INTERNET AND SOCIAL MOVEMENT ACTION REPERTOIRES

Abstract

The Zapatista uprising, which started in 1994, and the ‘Battle of Seattle’ in 1999 are but two iconic examples that are so often used to illustrate how the internet has shaped and is shaping social movements and the tactics they use to pursue their claims. In this article, the authors present the ‘state-of-the-art’ literature on action repertoires of social movements in an internet age. The article builds a strong case in favour of the internet as it has given social movements new and improved opportunities to engage in social and political action. At the same time, a naïve internet-optimism is avoided, by pointing out several limitations. There is the ‘classical’ problem of digital divide. In some cases, the internet has made collective action still not easy enough, while in others it has made it perhaps too easy reducing the final political impact of a certain action. In addition, it seems that the new media are loosing their newness quickly, and more fundamentally are unable to create stable ties between activists that are necessary for sustained collective action. With the internet, social movements have not become a more powerful force in society. But, as political and economical power has gradually moved to the international level, the internet has enabled social movements to follow that transition and operate more globally.

Keywords:

• internet
• social movements
• action repertoires

Notes

In this article, we thus focus on the internet as a means for protest action. We do not focus on the internet as a contested ‘space’. The latter refers to what Jordan and Taylor (2004) have termed ‘digitally correct hacktivism’ which principally defends the free flows of information on the internet.

Not everybody would agree, though, and some scholars in fact argue that the internet now gives police and authorities plenty of opportunities to increase social control (cf. Lyon 2005). We will come back to that in our section on limitations.

By adding the word sweatshop to his shoes Peretti wanted to address the issue of child labour. The complete correspondence between Peretti and Nike can be read at http://www.shey.net/niked.html (see also McCaughey & Ayres 2003).

http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm