Accounting for power in transnational civic tech activism: A communication-based analytical framework for media practice

Abstract

This article examines the need for an explicit conceptualisation of communication in the field of social movement research in order to grasp power dynamics within transnational civic tech activism communities. Civic tech activism is an instance of organised collective action that acts on institutionally regulated governance processes through the crafting of technologies and tactics supporting citizens’ direct political participation. The article suggests a theoretical lens that introduces the de-westernisation discourse of communication scholarship to the theorising of media as practice in social movement research. This allows, I argue, revealing power asymmetries within civic tech activist communities, with respect to decision-making involving technology. Emphasising the need to account for these exclusionary dynamics, the analytical lens here suggested will introduce the concept of ‘acting within’ transnational civic tech activism.

Keywords

Civic tech collective identity communication data activism inclusion power transnational activism

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