Social Media Activism Media Social

PROTEST AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS Cernison Social Media Activism Matteo Cernison Social Media Activism Water as a Common Good Social Media Activism Protest and Social Movements Recent years have seen an explosion of protest movements around the world, and academic theories are racing to catch up with them. This series aims to further our understanding of the origins, dealings, decisions, and outcomes of social movements by fostering dialogue among many traditions of thought, across European nations and across continents. All theoretical perspectives are welcome. Books in the series typically combine theory with empirical research, dealing with various types of mobilization, from neighborhood groups to revolutions. We especially welcome work that synthesizes or compares different approaches to social movements, such as cultural and structural traditions, micro- and macro-social, economic and ideal, or qualitative and quantitative. Books in the series will be published in English. One goal is to encourage non- native speakers to introduce their work to Anglophone audiences. Another is to maximize accessibility: all books will be available in open access within a year after printed publication. Series Editors Jan Willem Duyvendak is professor of Sociology at the University of Amsterdam. James M. Jasper teaches at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Social Media Activism Water as a Common Good Matteo Cernison Amsterdam University Press Cover photo: During the Italian campaign against water privatization, social media provided a digital backbone to hundreds of everyday, well known forms of off-line activism. On this table, electoral symbols created and selected online coexist with traditional leaflets, posters, and jugs of free fresh water. Photo: Luca Faenzi Cover design: Coördesign, Leiden Typesetting: Crius Group, Hulshout isbn 978 94 6298 006 8 e-isbn 978 90 4852 919 3 (pdf) doi 10.5117/9789462980068 nur 697 © Matteo Cernison / Amsterdam University Press B.V., Amsterdam 2019 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. Every effort has been made to obtain permission to use all copyrighted illustrations reproduced in this book. Nonetheless, whosoever believes to have rights to this material is advised to contact the publisher. In memory of Berta Cáceres Table of Contents Acknowledgements 11 List of Abbreviations 13 Introduction 15 Case Study: the Italian referendum campaign against water privatization 19 Connected Activism: loose interactions on social media and their possible effects on campaigning 21 Methods to Investigate Large-Scale Campaigns: a challenging object of study 24 Structure of the Book 26 1 Models of Online-Related Activism 29 1.1 Online-Related Activism: key concepts 31 1.2 Overlapping Plans: research on online phenomena and its complexity 37 1.3 Recurring Questions 43 Conclusions 47 2 Methods for Investigating Online-Related, Large-Scale Campaigns on the Web 49 2.1 The Italian Referendum Campaign on Water: methodological opportunities and difficulties 52 2.2 Online-Related Social Research: some inspiring methods 59 2.3 A Methodological Proposal for Investigating Large-Scale Online Campaigns 65 3 Water Commons 71 Global movements and the Italian campaign against water privatization 3.1 The Global Context 74 3.2 Acqua Bene Comune: the growth of the Italian water coalition 82 3.3 The 2011 Referendum Campaign against Water Privatization in Italy 90 3.4 Alliances and Conflicts during the Campaign 98 Conclusions 105 4 The Web of Water 107 A trace on the links structure 4.1 Investigating the Web as a Network of Links 110 4.2 Network Analysis of the Water Campaign on the Web 114 4.3 Community Structures and the Content of Websites 130 Conclusions 136 5 Patterns of Online Communication during the Referendum Campaign 139 5.1 Online Communication during the Campaign: an evolving strategy 142 5.2 The Role of the Specialists: technological and communica- tions skills 149 5.3 The Media Context: the relationship with non-digital media 155 5.4 Processes of Website Creation 159 Conclusions 162 6 The Campaign for Water on Facebook 165 Perceptions and organizational models in a real-digital space of activism 6.1 How to Investigate a Facebook Campaign 169 6.2 Activism on Facebook during the 2011 Referendum Campaign 176 6.3 Groups, Initiatives, and Patterns of Use 181 6.4 The Perception of Facebook 193 Conclusions 201 7 Reinterpreting the Data 203 New theoretical perspectives and methodological proposals 7.1 Three Final Perspectives for Observing the Referendum Campaign 204 7.2 On Methods: strengths and weaknesses of a combined methodological approach 214 7.3 Five Directions for Further Research 219 List of the Interviews 223 References 227 Index 239 List of Figures and Tables Figures Figure 1.1 Recurrent research designs applied to the study of online activism 39 Figure 3.1 Frequency of the terms [acqua bene comune] and [privatizzazione acqua] in Google Trends 92 Figure 4.1 Web domain of the Italian referendum on water privatization 118 Figure 4.2 Out-degree at the periphery of the Web domain of the Italian referendum on water privatization 122 Figure 4.3 Water referendum on the web Network between the 7 websites with the highest in-degree 126 Figure 4.4 Ego networks of four relevant sites in the web domain of the 2011 Italian water referendum 129 Figure 4.5 Web domain of the referendum against water privatization, Italy 2011 132 Figure 4.6 Presence and absence of the keyword ‘bene comune’ (common good) in the web domain of the Italian referendum against water privatization 136 Figure 6.1 Two of the main profile pictures that the sympathisers adopted during the referendum campaign 187 Figure 6.2 ‘Vendesi Mamma’ initiative 188 Figure 6.3 Rome, 13th June 2011. Tens of sawed blue flags represent the water referendum committee 189 Figure 7.1 1st Model of online/offline interactions 211 Figure 7.2 2nd Model of online/offline interactions 211 Figure 7.3 3rd Model of online/offline interactions. Sub-models A & B 212 Figure 7.4 4th Model of online/offline interactions 213 Tables Table 4.1 Categories of actors in the 2011 water referendum network 116 Table 4.2 Average centrality indexes for water-related and generic actors, with and without the network core 121 Table 4.3 The core of the web domain of the water referendum 124 Table 4.4 Comparison of the presence of keywords in Commu- nity A (core of the network) and in the rest of the web domain 135 Table 6.1 Referendum-related actors connected with my Face- book account during the campaign (events excluded) 175 Table 7.1 Set of communication strategies elaborated by a single organization 206 Acknowledgements This book is the result of eight years of life, research, and writing. During this time, I broke three cars (once while trying to reach and interview an activist), relocated to ten different houses and three different countries, changed methodological approach and research questions, and met about 200 water activists in different parts of Italy and Europe. First, I would like to thank every one of them: you opened the doors of your assemblies, organizations, and houses, spending precious hours with me while you were fighting and winning one of the most important political battles of your and our lives. Above all, I am particularly grateful to the Segreteria Operativa of the Forum: in 2011, I discovered at the Rialto Sant’Ambrogio an incredible laboratory of ideas, observing exceptional levels of professionalism and dedication to a cause. Remixing the words of one of the members of this group, I can say ‘Quelle settimane con Luca seduto accanto a Nino furono belle’. Furthermore, special thanks go to the activists and friends who shared with me the experience of Marseille, and, in particular, to two activists from Genoa, who decided to reveal to me very important news during a dinner on the hills that surround the city. My second thought goes to Bretz’Selle, a Strasbourg-based community of political thinkers, fellows of Anaxagore, artists, makers, and feminists, which strongly supported the production of this book. Bretz’Selle, thank you for the countless tools that you gave me in these last two years: you increased my level of self-confidence, and showed me new forms of learning and teaching. I am grateful to the European University Institute and to the academic community of cosmos, the assorted bunch of social movement scholars that Donatella della Porta gathered together in Florence. Within this group, I dedicate a special place to my dear friend Alice Mattoni, to Riccardo Emilio Chesta, and to Lars Erik Berntzen, but also to Marion, Frank, Caterina, Pietro, Matteo, Markos, Massimiliano, Chiara, Salvatore, Helge, and Lorenzo (all of them). Furthermore, I would like to thank those people who contributed to my professional development during these years: Federico Da Rold, Chiara Cassese, Mario Diani, Claudia Padovani, Francesca Forno, Alexandra Segerberg, Paola Migliorati, Katarzyna and Kajtek Gracz, Adriana Bessa, Jonathan Bright, Letizia Vettor, Letizia Cassarà, Ludovic Chevalier, Valentin Reinhard, Sacha Pelletier, Estelle Schmitt, Justin Timmel, Robin Faivre. Thank you for having encouraged my steps, for having shared with me your invaluable technical expertise, and for having discussed with me why we research, experiment, and teach. 12 SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVISM I am particularly grateful to the co-editors of this series, James Jasper and Jan Willem Duyvendak, who contributed to this book with their suggestions and their informal support, and to Vanessa de Brueger and Marina Jongkind for their persistent help.

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