James William Dennis

Social Media, Professional Media and Mobilisation in Contemporary Britain: Explaining the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Citizens’ Movement 38 Degrees

Digital media continue to reshape political activism in unexpected ways. Within a period of a few years, the internet-enabled UK citizens’ movement 38 Degrees has amassed a membership of 3 million and now sits alongside similar entities such as America’s MoveOn, Australia’s GetUp! and the transnational movement Avaaz. In this article, we contribute to current thinking about digital media and mobilisation by addressing some of the limitations of existing research on these movements and on digital activism more generally. We show how 38 Degrees’ digital network repertoires coexist interdependently with its strategy of gaining professional news media coverage. We explain how the oscillations between choreographic leadership and member influence and between digital media horizontalism and elite media-centric work constitute the space of interdependencies in which 38 Degrees acts. These delicately balanced relations can quickly dissolve and be replaced by simpler relations of dependence on professional media. Yet despite its fragility, we theorise about how 38 Degrees may boost individuals’ political efficacy, irrespective of the outcome of individual campaigns. Our conceptual framework can be used to guide research on similar movements.

Twitter and global political crises: cycles of insecurity in #PrayforParis and #PrayforSyria

This study examines social media responses to the 13 November 2015 Paris attacks by the Islamic State. First impressions of over 2,000,000 tweets containing hashtags #PrayforParis and #PrayforSyria suggested a conflation of three issues: (1) Migration: were the attackers homegrown or carrying overseas passports? (2) Violence: why was Paris attacked and why is France bombing the Islamic State? (3) Media: what role should mainstream and social media play during events that are local and global, unique and yet part of a series? However, instead of conflating media, migration and terrorism, we found users of both hashtags discussing Syria, foreign policy, and justice and fairness. Building on previous research exploring how social media affordances encourage certain communication behaviors, we test whether Twitter’s reply function is more conducive to antagonistic comments than retweets, which we hypothesise allow for an expression of solidarity and universalism. Conversations about Syria contain greater antagonism, explained by aspects of the tweet, user and network effects. The #PrayforParis and #PrayforSyria conversations exhibit neither the contestation of global attention nor a media-driven cycle of insecurity. The high frequency of agonistic and non-visual tweets, particularly about Syria, suggests a robust exchange of claims, refuting pessimistic depictions of Twitter as a space for superficiality and hate.

A Private Sphere: Democracy in a Digital Age by Zizi Papacharissi. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2010. 200pp., £14.99, ISBN 978 0 7456 4525 4

ties.With the exception of E. Njoki Wamai, who mentions the failures of the resolution to include men in the implementation process in Liberia, none of the authors or editors recognises the absence of masculinities as a dilemma in translating the policy of UNSCR 1325 into practice.The book relies on and furthers the traditional divide that conceptualises women as peacemakers and men as warmongers. Nonetheless, Women, Peace and Security offers an insight into some of the practical problems with implementation of UNSCR 1325. It suggests plausible alternatives, for example the development and integration of civil society into the implementation strategies of UNSCR 1325.The case studies examined are thought provoking and the bottom–top analytical approach provides solid arguments. Last but not least, the editors provide recommendations for the real challenges in the translation of the principles and values of the resolution. Although these recommendations are not necessarily new, their reiteration highlights negligence on the part of the UN to bridge the gap between policy and practice with regard to UNSCR 1325.

Book Review: General politics: a private sphere: democracy in a digital age

ties.With the exception of E. Njoki Wamai, who mentions the failures of the resolution to include men in the implementation process in Liberia, none of the authors or editors recognises the absence of masculinities as a dilemma in translating the policy of UNSCR 1325 into practice.The book relies on and furthers the traditional divide that conceptualises women as peacemakers and men as warmongers. Nonetheless, Women, Peace and Security offers an insight into some of the practical problems with implementation of UNSCR 1325. It suggests plausible alternatives, for example the development and integration of civil society into the implementation strategies of UNSCR 1325.The case studies examined are thought provoking and the bottom–top analytical approach provides solid arguments. Last but not least, the editors provide recommendations for the real challenges in the translation of the principles and values of the resolution. Although these recommendations are not necessarily new, their reiteration highlights negligence on the part of the UN to bridge the gap between policy and practice with regard to UNSCR 1325.

Book Review: General Politics: A Private Sphere: Democracy in a Digital AgeA Private Sphere: Democracy in a Digital Age by PapacharissiZizi. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2010. 200pp., £14.99, ISBN 978 0 7456 4525 4

ties.With the exception of E. Njoki Wamai, who mentions the failures of the resolution to include men in the implementation process in Liberia, none of the authors or editors recognises the absence of masculinities as a dilemma in translating the policy of UNSCR 1325 into practice.The book relies on and furthers the traditional divide that conceptualises women as peacemakers and men as warmongers. Nonetheless, Women, Peace and Security offers an insight into some of the practical problems with implementation of UNSCR 1325. It suggests plausible alternatives, for example the development and integration of civil society into the implementation strategies of UNSCR 1325.The case studies examined are thought provoking and the bottom–top analytical approach provides solid arguments. Last but not least, the editors provide recommendations for the real challenges in the translation of the principles and values of the resolution. Although these recommendations are not necessarily new, their reiteration highlights negligence on the part of the UN to bridge the gap between policy and practice with regard to UNSCR 1325.