'Mariupol is Ukraine': Constructing Legitimacy through Digitally Networked Action

This case study examines the use of Facebook for grassroots resistance to an externally-backed separatist movement in eastern Ukraine. Drawing on evidence from Mariupol, we show how citizens utilized social networks to defend Ukraine’s state legitimacy against another state’s territorial claims. We complement social media analysis with in-depth interviews to demonstrate how digitally-constructed narratives of Ukrainian political identity can legitimize state authority, providing an informal security force during a period of political instability. In the context of conflict, social media often facilitate political dissent and exacerbate the existing tensions between state and society. Our study provides an insight on how social media platforms can also facilitate support for existing governments, thereby enabling civilian resistance to external threats. (Section S25.Identity Challenge: Addressing National and International Conflicts and Processes. Alternative section: S72.Who is "We"? Drawing Identity Boundaries and their Consequences).