[Commlist] CfP: Social Movements in the Digital Age

HASHTAGS TWEETS PROTEST
Social Movements in the Digital Age
--- Call for Papers and Panels ---
Annual conference of the Institute for Social Movement Studies in 
co-operation with the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society
15./16. November 2019, Weizenbaum-Institut
Hardenbergstraße 32, 10623 Berlin

Today, protest and counter-protest, rule and resistance can only be 
thought of in the context of a digitized society, its particular 
opportunities, dynamics and challenges.
Digital communication determines our everyday life and the ways we 
inform, argue and express ourselves. Hashtags, Instagram Stories and 
YouTube videos are not only used today for self-por-trayal, they are 
also central to collective action and political commitment. Protests at 
least have the potential to become globally visible through digital 
communication through images, tweets and streams. There are increasing 
numbers of digital movement entrepreneurs combining financial and 
political interests, who have a head start in the competition for 
attention on the Internet.
Digital interactions change our social relationships and thus also the 
form and functioning of social movements and protests. The digital 
context allows mobilizations to be initiated with less orga-nizational 
effort; to participate is sometimes just a click away. Movements, only 
become visible and responsive through their digital work: as mass 
movements, they require digital co-ordination. This can turn power 
relations upside down. Thus, movements and marginalized groups have new 
opportunities to articulate their ideas and interests. And yet, the 
question arises which concerns and organizational methods benefit most 
from the digital sphere – and which lose the struggle for attention.
Recently, we have become aware of other downsides of digital 
organization: digital hate cultures. They use commercial platforms to 
disguise supremacist ideologies and set up their own forums where they 
co-ordinate political campaigns and attacks on political opponents. 
There is more surveillance and automation is increasing. Thus, the 
digital constellation harbors dangers such as isolation, repression, 
stigmatization, slander and censorship as well as an opportunity 
structure for right-wing actors – and for resistance from progressive 
civil society. In all cases, social networks create transregional public 
spheres that are indispensable and that influence politics and its 
cultu-ral foundations.
This year‘s annual conference of the Institute for Social Movement 
Studies is dedicated to the challenges and opportunities for protest and 
movements in the digital age.
Together, we ask: How do we understand protest in the digital context? 
How do organization and mobilization differ and complement one another 
online and offline? Does the structure of digital platforms have 
benefits for particularly reactionary movements? How can digital spaces 
strengt¬hen emancipatory policy approaches? What methodological and 
empirical challenges are associa¬ted with research into movements and 
protest on the Internet? Possible contributions include, but are not 
limited to, the following topics:
•    Online-offline interactions: mechanisms and processes
•    Mobilization via platforms (messengers, image boards, video 
platforms, deep web)
•    Movement entrepreneurship in the Internet
•    Visual strategies (memes, GIFs, videos)
•    Internet movements and ‘digital (movement) parties’
•    Online subcultures and their influence on the political mainstream
•    Digital repression and surveillance by state actors
•    Spatial production and spatial understanding in a digital context
•    Hate speech, filter bubbles, echo chamber, algorithms and their 
anti-democratic dangers
•    Civil Society 2.0: Digital street work, solidarity and counter hegemony
•    Practices that explicitly reject the digital and their challenges
•    Methodological challenges, ethical research questions and 
approaches to research
•    Transnational community building via digital platforms (movements 
and diaspora acti- vism)
•    Targeted manipulation of political discourses and opinions
•    New forms of organization, digital repertoires and campaigns
•    Theoretical contributions to protest, digitalization and 
surveillance capitalism
The conference languages are German and English. The conference invites 
alternative forms of presentation, such as performances or exhibitions, 
and activist contributions. We encourage especially young researchers 
and women to register. The aim is to publish selected contributions in 
German and English. Abstracts for individual contri¬butions (max. 250 
words) or panel proposals with up to four paper abstracts must be 
submitted by 26 July 2019 at: (konferenz2019 /at/ protestinstitut.eu) 
<mailto:(konferenz2019 /at/ protestinstitut.eu)>.

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