From Wall Street to Wellington: Protests in an Era of Digital Ubiquity

Abstract

The Occupy movement is said to represent a new generation of post-Seattle protests, driven by social networking, and breaking from organizing practices in previous eras. This study analyzes the Occupy Wellington protest to shed light on the role of protests in an era of digital media ubiquity. Based on the participant observation as well as 76 brief interviews, the study explores how activists used digital media, and examines the broader institutional logics that shaped organizing dynamics at the protest. The analysis discusses digital media saturation and the multiple institutional logics that activists drew from in their organizing, including collective action, connective action, aggregation, and networking. We argue that digital ubiquity marks the onset of a profound hybridity rather than an abrupt change in activist organizing practices.

Keywords:

• Collective Action
• Connective Action
• Digital Ubiquity
• Aggregation
• Networking
• Organizing
• Social Movements

Acknowledgements

This study was enabled by a grant on emerging forms of digital activism, from the Royal Society of New Zealand's Marsden Foundation. We are grateful to Jennifer Gibbs, John Oetzel, Kay Weaver and Heather Zoller for their helpful feedback.

Notes

[1] Hui is a Te Reo Māori word that roughly translates as an assembly. Traditionally held on a Marae, the word is increasingly used to describe other, often public, group discussion processes.

[2] Kaupapa is a Te Reo Māori word that roughly translates as foundation, mission, or principle.

[3] Wellington's population is a little more than 200,000 people, in contrast to other Occupy cities such as New York (approx 7 million) or Brussels (approx 1.5 million).