ICTs AS AN OPPORTUNITY STRUCTURE IN SOUTHERN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Abstract

Social movements operate in ‘an environment for politics that is increasingly information-rich and communication-intensive’ (Bimber 2001, p. 53). There is an established literature on new ICTs and social movements, but little of it considers mobilization in the global South. This paper presents a case study on the use of ICTs by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), a South African social movement campaigning for the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS. McAdam et al.'s comparative framework of three theoretical perspectives on mobilization (McAdam et al. 1996) – mobilising structures, opportunity structures and framing processes – is used to link the analysis into the social movement literature. The findings show extensive use of email, mailing lists and the Internet in TAC activities despite low levels of access among the movement's largely poor activist base. ICTs are used to help the movement engage with elites, professional groups and media, as well as in the development of local and international movement networks. There is also widespread informal use of mobile phones, which a local NGO is working with the TAC to extend. Mobiles are seen as a way to reach the previously disconnected majority, strengthening their involvement in existing processes as well as extending the movement's reach beyond its current branch-based structure.

Keywords:

• Treatment Action Campaign
• social movements
• ICTs
• mobile phones
• South Africa

Acknowledgements

Sincere thanks to Richard Duncombe and the staff and students of the Development Informatics Group at the University of Manchester. Peter Benjamin and Cell-Life, and the TAC Western Cape participants in the March 2008 ‘Cellphones for HIV’ Joint Application Development session.