Whereas scholars have tended to either romanticize or dismiss the impact of digital tools on social movements, this chapter shows how the impact of new technologies is mediated by the strategies of movement leaders. By comparing the 2018 educator strikes in Arizona and Oklahoma—both of which were initiated and coordinated over viral, statewide Facebook groups—I demonstrate that leaders in the former utilized social media to facilitate deep on-the-ground organizing, whereas leaders in the latter leaned on Facebook purely for the purpose of mobilizing existing supporters. These findings challenge technological determinist accounts of social media impacts on social movements, as well as longstanding assumptions about the compatibility of digital tools with effective, high-risk labor organizing.

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A Digital Strike? Social Media Organizing in the 2018 Teachers’ Revolt

  • Eric Blanc

摘要

Whereas scholars have tended to either romanticize or dismiss the impact of digital tools on social movements, this chapter shows how the impact of new technologies is mediated by the strategies of movement leaders. By comparing the 2018 educator strikes in Arizona and Oklahoma—both of which were initiated and coordinated over viral, statewide Facebook groups—I demonstrate that leaders in the former utilized social media to facilitate deep on-the-ground organizing, whereas leaders in the latter leaned on Facebook purely for the purpose of mobilizing existing supporters. These findings challenge technological determinist accounts of social media impacts on social movements, as well as longstanding assumptions about the compatibility of digital tools with effective, high-risk labor organizing.