The Heterogeneity of Diffusion Processes in Contemporary Social Movements

Abstract

Social movement scholars have devoted a great deal of attention to the diffusion of protest. The transmission and adoption of new frames, tactics and forms of action are central processes in the dynamics of contention. With the spreading of new technologies, diffusion seems to become faster and easier but also at risk of producing phenomenon of instrumental appropriation by consolidated actors. At the same time, imitation based on indirect diffusion can generate appropriation processes subverting the original meanings of protest or even producing cultural misunderstandings. This panel aims at contributing to a better understanding of the heterogeneity of cross-national diffusion during protest cycles with a particular focus on recent contentious phenomena all over the world. Among others, the following questions will inform the discussion of our panel: How does the diffusion of digital media reshape social mechanisms of diffusion? Are certain types of channel more likely to help the diffusion of specific protest innovations or to facilitate subversion and misunderstanding of the original meanings? What is the role of the characteristics of the national and cultural contexts in influencing diffusion processes? To what extent diffusion within the new wave of mobilization reproduce or differ from earlier protest cycles? We invite papers addressing these and other questions in the analysis of diffusion processes within and between current and recent streams of contention over the globe, including but not limited to the so-called Arab Spring, European Indignados and Occupy Wall Street. Methodologically the panel encourages comparative analyses, in order to allow a better understanding of international preconditions for protest emergence in national contexts, and the diffusion of protest innovations.

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