Linking Social Media and Political Networks

Abstract

This panel aims at exploring the different facets of the nexus between social media and political networks at large, from collective action, social movements and protest dynamics to multi-stakeholder dialogues and multi-actor governance processes. The current political landscape is indeed characterized by the multiplication of collective initiatives pursuing social and political change in the most various fields, at different levels (from the national to the global) and within more or less institutional venues. All these initiatives are very heterogeneous in terms of dimensions, goals pursued, degree of conflictuality and action repertoires adopted but they nonetheless do share the extensive use of ICTs – and social media in particular – to organize internally and to keep the dialogue amongst participants, supporters and organizers constantly alive. In this context, social media role in enabling, enforcing and reforming political networks has been studied according to different perspectives ranging from enthusiasm to extreme skepticism. If, in general, there are few doubts on the fact that continuous technological developments can increase the possibilities for creating political collectivities, it remains a matter of empirical investigation to determine if and how social media use fosters an actual change beyond scale effects and towards more systematic reorganizational processes within collective action dynamics as well as in policy-making and governance processes. Hence, the panel welcomes papers addressing theoretical and methodological issues as well as concrete case studies pertaining to various critical aspects in this area, amongst which the hybridization of collective action systems between online and offline dynamics; the role of individuals and organizational actors in collective action dynamics; the mix of political and technological opportunities for the development of collective action efforts and/or the democratization of governance arrangements; the effects of increased communication possibilities for the actual achievement of political goals.

Title	Details
Political Activism in the Twittersphere during the 2012 French Presidential Campaign	View Paper Details
Power and Resistance: Social Movements, Networks of Power and the EU Rejection of ACTA	View Paper Details
Collective Action Socio-Technical Systems: An Analytic Framework to Investigate the Nexus Between Social Media and Collective Action	View Paper Details
From Strategic Hyperlink Networks to Cognitive Issue Networks: Advancing a Dual Structurational Model of Social Issue Emergence on the Web	View Paper Details