Social movement theory tells us that in order to take part in a political action a person needs to feel both outrage at the status quo and hope that it can change.  But what tips the scales?  What makes a complacent or apolitical person dissatisfied with the current system?  What makes a cynical or [...]

Egypt is alive with vibrant political discourse, action, organizing and hope. While much attention has recently been focused on the “constitution first” campaign run by activists (with a Tahrir rally promised on July 8th by opponents of holding elections before writing a new constitution), debate on the constitution itself proceeds apace (although today’s news suggest [...]

Though they often use it as a weapon against each other, cyber-optimists and cyber-pessimists agree on one thing: digital activism cannot be effective without connecting back to the real world.  Because all our institutions of power still exist offline, in order to influence real-world outcomes, digital actions must have real-world effects.  Yet we are far [...]

Shakespeare wrote that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” but if it were also called a “fragrant blush petalation,” “pink prickler,” or “Valentine’s blossom,” that would certainly cause confusion.  When we talk about the effect of digitally networked technologies on contentious politics, we are met with an equally thorny problem: we [...]

Sometimes, the best way to move forward is to pause and take a look back. With the global debates about digital activism still raging, this post will highlight some of the scholarly works from the past few years that provide insights into the evolution of thought on digital activism. Studying these observations against the current [...]

Summer is here and it’s time for interns.  Our first is Josh Price, a political science graduate from Haverford who will graduate from the University of Chicago at the end of the summer with a master’s degree in Social Science. Josh is interested in social media, message framing, public opinion, and American politics. He also [...]

[UPDATED] Are America’s information interventions around the world just imperialism in a digital mask or is a different type of foreign policy at work?  In an interesting post today on the Savage Minds blog Adam Fish, a PhD candidate at UCLA, writes: By the end of the year the US State department will spend $70 [...]

In their recent article on advocacy evaluation in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Steven Teles and Mark Schmitt note: Advocacy efforts almost always involve a fight against a strategic adversary capable of adapting over time. Practices that once worked beautifully get stale once the losers figure out how to adopt the winner’s strategy or discover [...]

I am still exhausted from two great days at Personal Democracy Forum.  There was a lot to absorb – over 30 keynotes on the main stage and over 20 break-out sessions.  I kept my laptop closed for most of it so I could concentrate on what was being said.  Here were some of the highlights [...]

I’ll be presenting a break-out session on open digital activism research and the Global Digital Activism Data Set at Personal Democracy Forum today in New York, details below.  I’ll also report back on any feedback I get from the session. Getting Beyond Anecdata: The Global Digital Activism Data Project Mary Joyce (moderator) with Zeynep Tefecki [...]