New Social Movements and Social Networking Sites’ Uses: Mexicans’
Mobilization for Peace in Mexico
Lidia Angeles García González
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilme nt of the requirements of Nottingham Trent University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
August 2016
Copyright © 2016 by Lidia Angeles García González
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Copyright Statement
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Declaration
I, hereby, declare that this dissertation has not been submitted in part or in whole as paperwork for a degree at any other university. I hereby declare that this dissertation is entirely my own work and that all parts and thoughts which have been taken from other persons are marked and identified by reference.
Signature:…………………………. Date:………………………………
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ABSTRACT
The recent political protests around the globe since the uprising in the Arab World, the
Indignados movement in Spain, and the Occupy Movement in United States, were broadcast to the world through both the global mainstream and alternative media using many images and reports produced by people on the ground using internet, mobile phones, and social media. These events have triggered a discussion not only about the political changes taking place in the region but have also opened up an academic debate about what changes and transformations
may have occurred in the nature of citizens’ political actions and the use of social media to
communicate with people around the world. In turn, these political events have also reignited the discussion on social media as transnational public spheres beyond government control and opened to question the ethos of existing attempts at Internet governance by western nationstates.
The aim of this thesis is to engage in a theoretical discussion of this political
phenomenon through a case study of New Social Movements and social networking sites’ Uses: Mexicans’ mobilization for peace in Mexico, an important element in the development
of citizen participation on the Internet focused on in the thesis. In this process, this thesis examines how theoretically social movements have been transformed with the goal of contributing to the debate on the role of new communication technologies in redefining social movements and their potential to transform traditional political practices, such as opening up space to develop temporary alliances with the government, widening political participation in government structures, and/or exercising more influence on the policy-making process.
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DEDICATION
This thesis is dedicated to my mother, who through all these years has encouraged me in the pursuit of this doctorate outside Mexico, to my husband Eduardo, who has supported me through all the difficult times during this journey and, particularly, to the all innocent children, women, mothers, young people, activists, journalists, immigrants and men that have suffered the injustices of this most unnecessary war on drugs.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to give special thanks to my supervisors Dr Olga Guedes Bailey, who has believed in me since the time I met her in 2009, for being so incredibly enthusiastic, patient and supportive with my thesis research, and who always was there to listen me during my time at Nottingham Trent University and throughout my time in England.
Also, I would like to give a special thanks to my second supervisor Dr Andreas Wittel for always challenging me to develop a critical perspective and for providing me with creative ideas for my thesis.
In addition, I would like to give special thanks to my independent assessors, Dr Matt
Connell, Dr David Kidner and Dr Natalie Braber for giving special attention and feedback my work, and to examiners Professor Martin O'Shaughnessy and Dr Jairo Lugo-Ocando for their valued insight.
I am grateful to my sponsor CONACyT (Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología) - reference 189066/309193- for funding my doctoral studies at Nottingham Trent University during the period 2011-2014.
Thanks also to my schoolmates at Nottingham Trent University, Haitham Al-Abri,
Ahmed Amer, Siti Suriani Othman, Kornelia Trytko, Farah Wissam Al-Hashimi, Jamile Dalpiaz, Anna Turnaturi, George Agyekum Mensah, Emhamad Elmansori, Nouf Alhuzami, Lorena Nessi García and Mai Salamah, who were always supportive and with whom I shared most of my time during my PhD studies. In addition, I would like to thank the staff of the Graduate School, especially Rebecca Palfrey and Emma Taylor, who was always helpful and kind to me in all my administrative issues, and also to Christine McCall for being – for threeand-a-half years – the most challenging and supportive English teacher I have ever known.
My unreserved gratitude also goes to the activists, journalists and experts conceded to be interviewed by me and for their contribution to this study. Finally, I would like to express my particular gratitude to my friends Dolores and Héctor who made my experience in Nottingham so pleasant through their warmth and friendliness, providing a Caribbean family atmosphere so far from home, my sister Ana for being there in my most challenging educational experience abroad, and, for their caring support throughout this whole academic journey, Rev Kara Cooper, S. Bridgette Hamilton, Sheila Fisher, Mick, Robert, Helen Wordley, Helen Clare, Eduardo Cooley, Laura Jaúregui, Nancy Castro, Silvana Cristiano, Dr Héctor Gómez, Dr Diana
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Sagástegui, Dr Jorge A. González, Dr Jesús Galindo, Paulo César Reynoso, and Paloma Robles.
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Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………… 15
Chapter One INTERNET, SOCIAL NETWORK SITES AND MAINSTREAM MEDIA IN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
1.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………….. 33
1.2. Social Movements, Mainstream Media and Internet…………………………………………. 34
1.3 Transformations of Social Movements in the Era of Internet and Social Media……………… 44 1.4 Participation in Social Movements and Social Media ………………………………………… 47
1.5 Conceptualizations Created to Understand the Role of Social Media in Social Movements…. 53
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………. 59
Chapter Two THE SOCIAL MOVEMENT THEORY APPROACH TO RESEARCH MOVEMENTS FOR PEACE IN MEXICO
2.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………….………… 61 2.2 Approaches for the Understanding the Concept of Social Movements…………….…………. 62 2.3 Collective Action…………………………………………………………………….………… 65 2.4 Collective Identity…………………………………………………………………….……….. 68 2.5 New Social Movement Theory………………………………………………………………..
74
2.5.1 Critique to the New Social Movement Theory……………………………………………… 80
2.5.2 Latin American New Social Movements: Theoretical Approaches ...………………………. 83
2.6 Social Movement and New Communication Technologies…………………………………… 92 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………..………… 95
Chapter Three METHODOLOGY FOR SOCIAL MOVEMENT RESEARCH
3.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………… 97
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3.2 Qualitative Approach for Social Movement Online Research…………………………..…….. 98 3.3 Collection of Data……………………………………………………………………..….….... 103 3.4 Online Interviews for Social Movement Research……………………………………...……. 106 3.5 Online Nonparticipant Observation……………….…………………………………….….... 114 3.6 User Comment Analysis…………………………….……………………………………....... 118 3.7 Ethical Issues………………………………………….……………………………….……... 122 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………..……….... 126
Chapter Four CONTEXTUALISATION OF MEXICAN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS FOR PEACE
4.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………... 128 4.2 The Mexican Humanitarian Tragedy in the Context of the War on Drugs…………………... 129
4.3 The War on Drugs in Mexico (2006-2012)…………………………………………………… 137
4.4 The Role of Media Coverage in the War on Drugs…………………………………………… 145
4.5 The Emergence of Social Movements for Peace in Mexico in the Context of the War on
Drugs……………………………………………………………………………………………… 149 4.5.1 Dialogues for Peace with President Calderón………………………………………...…….. 163 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….……….. 170
Chapter Five USES OF SOCIAL NETWORK SITES AND THE INTERNET IN MEXICAN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS FOR PEACE
5.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………. 172
5.2 Causes of the Upsurge of Social Movements for Peace in Mexico in the Context of the War on
Drugs in the View of the Activists and Experts…………………………………………………. 173 5.3 The Relationship between Social Movements for Peace and the Media…………………… 180 5.4 Use of the Internet in Social Movements for Peace…………………………………………. 195 5.4.1 Collective Action in Online Social Movements for Peace in Mexico………………….... 201
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5.4.2 Collective Identity in Online Social Movements for Peace in Mexico…………………... 5.4.3 Surveillance of Digital Activism in Social Movements for Peace in Mexico: ‘Who is our
207
Aggressor?’……………………………………………………………………………………… 217 5.4.4 Brief Note on the Transnationalization of Social Movements for Peace in Mexico……..... 221
5.5 Quantitative Analysis of YouTube Comments on the Social Movement for Peace and
Dignity……………………………………………………………………………………………. 223 5.5.1 Qualitative Analysis of the Comments on YouTube Videos……………………………….. 231 5.5.2 The Privileged Victim of the Social Movements for Peace in Mexico: Javier Sicilia……… 232 5.5.3 The War on Drugs by Calderón’s Government as a Failure……………………………… 235
5.5.4 The Relevance of the Social Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity in Mexico According
to YouTube commentators……………………………………………………………………… 239 5.6. Use of Facebook Pages by the Movement for Peace in Mexico…………………………… 242
5.6.1 México Vía Berlín Facebook Page Use…………………………………………………… 243
5.6.2 Mexicanos En Suiza Por La Paz (MexSuiPaz) Facebook Page Use……………………… 243 5.6.3 Global Network for Peace in Mexico (Japan) Facebook Page Use………………………
244
5.6.4 ‘Mexicanos en Holanda por la Paz en México’ Facebook Page Use……………………… 245 5.6.5 ‘Sinaloa por la Paz’ Facebook Page Use………………………………………………….. 246 5.6.6 ‘Colectivo Paz Xalapa’ Facebook Page Use……………………………..………………
247
5.6.7 ‘Zacatecas por la paz MPJD’ Facebook Page Use………………………………………… 247 5.6.8 ‘Nuestra Aparente Rendición’ Facebook Page Use………………………………………. 248 5.6.9 ‘Fuerzas unidas por nuestros desaparecidos en Coahuila’ Facebook Page Uses………...
249
5.7. Analysis of Comments on News Stories on the Social Movement for Peace with Justice and
Dignity…………………………………………………………………………………………… 251 5.7.1 News story 1. ‘Javier Sicilia called on parents of drug victims to come together’……… 5.7.2 News story 2. ‘Sadness in Morelos, Javier we are your family’…………………………
252 253
5.7.3 News story 3. ‘Javier Sicilia: Open letter to politicians and criminals’…………………… 254 5.7.4 News story 4. ‘Javier Sicilia and Felipe Calderón meet’……………………….……..….. 255
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5.7.5 News story 5. ‘Calderón offers to resolve murder of Sicilia’s son’…………....…….…… 256 5.7.6 News story 6. ‘No more Blood, thousands demand in Mexico City’…………………….. 257 5.7.7 News story 7. ‘Sicilia starts a sit-in, and calls for justice for the death of his son’……..… 258 5.7.8 News story 8. ‘Sicilia calls for a national pact’………………………………....………. 259 5.7.9 News story 9. ‘Sicilia calls for Calderón to request resignation of García Luna’………. 260 5.7.10 News story 10. ‘Sicilia: Calderón, listen to the people. Cuernavaca: a horror tour’…….. 261
5.7.11 News story 11. ‘On the eve of the March for Peace, Calderón defends anti-drug trafficking
strategy’………………………………………………………………………………………… 262 5.7.12 News story 12. ‘The President "did not listen to me": Sicilia’…………………………
263
5.7.13 News story 13. ‘Calderón invites Peace demonstration participants to dialogue’………. 264 5.7.14 News story 14. ‘The government must ensure justice for all victims of organized crime’...265 5.7.15 News story 15. ‘Do we look like collateral damage? The President defends his strategy’...266 5.7.16 News story 16. ‘The war on drugs goes on, concludes Calderón’……………………….. 267 5.7.17 News story 17. ‘Sicilia criticizes Sheriff Arpaio for his racist and discriminatory policy’………………………………………………………………………………………….... 268
5.8 Analysis of the Use of the Movement for Peace with Dignity and Justice’s Webpage…….. 271 5.9 Mexican National Newspapers’ Treatment of the MPJD (2011-2013)……………………. 275 5.10 Twitter Use by the Movement for Peace Justice and Dignity……….…………………… 276
5.11 Have Social Movements for Peace Changed the Status Quo of the Mexican Policy on Peace?
………............................................................................................................................................. 277 Conclusion…………………………………………………….....……………………………… 286 GENERAL CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………… ... 288 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………. 300
APPENDICES
APPENDIX ONE……………………………………………………………………………… 340
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LIST OF TABLES
- Table 1. ‘Javier Sicilia offers news conference after son’s murder (YouTube)…………..
- 226
Table 2. Testimony of Nepomuceno Moreno Sonora denouncing the disappearance and probable execution of his son and the negligence of the authorities of his State. (YouTube) 227
Table 3.Interview on CNN between Javier Sicilia and Carmen Aristegui, about the meeting
between the MPJD and presidential candidates on May 28th 2012. ………………………… 228 Table 4. En los Zapatos del Otro (YouTube)………………………………………………… 229
Table 5. ‘Los Estudiantes del Tec. Nos Ponemos en los Zapatos del Otro’ (YouTube) …… 230
Table 6. MPJD Facebook Page …………………………………………………………….. 242
Table 7. México Vía Berlín Facebook Page Use …………………………………………. 243 Table 8. Mexicanos En Suiza Por La Paz (MexSuiPaz) Facebook Page Use……………… 244 Table 9. Global Network for Peace in Mexico (Japan) Facebook Page Use……………… 245
Table 10. ‘Mexicanos en Holanda por la Paz en México’ Facebook Page Use………….
246
Table 11. ‘Sinaloa por la paz’ Facebook Page Use………………………………………… 246 Table 12. ‘Colectivo Xalapa por la Paz’ Facebook Page Use……………………………… 247 Table 13. The ‘Zacatecas por la Paz MPJD’ Facebook Profile…………………………….. 248 Table 14. ‘Nuestra Aparente Rendición’ Facebook Page…………………………………… 249 Table 15. ‘Fuerzas Unidas por Nuestros Desaparecidos Coahuila’ Facebook Page………… 250 Table 16. News story 1. ‘Javier Sicilia called to parents of victims of the drug to come together’ ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 253
Table 17. News story 2. ‘Sadness in Morelos, Javier we are your family!’…………………. 254 Table 18. News story 3. ‘Javier Sicilia: Open letter to politicians and criminals’………… 255 Table 19. News story 4. ‘Javier Sicilia and Felipe Calderón meet’…………………………. 256 Table 20. News story 5. ‘Calderón offers to resolve Sicilia murder of Sicilia’s son’ ………. 257
Table 21. News story 6. ‘No more Blood, thousands demand in Mexico City’……………. 258 Table 22. News story 7. ‘Sicilia starts a sit-in, and demands justice for the death of his son’ ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 259
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Table 23. News story 8. ‘Sicilia calls for a national pact’………………………………….. 260 Table 24.News story 9. ‘Sicilia calls for Calderón to request resignation of García Luna’ 261 Table 25. News story 10. ‘Sicilia: Calderón listen to the people. Cuernavaca: a horror tour’ 262 Table 26. New story 11. ‘On the eve of the March for Peace, Calderón defends antidrug strategy’ ……………………………………………………………………………………. 263
Table 27. News story 12. ‘The president “did not listen to me”: Sicilia’ ………………….. 264 Table 28. News story 13. ‘Calderón invites Peace demonstration participants to dialogue’ 265 Table 29. News story 14. ‘The government must ensure justice for all victims of organized crime’ ……………………………………………………………………………………… 266
Table 30. News story 15. ‘Do we look like collateral damage? The President defends his strategy’…………………………………………………………………………………… 267
Table 31. News story 15. ‘The war on drugs goes on, concludes Calderón’…………….
268
Table 32. News story 17. ‘Sicilia criticizes Sheriff Arpaio for his racist and discriminatory policy’………………………………………………………………………………………. 269
Table 33. Uses of the MPJD website page………………………………………………….. 272
Table 34. Mexican National Newspapers’ treatment of the MPJD (2011-2013)…………… 276
Table 35. Tweets from Movement for Peace Justice and Dignity…………………………… 277
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LIST OF FIGURES
Fig.1. Google trends………………………………………………………………………………. 106
Fig. 2. Map of the spread of violence since 2007 to 2011………………………………………… 142 Fig. 3. Mural prepared for the march for peace, May 8, 2011 in Mexico City……………………. 146 Fig. 4. Call for the peace demonstration on May 8th in Mexico, city……………………………... 153 Fig. 5. Front pages of May 8, 2011, the demonstration for peace from May 5 to 8, of the movement for peace led by Javier Sicilia……………………………………………………………………... 155
Fig. 6. Front pages of Mexican newspapers after the speech by Sicilia on May 8, 2011………… 156
Fig. 7. Zapatista demonstration in support of Javier Sicilia’s movement for peace (May 7, 2011) picture: Marta Molina……………………………………………………………………………... 157
Fig. 8. Front pages of major newspapers on the dialogue of peace with President Calderón
(June 24, 2011)……………………………………………………………………………………. 164
Fig. 9. Members of the MPJD in the dialogues for Peace in Chapultepec July 2011 with the
mainstream media………………………………………………………………………………… 183
Fig. 10. Carlos Gutiérrez right before departing from El Paso. (Alejandra Spector/Borderzine.com)
………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 188
Fig. 11. The Mexican poet Javier Sicilia arriving on Wednesday, August 3, 2011, at a press conference at the National Centre for Social Communication (Cencos) Mexico, City, EFE Agency
…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 192 Fig. 12. Pictures published on Facebook profile page ‘Buscando a Héctor Rangel Ortiz’ one of the
person missing, relatives requesting information about and offering financial reward from the
Mexican government……………………………………………………………………………. 204
Fig. 13. @hectorrgonzalez: Javier #Sicilia planta un árbol en #Ocotepec en memoria de su hijo asesinado hace dos años en #Morelos (Twitter) ……………………………………………….. 205
Fig. 14. Memorial for the victims in ‘La Gallera’ Tijuana, Mexico. Asociación Unidos por los
desaparecidos de Baja California (Facebook) ………………………………………………….. 206 Fig. 15. Social media campaign #AmiMeFaltaRoy, January 2014 (FUNDEL, Facebook) ……. 209
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Fig. 16. Graphic of hashtags relating to the mobilization for peace in Mexico 2011 ……………210 Fig.17. Caravan for Peace USA (Facebook Caravan4Peace CaravanaXLaPaz) ……………….. 212 Fig. 18. The poet Javier Sicilia and Gabriela Cadena Alejos, mother of a murdered youth, during a meeting with the authorities (Cuartoscuro) …………………………………………………….. 214
Fig. 19. No more Blood, Paris France 2011 ……………………………………………………...214 Fig. 20. A mother without celebration on May 10, 2013. Aspect of the march yesterday in Paseo de la Reforma (Photo: Carlos Ramos Mamahua) ………………………………………………………215
Fig. 21. Handkerchiefs in the Congress (Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico) ………………………….216
Fig. 22. ‘Para que la droga no llegue a tus hijos… TE LOS ESTAMOS MATANDO’
(www.monerohernandez.com) ……………………………………………………………………236 Fig. 23. El Culpable (Facebook No +Sangre) …………………………………………………….237 Fig. 24. Cartoon Monero Hernández (www.monerohernandez.com) …………………………… 238 Fig. 25. Javier Sicilia en los Pinos. (Photo: Germán Canseco/Proceso) ………………………… 281
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INTRODUCTION
This thesis aims to develop the existing understanding of how social movements for peace in Mexico use the Internet and social networking sites and to examine the central role of the Internet in enabling new public spheres of protest. The spread of the use of social networking sites and Internet have unleashed the potential for new dynamics of encounter and the formation of communities to communicate and contest power. The recent demonstrations and debates on the potential of social media for social movements show the significance of the contribution in this area. Social movements have been organized by ordinary people in Mexico to show their discontent with the violence generated in the context of the war on drugs that is affecting their daily life as well as to foster citizen participation in the country’s political life. In recent mobilizations around the world, including Mexico, the widespread use of social media has enabled the organization of demonstrations, communicative activities such as the distribution of information from newspapers and television through the use of videos, announcements for coming events and collecting money, to mention just some of communication strategies for collective action.
My interest in social movements is the result of a series of experiences that shaped my attention and a deep commitment to learn from them in an academic way. I will summarize those experiences in three events: The first experience, was in high school around the age of sixteen, when the Mexican Literature teacher introduced to the class the Mexican writer Elena
Poniatowska with her book ‘La noche de Tlatelolco’. This comprises a chronicle of eye-witness
accounts of the massacre of students on October 2, 1968 in the Plaza of the Three Cultures, also known as the Tlatelolco housing complex in Mexico City. The book collected a series of testimonies that reflect the thoughts and feelings of people both in favour and against the student movement. That was my first literary contact with social movements and it motivated me to learn more about the Mexican social justice social movements, not to mention, the historical background to the information learnt since the primary school on important mobilisations such as the Mexican Independent Movement in 1810 and Mexican Revolution in 1910.
The second experience happened when I had the opportunity to observe a demonstration, around October-November 2004, by attending a sit-in with a friend from my master’s course. The sit-in was organised a Jesuit, Fr. Pablo Martínez, from the Western Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESO) in the city centre of Guadalajara, in