Social Movements and New Technology / Edition 1

by Victoria Carty

Overview

The emergence of new communication technologies (such as the Internet and social media networking sites and platforms) has strongly affected social movement activism. In this compelling and timely book, Victoria Carty examines these movements and their uses of digital technologies within the context of social movement theory and history.

With an accessible and unique mix of theory and real-world examples, Social Movements and New Technology takes readers on a tour through MoveOn and Tea Party e-mail campaigns, the hacktavist tactics of Anonymous, global online protests against rapists and rape culture, and the tweets and Facebook pages that accompanied uprisings across the Arab world, Europe, and the United States. In each case study, the reader is invited to examine the movement, organization, or protest and their use of digital tools through the lens of social movement theory. Discussion questions at the end of each chapter invite critical thinking, further reflection, and debate.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813345864
Publisher:	Westview Press
Publication date:	03/01/2015
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	242
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Victoria Carty teaches in the sociology department at Chapman University. She is widely recognized for her work on the sociological implications of new technology; she wrote the entries on “The Internet and Social Movements” and “Electronic Protest” for Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements and recently published a book of her own research, Wired and Mobilizing: Social Movements, New Technology, and Electoral Politics. Her accomplishments in the classroom have been recognized with the Wang-Fradkin award for excellence in scholarship and teaching (at Chapman) and Multicultural and International Student Affairs Office award for outstanding dedication and commitment to furthering student success (at Niagara).

Table of Contents

Preface Introduction — The Digital Impact of Social Movements Chapter 1 — Social Movement Theories Chapter 2 — New Digital Capabilities and Social Change Chapter 3 — MoveOn.org and the Tea Party Chapter 4 — Arab Spring Chapter 5 — The Occupy Wall Street Movement and its Precursors Chapter 6 — Occupy Student Debt and the Dreamers Conclusion — The Digital Future of Social Movements References

Editorial Reviews

Carty is purposeful in her descriptions of the process in which the protesters are engaged, the extent to which modern ICTs have impacted movements, and the role that theorizing has on our understanding of the movements and on how movements inform theory.” —Communication Research Trends

“Victoria Carty's book offers us a fresh look to burning questions on political change, social movements and the Internet in a globalized world. The recent explosion of social media as a tool to help topple dictators and oppressive regimes in the 21st century has drastically changed how human rights advocates and social activists mobilize their resources for collective action and operate on the ground. Carty captures these tectonic shifts in societies across the globe, introducing an innovative theoretical framework illustrated by contemporary case studies. She provides students and scholars of social movements with a unique, in-depth, and thought-provoking analysis of current changes in contentious politics around the world.” —Arnaud Kurze, Montclair State University

“Social Movements and New Technology is a very concise and accessible overview of the cutting-edge use of digital technology by the most newsworthy social movements to have emerged around the globe in recent years.” —Jennifer Johnson, Kenyon College

From the Publisher