Feminist Activism and Digital Networks: Between Empowerment and Vulnerability (Palgrave Studies in Communication for Social Change)

This book sheds new light on the way that, in the last decade, digital technologies have become inextricably linked to culture, economy and politics and how they have transformed feminist and queer activism. This exciting text critically analyses the contradictions, tensions and often-paradoxical aspects that characterize such politics, both in relation to identity and to activist practice. Aristea Fotopoulou examines how activists make claims about rights online, and how they negotiate access, connectivity, openness and visibility in digital networks. Through a triple focus on embodied media practices, labour and imaginaries, and across the themes of bodily autonomy, pornography, reproduction, and queer social life, she advocates a move away from understandings of digital media technologies as intrinsically exploitative or empowering. By reinstating the media as constant material agents in the process of politicization, Fotopoulou creates a powerful text that appeals to students and scholars of digital media, gender and sexuality, and readers interested in the role of media technologies in activism. "Feminist Activism and Digital Networks"--"Prologue"--"Contents" -- "List of Figures" -- "1 Introduction: Conceptualising Feminist Activism and Digital Networks" -- "Digital Feminism?" -- "Embodiment, Labour and Practice" -- "Materiality and Representation" -- "Biodigital Vulnerability" -- "A More Philosophical Discussion: Posthumanist Performativity" -- "Notes on Methods" -- "Itinerary" -- "Notes" -- "Bibliography" -- "2 Womenâ#x80;#x99;s Organisations and the Social Imaginary of Networked Feminism: Digital and Networked by Default?" -- "Digital Engagement, Cyberfeminism and Computational Narratives" -- "Versions of Contemporary Feminism and Network Imaginaries: Changing Organal Practices and Making Sense of Digital Media" -- "â#x80;#x98;A building with women through its veinsâ#x80;#x99;" -- "Catching Up with Technologies and Changing Organal Routines" -- "â#x80;#x98;Thatâ#x80;#x99;s our own Facebook, we meet face-to-faceâ#x80;#x99;: New Media Literacy and Offline Networking" -- "Digital Sisterhood?" -- "Material Constrains and the Struggle for Legitimacy" -- "Questioning Networked by Default: Social Imaginary, Ideology and Digital Culture" -- "Conclusion: Feminism Is the Politics of Connectivity and Affect" -- "Notes" -- "Bibliography" -- "3 The Paradox of Feminism, Technology and Pornography: Value and Biopolitics in Digital Culture" -- "Sex Wars and Pornography Debates" -- "Post-porn, Posthumanism and Queer Negativity" -- "I.K.U." -- "Artporn, Postporn and the Question of the Political" -- "Selfie Feminism and Webcam Princesses" -- "â#x80;#x98;Porn 2.0â#x80;#x99; and Affective Labour" -- "Nofauxx" -- "Conclusion: From Exposure to Politics" -- "Notes" -- "Bibliography" -- "4 From Egg Donation to Fertility Apps: Feminist Knowledge Production and Reproductive Rights" -- "Revisiting Biopolitics" -- "Changing Regulations and Feminist Responses" -- "Gender, Egg Scarcity and New Forms of Labour" Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction: Conceptualising Feminist Activism and Digital Networks....Pages 1-35 Women’s Organisations and the Social Imaginary of Networked Feminism: Digital and Networked by Default?....Pages 37-60 The Paradox of Feminism, Technology and Pornography: Value and Biopolitics in Digital Culture....Pages 61-90 From Egg Donation to Fertility Apps: Feminist Knowledge Production and Reproductive Rights....Pages 91-121 Space, Locality and Connectivity: The End of Identity Politics as We Know It?....Pages 123-154 Epilogue: Looping Feminist Threads....Pages 155-162 Back Matter....Pages 163-167 1. Introduction : Conceptualizing Feminist Activism And Digital Networks -- 2. Women's Organisations And The Social Imaginary Of Networked Feminism : Digital And Networked By Default? -- 3. The Paradox Of Feminism, Technology And Pornography : Value And Biopolitics In Digital Culture -- 4. From Egg Donation To Fertility Apps : Feminist Knowledge Production And Reproductive Rights -- 5. Space, Locality And Connectivity : The End Of Identity Politics As We Know It? -- 6. Epilogue : Looping Feminist Threads. Aristea Fotopoulou. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.