•  Nego8a8ng  the  publica8on  of  sensi8ve  poli8cal  news  /  content  

•  Balancing  online  and  offline  strategies  

 

•  Planning  of  website  content  and  investment  in  secured  services  to  nego8ate  technological,  state,  military,  and  interna8onal  rela8ons  and  controls.  

•  Nego8a8ng  the  publica8on  of  sensi8ve  poli8cal  news  /  content  

•  Balancing  online  and  offline  communica8on  strategies  

 

•  Resistance  to  threats  from  homo/transphobic  posts  by  managing  the  content  of  its  online  spaces  and  working  together  to  report  spaces  that  are  abusive  or  prejudist  of  LGBTs  

•  Broad  use  of  social  media  to  tap  LGBT  users  

•  Cau8ousness  about  ‘public  online  ar8cula8ons’,  and  threats  to  privacy  of  its  members  

 

 

1)  Resistance  to  threats  and  risks  posed  by  technological  engagement  (Internet  as  an  arena  of  struggle)  

“On  making  a  decision  about  tradi2onal  knowledge,  if  we  publish,  it  can  be  obtained  by  anyone  and  be  patented.  So  to  reconcile  those  condi2ons  we  consult  them.  Would  you  allow  us  to  put  this  online  or  not?  It  has  to  come  from  the  community  themselves—what  do  they  want  to  be  published  or  come  out  and  be  considered  in  the  public  domain  and  what  should  be  kept  secret  or  within  the  community.  Usually  the  communi2es  have  protocol  already.  Which  kind  of  knowledge  is  for  them  alone,  which  ones  must  be  protected…xxx…So  we  discussed,  do  we  publish?  But the community said that those are sacred knowledge that should not come out. So we did not publish it. Yes the community has a system for determining what is good and not good for them. This is sacred. There is ritual involved here. Outsiders should not know. We all know it is possible to steal so those knowledge stays in the community” (Indigenous leader, Personal interview, May 2010)

“There was a time one of our members suggested to try putting up an online forum. But when we conducted a brain storming session, we looked at that format, we learned that Google will put its ads in the page. Of course we will lose the integrity of our website. So we don’t have it (chat facility) because we do not know who will suddenly advertise in our website”

broadening the arena of politics by seeing the technological as political  

•  negotiations of technology use (presentation, articulation, identity construction; knowledge management vis a vis online “controls”): the technological, which is in itself “an arena of struggle”, can be political

•  Instance of ‘subpolitics’ (Bakardjieva, 2009; De Vries, 2007)

Indigenous   Moro   Queer  

Use  of  indigenous  iden8ty  to  communicate  the  historico-­‐poli8cal  basis  of  the  struggle  

Use  of  mul8ple  divergent  ar8cula8ons  to  reach  out  to  mul8ple  interna8onal  en88es;  balancing  between  radicalism  and  diplomacy  

Framing  strategies  for  collec8ve  iden8ty  building  

Connec8ng  with  networks  of  indigenous  communi8es  globally  

Concealment  of  poli8cal  meanings;  use  of  anonymity  and  ambiguity  

Online  spaces  as  cocoons  for  ‘belonging’  and  to  shield  the  group  from  discrimina8on  

   

Use  of  indigenous  symbolic  forms  to  differen8ate  itself  from  other  organiza8ons    

Use  of  Moro  symbolic  forms;  engagement  of  non-­‐Moro  guest  writers  (marking  and  unmarking  of  Moro  iden8ty)  

Nego8a8on  of  online  content  and  image:  delinea8on  of  the  public  and  private;  deletes  nega8ve  comments  on  its  own  space  

2)  Strategic  and  crea8ve  uses  of  online  spaces  for  mobiliza8on  (Context  for  Struggle)    

>>Broadening the scope of political strategy through hidden transcripts and infrapolitics •  Public transcripts: open mobilizations and networking

•  The strategic imperatives of minority groups’ hidden transcripts and infrapolitics make these appropriations of technology fundamentally different from the logics of political action and exercise of citizenship in modern democracies.

•  Because such political acts are covert, it should not be discounted as these articulations communicate important meanings by which minorities engage with technology, view the controls and forces surrounding technology, and use technology to achieve political goals

>Facilitating the disruption of structures���  •  Online performances disrupt the mainstream discourses

symbolically by situating the dominant rhetoric of normalcy, democracy and peace beside the lived experience of conflict, oppression, hunger and marginalization of minority communities

•  Alternative views of members

>Expanding the realm of minority politics beyond the nation state •  nation-states as the sole definitional basis for political

interaction is undermined by online media use •  reaching out to the international community- networks and

connections as a way to increase their political bargaining power

Closing  

•  Minority activists’ ‘acts of citizenship’ online include the creation of their own screen memories, negotiation of their political voice, mobilization & networking, defining and debating their identities, and negotiating their way through technology

•  Acts of citizenship’ in the digital age constitutes seeing technological engagement as an “arena of struggle”, but also as a “context for struggle”, which surface new and creative forms of political engagement

Some issues Reflexivity •  Circuits, reach, and interpretations of online

messages are unpredictable, and the posts can also be used by antagonists to reinforce prejudices

•  Extent that such online articulations and global connections facilitated by online spaces create opportunities for strengthening their political bargaining positions

Politics of representation •  Who gets to speak for whom online Transnational and collective identity amidst diversity