Collective Action 2.0: The Impact of Social Media on Collective Action

Collective Action 2.0 explores the issues related to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in detail, providing a balanced insight into how ICTs leverage and interact with collective action, which will have an impact on the current discourse. Recent events in different authoritarian regimes, such as Iran and Egypt, have drawn global attention to a developing phenomenon in collective action: People tend to organize through different social media platforms for political protest and resistance. This phenomenon describes a change in social structure and behavior tied to ICT. Social media platforms have been used to leverage collective action, which has in some cases arguably lead, to political revolution. The phenomenon also indicates that the way information is organized affects the organization of social structures with which it interoperates. The phenomenon also has another side, which is the use of social media for activist suppression, state and corporate surveillance, commodifi cation of social processes, demobilization, or for the mobilization of collective action toward undesirable ends.

Analyzes social media and collective action in an in-depth and balanced mannerPresents an account of avoiding technological determinism, utopianism, and fundamentalismConsiders the underlying theory behind quick-paced social mediaTakes an interdisciplinary approach that will resonate with all those interested in social media and collective action, regardless of fi eld specialism

1. Introduction

Part 1. Theoretical Framework 2. What Is Social Media: A Critical View 3. Tehran, Tunis, Tahrir: Social Media and the Formation of Collective Action 4. Cottage, Tents, and Chocolate Pudding: The Cultural Context of the Israeli Social Justice Protests 5. The Social Network: The Relevance of Weak and Strong Ties for Mobilization Over Social Media 6. Berlin Helps: Resource Mobilization and Social Media Deployment in Berlin’s Refugee Aid Movement

Part 2. Discussion 7. Between Actions and Algorithms: How Social Media Facilitate and Enable Collective Action 8. Alternative or Mainstream: The Interplay Between Social Media and Mass Media 9. Big Brother Is Watching You: Collective Action and Surveillance in Social Media 10. Sharing Is Caring? Social Media and Demobilization 11. The Right Tool in the Wrong Hands: Neutrality, Values, and Biases of Social Media Deployment

Part 3. Epilogue 12. On the Verge of the Plateau: Epilogue