This paper aims to challenge the assumptions of Slacktivism as one representation of the nature of global citizenship. The term Slacktivism is used to propose that engagement through social-networking sites is inauthentic, ineffective, and replaces meaningful offline participation (Gladwell 2010, Morozov 2011). These conclusions depend on wider, problematic theoretical foundations within the online engagement literature as a whole; namely, a reification of institutionally bound citizenship and =voter-centric‘ forms of engagement. These frameworks do not give credence to the evolutionary nature of citizenship. This paper surveys this evolution and proposes a more realistic, nuanced framework and agenda for studying the global/local/transversal modulations of on/offline participation. The evolution shall be tracked over three criteria; institutional structures, identity, and methods of participation. (1) The decline of the nation-state and an evolution of the structural makeup of political institutions; the boundaries between states, political issues, and identities have become blurred and interlinked via global, real-time, porous information flows. (2) The development of socio-cultural frameworks; mapping the decline of monolithic national-culture and the rise of tertiary networks, centred around an individual‘s own personally-defined identity, within global networks of niche political interest and ethnic and religious pluralism. (3) The convergence of =politics‘ and popular culture; the entwinement of politics with entertainment and subsequent emergence of new practices of engagement; a hybrid of formal politics and social relationships. The sum effect of these transformations are notably absent from the Slacktivist ideal of citizenship and engagement. The paper introduces a combination of hypotheses which can underpin a conceptual framework that reframes Slacktivism and allows us to systematically examine the relationship between social-networking sites usage and global citizenship. Conceptually, these hypotheses draw upon an amalgamation of =Unbounded Citizenship‘ (Cammaerts et al 2005) and =The Actualising Citizen‘ (Bennett 2008, 2011), and the role discursive engagement can play in relation to identity formulation within a globally networked, hybrid media environment.
