Paper long abstract:

In light of the financial crisis and harsher migration policies, actions initiated by radical civil society groups are on the rise. This project argues that in this time it is important to understand the reclaiming of online media by civil society. To reach this understanding we will explore how activists of the radical left have mobilized protests and solidarity actions through online media. We have chosen to locate our study in Sweden and Greece. Greece has found itself in the eye of the global financial storm whereas Sweden is coming out of the recession more favorably. In general, there is an excitement around civil society uses of online media leading to a wave of studies in this area. With our project, we underscore that such uses of online media also create potential frictions with reference to two integral dimensions of these media: cyber-material aspects of online media as well as the oxymoron of radical activists on the left using capitalist media platforms and how this influences their political identity. Therefore, there is a need to understand the cyber-material impact of online media on collective action initiated by civil society as well as the relationship between ideological loyalties and the political economy of mainstream online media and how that affects collective civil action. How and with what consequences does cyber-materiality facilitate as well as limit collective action? Does the use of commercial digital platforms by Swedish and Greek activists radicalize these media or is there a risk for radical collective action of becoming recuperated by commercial online media?