Communication for social change and digital activism online discourses of united for global change

Abstract

Communication is a key element in promoting social change and, currently, social movements, one of the main drivers of socio-political demands aimed at transforming the existing system of injustices and inequalities, are carrying out profuse examples of communicative actions, particularly in the online realm. In this context, this thesis seeks to contribute to advance in the current scholarship on online communication for social change and, specifically, to explore which features of citizens¿ online communication promote engagement for global peaceful social change. For that purpose, the research methodology combines mixed methods including bibliographic review of the literature in the field of online communication for social change, as well as (online) content and discourse analysis applied to an international initiative promoted by social movements. The study focuses on the case of United for Global Change, which is the name of an international day of protest that took place on October 15, 2011 (15O), following the reawakening of social movements from the Spring of that year. This case has been studied along three main axes: 1) analysis of web and social media content; 2) analysis of video activism and 3) analysis of media representations. Research findings suggest that the actual setting of Web 2.0 enables new forms of constructing knowledge and meaning that are being leveraged by social movements to insert new narratives and communicative strategies into public discourses to promote peaceful social change. Specifically, these online communicative actions embrace the following facets: cross-cutting issues, inclusiveness, justice, hope, peace and nonviolence, video activism, and media-orientation.