Date: 2018
Type: Thesis
'Don't worry, we are from the internet' : the diffusion of protest against the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement in the age of austerity
Florence : European University Institute, 2018, EUI, SPS, PhD Thesis
RONE, Julia, 'Don't worry, we are from the internet' : the diffusion of protest against the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement in the age of austerity, Florence : European University Institute, 2018, EUI, SPS, PhD Thesis - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/51824
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
This thesis focuses precisely on the anti-ACTA mobilization and the way it fits within the broader wave of contention. While the anti-ACTA campaign did not include occupation of squares (but only the more traditional protest marches), it shared many important features with other protests in the wave of contention, including the adoption of the Anonymous mask and the national flag as crucial symbols (Gerbaudo, 2017), the demand for more democratic decision-making, and most importantly – the belief in the Internet as a tool for empowerment that could contribute to a more horizontal democratic society (Beyer, 2014; Jarvis, 2014; Juris, 2012; McCarthy, 2015). The big difference is that for anti-ACTA protesters, the Internet was more than a tool - it became a cause in itself. People protested to defend Internet freedom, interpreted in a wide variety of ways by different actors, but most often as the freedom of sharing culture (and files) online, the freedom of not being 2 under surveillance, and the freedom of expressing oneself as a key prerequisite for the functioning of any democratic community.
Additional information:
Defence date: 22 Februrary 2018; Examining Board: Prof. Donatella della Porta, Scuola Normale Superiore, European University Institute (External Supervisor); Prof. László Bruszt, Scuola Normale Superiore; Dr. Sebastian Haunss. BIGSSS, Universität Bremen; Dr. Paolo Gerbaudo, King’s College London
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/51824
Full-text via DOI: 10.2870/722302
Series/Number: EUI; SPS; PhD Thesis
Publisher: European University Institute
LC Subject Heading: Social movements -- Technological innovations; Internet -- Political aspects; Internet and activism; Online social networks -- Political aspects; Social media -- Political aspects.