Making Sense of Life, Global Activism in the Cyberspace

Aide Esu
2017 Sociology and Anthropology  
Several recent works have examined the relationship between social media and social movements in the latest cycle of protest. The article examines how media activism provides a cross-fertilising communication process by shaping a cosmopolitan imagination. First the article proposes the cases of Adbuster and Avaaz, as two examples of media activism, equally engaged in changing the state of the world. The similarities and the differences between the two case studies are highlighted in order to
more » ... erstand how a cosmopolitan imagination, as a new challenge to the global information society, is constructed. Second, I will explore how action shapes an online community, bypassing state borders and takes on a form that shares visions, actions and strategies and develops a new common language, representing a balance between two sets of tensions: the politics of universalism versus the acknowledgement of difference and the responsibility for action.
doi:10.13189/sa.2017.050303 fatcat:pfwcrzuxcjbu5d4r7leh5juzta