Teasing out the conceptual contours of retrogressive technocultural worldings

The present contribution attempts to frame in and provide conceptual consistency to the opportunities for coalescing networks of belonging within a reactionary cis-hetero-normative worldview (Blum, 2019), which are provided by digital media (be them social platforms, digital forums catering to narrowly defined communities, digital content creators, digital outlets of legacy media as well as counterpublic media, or gaming platforms). As such, it explores from a theoretical point of view the manner in which the generativity and interconnectivity of present-day media ecologies facilitate the collective sense-making and network building of counter-hegemonic worldings (Otsuki et al. 2019; Trend, 2013), which underpin retrogressive mobilization (Norocel & Baluta, 2023; Norocel & Pettersson, 2023). Consequently, it aims to make a conceptual contribution to the expanding literature on the complex imbrication of power, representation, and intersectionality, by focusing on the digital construction of subjectivities, which are afforded a superordinate position within the “matrix of domination” (Collins, 2000).