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Collective Identity Formation in the World Forum of Free Media

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Collective Identity Formation in the World Forum of Free Media Media and Communication (ISSN: 2183–2439) 2017, Volume 5, Issue 3, Pages 59–66 DOI: 10.17645/mac.v5i3.1034 Article Media Activism as Movement? Collective Identity Formation in the World Forum of Free Media Hilde C. Stephansen Department of History, Sociology and Criminology, University of Westminster, London, W1B 2HW, UK; E-Mail: [email protected] Submitted: 12 May 2017 | Accepted: 12 July 2017 | Published: 22 September 2017 Abstract More than simply tools used by social movements to reach other substantive aims, media are increasingly becoming sub- jects of activism. This article contributes to advancing understanding of such media-focused activism through a case study of the World Forum of Free Media, a thematic forum for media activists and media advocacy organisations linked to the World Social Forum. Based on qualitative research conducted between 2008 and 2016—including participant observation, in-depth interviews and textual analysis—the article critically explores the extent to which the World Forum of Free Media can be considered a ‘free media’ movement in the making, and examines some of the challenges and contradictions that such a movement-building project entails. Drawing on social movement theory, specifically the concept of collective iden- tity, it analyses efforts by forum organisers to mobilise a very diverse range of actors—from alternative media activists to policy- and advocacy NGOs—around a plural and inclusive ‘free media’ identity. While the World Forum of Free Media has to some extent succeeded in facilitating convergence around a set of core principles and ideas, it has so far struggled to develop a clear outwards-facing identity and mobilise a broad grassroots base. Keywords alternative media; collective identity; communication rights; FMML; media activism; media democracy movement; social movements; World Forum of Free Media; World Social Forum Issue This article is part of the issue “Acting on Media: Influencing, Shaping and (Re)Configuring the Fabric of Everyday Life”, edited by Sigrid Kannengießer and Sebastian Kubitschko (University of Bremen, Germany). © 2017 by the author; licensee Cogitatio (Lisbon, Portugal). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribu- tion 4.0 International License (CC BY). 1. Introduction and technology as subjects of political contention. How- ever, given the ubiquity and importance of media in con- Much attention has been paid recently to the relation- temporary society, and the rising prominence of media ship between social movements and media, with re- activism—understood here not just as activists’ use of search focusing on the implications of new media tech- media to further other aims, but activism focused specif- nologies for movement formation and protest trajec- ically on media and technology issues—it is important tories. An important strand of this research has fo- to examine processes of collective identity formation cused on the implications of new media technologies among media activists, and ask whether such activism for processes of collective identity formation. A key ar- might constitute a social movement in its own right. This gument has been that such technologies—social me- is what this article sets out to do through a case study dia in particular—have led to a reconfiguration of col- of the World Forum of Free Media (FMML, for the Por- lective identity as conventionally understood within so- tuguese Fórum Mundial de Mídia Livre), a thematic fo- cial movement studies (Bennett & Segerberg, 2013; Mi- rum linked to the World Social Forum (WSF) that gath- lan, 2015a, 2015b). Less attention has been paid to the ers civil society actors working on media and technol- possibility of collective identity forming around media ogy issues. What forms of collective identity are emerg- Media and Communication, 2017, Volume 5, Issue 3, Pages 59–66 59 ing among activists involved in the FMML, and to what Segerberg’s (2013) concept of ‘connective action’ high- extent might it be considered an emergent ‘free media’ lights a shift, driven by the rise of social media, towards movement? Specifically, the article explores the tension more individualised and personalised forms of activism between, on the one hand, efforts to develop a plural that raise questions about the feasibility and necessity of and inclusive definition of ‘free media’ that can enable collective identity as traditionally defined. Similarly, Mi- convergence among a broad range of media activists, lan’s notion of ‘cloud protesting’ highlights how a politics and, on the other, the need for a clear outwards-facing of visibility, in which subjective experience is central, has collective identity to facilitate external mobilisation. ‘partially replaced the politics of identity typical of social The article begins with a brief outline of literature movements’ (2015a, p. 887). Others, meanwhile, have on the implications of new media technologies for collec- explored empirical instances of social media use to show tive identity formation, before moving on to discuss work how collective identity is produced interactively through that has conceptualised media activism as an emergent activists’ communication practices (e.g. Kavada, 2015; Tr- social movement, and outlining the understanding of col- eré, 2015). lective identity adopted in this study. This is followed by Less attention has been paid to the possibility of col- an analysis of collective identity in the FMML, which con- lective identities forming around media and communi- siders the implications of the plural and inclusive defini- cation as issues in their own right. However, the grow- tion of ‘free media’ that organisers and participants have ing ubiquity of media technologies, combined with in- developed. The findings presented here are based on creasing awareness among activists of their significance qualitative research conducted between 2008 and 2016, and of ‘media-related injustice’ (Milan, 2013), make it which included participant observation at the FMML and important to pay attention the imaginaries that form WSF in 2009, 2011 and 2013; online ethnography of the around such technologies (cf. Fotopoulou, 2017; Juris, 2016 FMML; eleven in-depth interviews with FMML par- 2008). Specifically, it is important to explore the poten- ticipants conducted face-to-face and via Skype, in 2013 tial for collective identity formation—and the emergence and 2016 respectively; and an analysis of the World Char- of a social movement—around media-related issues. A ter of Free Media (World Forum of Free Media, 2015). growing literature on mobilisations around media and The analysis presented here draws on a larger research technology issues has used the language of movement to project on media activism in the WSF (see Stephansen, describe such activism (e.g. Calabrese, 2004; Hackett & 2013a, 2013b, 2016). Carroll, 2006; Milan, 2013; Padovani & Calabrese, 2014; Stein, Kidd, & Rodríguez, 2009). Two studies (Hackett & 2. Movements, Media and Collective Identity Carroll, 2006; Milan, 2013) are notable for their in-depth examination of media activism from a social movement A key concept in social movement studies, collective studies perspective, and include discussions of collective identity has been understood as central to the ‘emer- identity. Hackett and Carroll examine activism aimed at gence, trajectories, and impacts’ of movements (Polletta democratising existing media systems in the US, Canada & Jasper, 2001, p. 281). In very basic terms, it may be de- and UK, and find that such activism is better understood fined as a shared sense of ‘we-ness’ and collective agency as a nexus—‘a point of articulation between movements’ (Snow, 2001); however, there is no single consensual def- (2006, p. 199)—than itself a movement. They empha- inition (Flesher Fominaya, 2010). While some define col- sise the social embeddedness of media activism within lective identity in terms of individuals’ ‘cognitive, moral multiple other struggles, and suggest that this undercuts and emotional connection’ to a broader collective (Pol- the basis for collective identity, as media activists tend letta & Jasper, 2001, p. 285), others have emphasised its to identify first and foremost with other movements. interactive and shared character as a group’s definition Milan, meanwhile, examines ‘emancipatory communica- of its place within a wider social context (Melucci, 1995, tion practices’—‘ways of social organizing seeking to cre- 1996; Snow, 2001; Taylor & Whittier, 1992). Scholars in- ate alternatives to existing media and communication in- terested in the relationship between social movements frastructure’ (2013, p. 9)—and arrives at a similar con- and media have explored the consequences of new com- clusion: media activism does not (yet) exhibit the charac- munications technologies for collective identity forma- teristics of a fully-fledged social movement. She suggests tion in contemporary movements. In its early days, the that part of the reason for this is the absence of a shared internet was associated with networked forms of collec- collective identity among the diverse actors working on tive action based on ideals of openness, fluidity and the media and communications issues. co-existence of multiple identities (della Porta, 2005; Ju- In brief, the formation of a shared collective ris, 2008). While many celebrated the ability of this net- identity—and by extension a social movement—around worked politics to bring together a ‘movement of move- media and
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