Bart Cammaerts

Protest logics and the mediation opportunity structure

This article aims to bridge a gap between social movement studies and media and communication studies. A conceptual framework is presented that integrates the political opportunity structure approach and the logics of contentious action with the concept of mediation. The author argues that mediation opportunity structure is a fruitful concept to encompass a wide variety of ways in which media and communication are relevant to protest and social movements. It refers to mainstream media representations of protest and movements, to movements ‘becoming the media’ and counter-spinning, as well as to media and communication practices that constitute protest and resistance in their own right. The manifold articulations of mediation illustrate that media and communication are not merely relevant to the symbolic and discursive realms in which social movements operate, but that they are also instrumental and material to realizing their immediate goals. Activists are becoming more aware and conscious of the mediation opportunity structure, through their lay-knowledge of how the mainstream media and technologies operate, partially adapting to them or appropriating them. The nature and degree of mediation opportunities for activists and the structural constraints impeding the opportunities varies according to the type of protest logic that is being used.

Online Political Debate, Unbounded Citizenship, and the Problematic Nature of a Transnational Public Sphere

Citizenship has always been a dynamic notion, subject to change and permanent struggle over its precise content and meaning. Recent technological, economic, and political transformations have led to the development of alternative notions of citizenship that go beyond the classic understanding of its relationship to nation states and rights. Civil society actors play an important role in this process by organizing themselves at a transnational level, engaging with issues that transcend the boundaries of the nation state and questioning the democratic legitimacy of other transnational actors such as international and corporate organizations. They also allow citizens to engage with “unbounded” issues and to construct a transnational public sphere where such issues can be debated. It is often assumed that the Internet plays a crucial role in enabling this transnational public sphere to take shape. Empirical analysis of discussion forums and mailing lists developed by transnational civil society actors shows, however, that the construction of such a transnational public sphere is paved with constraints. To speak of a unified transnational public sphere is therefore deemed to be problematic. It cannot be seen or construed without taking into account the local, the national, and enforceable rights in order to materialize the ideas and hopes being voiced through civil society.

HEGEMONY, DEMOCRACY, AGONISM AND JOURNALISM: An interview with Chantal Mouffe

Chantal Mouffes political philosophy has been influential in a variety of domains, including sociology, cultural studies, media studies, law, art, literary criticism, and journalism studies. By combining Gramscis focus on hegemony with post-structuralist theory she has developed—in collaboration with Ernesto Laclau—a sophisticated perspective on the political that intersects with all aspects of society, including the role and functioning of journalism. Her emphasis on the productive role of hegemony and conflict in society combined with her plea for a radical pluralist democracy, open a wide range of new perspectives for journalism studies. We present an overview of Mouffes work set against a recent interview with her, in which we discuss, among other things, the potential diversity of contingent journalistic identities, ranging between being complicit with hegemonic socio-political projects, and safe-guarding or even deepening democratic institutions, including itself.

Radical pluralism and free speech in online public spaces The case of North Belgian extreme right discourses

• Progressive political movements and activists are not the only ones appropriating Web 2.0 as a way to construct independent public spaces and voice counter-hegemonic discourses. By studying (post-) fascist movements, it will be shown that the internet also gives rise to anti-public spaces, voicing hatred and essentialist discourses. In this article, discourses of hate produced by North Belgian (post-)fascist movements and activists will be analysed. Theoretically the analysis is informed by radical pluralism and the limits of freedom of speech in a strong democracy. The cases presented challenge the limits of freedom of speech and of radical pluralism, and bring us to question whether being a racist is a democratic right, whether freedom of speech includes opinions and views that challenge basic democratic values. •

Jamming the Political: Beyond Counter-hegemonic Practices

While the notion of cultural jamming has been around for several years little or no attention has gone to the appropriation of cultural jamming techniques by political actors in their political communication practices. These ‘political‘ jams are not directed at the corporate world as such, like the cultural jam, but towards society at large or governments, towards changing values or behaviours and even at times against minorities or common enemies. The actors involved are not only radical or grassroots activists, but also professional civil society organisations, political parties and even at times government sponsored agencies. This already indicates that the political jam cannot be coined as a counter-hegemonic practice per se, as is the case with cultural jamming. Reactionary groups and mainstream political parties, as well as corporate actors are increasingly adopting these techniques. This article will address the historical cultural legacy on which cultural and political jamming builds. It will also critically assess the role of the Internet as a distributive means for political jams and its consequences for the notion of the public sphere.

Information society policy in the developing world: A critical assessment

The Global Information Society (GIS) has in recent years been high on the political agenda of Western countries. These countries have been concerned with the development of Information Infrastructures in order to achieve the Information Society. In the West there has been a broad consensus about the framework in which the development of the GIS needs to take place. On both national and international levels a framework has to be established which supports competition, encourages private investment, supports flexible regulatory framework and allows for open access to networks. Recently this dominant scenario has been transposed as the appropriate scenario for the development of Information Infrastructures in the developing world. This article sets out to give an overview of GIS policy in a developmental context. It elaborates on recent policy initiatives in the area. At the international level it critically analyses changes in the communications industries and in the global economy. At the national level it...

Community radio in the West: a legacy of struggle for survival in a state and capitalist controlled media environment

In this article the legacy of struggle by community radio in the West is analysed from a comparative perspective. More specifically, the focus of this article is on Western media policies towards community radio. It is argued that while many community radio discourses, theories and policies are oriented towards developing countries and emerging democracies, community radio stations in the West are often forced to operate in the margins. Case studies on the US, the UK and Belgium are presented. Some influence of distinct regulatory paradigms can be observed, but overall in each of these countries community radio stations have a legacy of struggle for their existence and survival. This exposes the need to account for the distinct nature of community radio in (Western) regulatory regimes. A common thread in the cases being presented is the difficulty involved in (local) community radio legitimating its existence on the FM-band alongside commercial and public broadcasters. Unlike these, community radio movements have little lobbying power and are usually positioned as rogue and unprofessional actors within the broadcasting community. From a democratic perspective emphasizing the importance of participation and civic culture, Western media policies urgently need to create an enabling environment for participatory community radio initiatives.

The Mediation of Insurrectionary Symbolic Damage The 2010 U.K. Student Protests

In this article, the intricate relationship between the logic of damage as an act of political communication and its mediation is addressed. The mediation of protest by mainstream media is often deemed to be one-sided, biased in favor of the establishment and predominantly antiprotest, focusing on the spectacular crowding out real debate on the issues. A content analysis of the 2010 U.K. student protests as reported by four U.K. newspapers found this to be only partially true. The use of symbolic damage tactics by the protesters did not squeeze out attention for the issues, rather it increased media attention and coverage considerably. Militant voices were more quoted and given more space in articles than moderate voices. In all newspapers there was a degree of understanding for the anger of the students, but the use of symbolic damage tactics did produce much negative exposure. The use of symbolic damage tactics not only relates to a mainstream media opportunity structure, creating spectacle and drama, but also potentially produces division, negative representation, and delegitimization. Finally, the use of insurrectionary symbolic damage is a reminder of the failings of representative democracy in how it deals with political conflicts.

ICT-usage among transnational social movements in the networked society - to organise, to mobilise and to debate

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Networked Resistance: The Case of WikiLeaks

In this article, WikiLeaks is embedded within broader debates relevant to both social movement and mediation theory. First, the nature of the ties between a variety of relevant actors are assessed. Second, the networked opportunities and constraints at a discursive and material level of analysis are highlighted and finally the resistance strategies they employ towards mainstream culture are addressed. It is concluded that at the heart of information and communication resistance a dynamic dialectic can be observed between mediated opportunities for disruptions and attempts of the powers that be to close down these opportunities. Furthermore, it has to be acknowledged that reliance on mainstream actors and structures for exposure, funding or hosting contentious content comes with risks for radical activists.