Activism on the Web: Everyday Struggles against Digital Capitalism (Routledge New Developments in Communication and Society Research)

__Activism on the Web__ examines the everyday tensions that political activists face as they come to terms with the increasingly commercialized nature of web technologies and sheds light on an important, yet under-investigated, dimension of the relationship between contemporary forms of social protest and internet technologies. Drawing on anthropological and ethnographic research amongst three very different political groups in the UK, Italy and Spain, the book argues that activists’ everyday internet uses are largely defined by processes of negotiation with digital capitalism. These processes of negotiation are giving rise to a series of collective experiences, which are defined by the tension between activists’ democratic needs on one side and the cultural processes reinforced by digital capitalism on the other. In looking at the encounter between activist cultures and digital capitalism, the book focuses in particular on the tension created by self-centered communication processes and networked-individualism, by corporate surveillance and data-mining, and by fast-capitalism and the temporality of immediacy. __Activism on the Web__ suggests that if we want to understand how new technologies are affecting political participation and democratic processes, we should not focus on disruption and novelty, but we should instead explore the complex dialectics between digital discourses and digital practices; between the technical and the social; between the political economy of the web and its lived critique. MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgments 8 Introduction: Activist Cultures, the Web, and Digital Capitalism 10 1 The Ethnography of Digital Activism 26 2 Web 2.0 and the Agency of Technologies 58 3 Social Media Activism and the Critique of Mass Self-Communication 74 4 The Everyday Critique of Digital Labor 90 5 Digital Activism and the Problem of Immediacy 108 6 Activist Magazines in the Digital Age 128 Conclusion: The Future of the Web, Big Data, and the Power of Critique 145 Appendix 1: Activism on the Web: A Note on Method 158 Bibliography 164 Index 186 Activism On The Web Examines The Everyday Tensions That Political Activists Face As They Come To Terms With The Increasingly Commercialized Nature Of Web Technologies And Sheds Light On An Important, Yet Under-investigated, Dimension Of The Relationship Between Contemporary Forms Of Social Protest And Internet Technologies. Introduction: Activist Cultures, The Web, And Digital Capitalism -- The Ethnography Of Digital Activism -- Web 2.0 And The Agency Of Technologies -- Social Media Activism And The Critique Of Mass Self-communication -- The Everyday Critique Of Digital Labor -- Digital Activism And The Problem Of Internet Time -- Activist Magazines In The Digital Age -- Conclusion: The Future Of The Web, Big Data And The Power Of Critique. Veronica Barassi. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. This book draws on comparative ethnographic research amongst three very different political groups, exploring how activists imagine, understand and experience web technologies as tools of political critique.