At the Digital Margins? A Theoretical Examination of Social Media Engagement Using Intersectional Feminism

Autor: Galpin, Charlotte
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Publizistische Medien
Journalismus
Verlagswesen

Politikwissenschaft
Sozialwissenschaften
Soziologie

News media
journalism
publishing

Political science
Social sciences
sociology
anthropology

Brexit
European public sphere
digital activism
online harassment
online violence
populist radical right
transphobia
interaktive
elektronische Medien

politische Willensbildung
politische Soziologie
politische Kultur

Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung
Interactive
electronic Media

Political Process
Elections
Political Sociology
Political Culture

Women's Studies
Feminist Studies
Gender Studies

Soziale Medien
Online-Medien
Partizipation
Engagement
politische Aktivität
Intersektionalität
Feminismus
Rassismus
Diskriminierung
social media
online media
participation
involvement
political activity
intersectionality
feminism
racism
discrimination
Zdroj: Politics and Governance, 10, 1, 161-171, Analyzing Citizen Engagement with European Politics Through Social Media
Druh dokumentu: Zeitschriftenartikel<br />journal article
ISSN: 2183-2463
DOI: 10.17645/pag.v10i1.4801
Popis: This article applies an intersectional feminist lens to social media engagement with European politics. Disproportionately targeted at already marginalised people, the problem of online abuse/harassment has come to increasing public awareness. At the same time, movements such as #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo have demonstrated the value of social media in facilitating global grassroots activism that challenges dominant structures of power. While the literature on social media engagement with European politics has offered important insights into the extent to which social media facilitates democratic participation, it has not to date sufficiently accounted for patterns of intersectional activism and online inequalities. Using Nancy Fraser’s feminist critique of Habermas’ public sphere theory and Kimberlé Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality, this article explores patterns of gender and racial inequalities in the digital public space. By analysing both the role of racist and misogynistic online abuse targeted at women, nonbinary, agender, and gender-variant people in public life, as well as the opportunities for marginalised groups to mobilise transnationally through subaltern counter-publics, I argue that social media engagement is inextricably linked with offline inequalities. To fully understand the impact of social media on European democracy, we need to pay attention to gendered and racialised dynamics of power within the digital public sphere that have unequal consequences for democratic participation. This will involve expanding our methodological repertoire and employing tools underpinned by a critical feminist epistemology.
Databáze: SSOAR – Social Science Open Access Repository