by Sara Xueting Liao The opening of 2020 has been unusual. Bushfires have been roaring in Australia for months. A weird flu season has caused thousands of lives in the U.S. Locusts in swarms have been tearing across East Africa. And in China, an epidemic brought by an infectious virus has been shaking the state’s…
Author: Re.framing Activism
Alternative media activism: Anybody hearing the audience?
by Pantelis Vatikiotis Research interest in alternative media has grown considerably over the last two decades in reference to the appropriation of digital technologies for activist purposes, but are we hearing the audience? The use of social media during uprisings sparked across the world in the emblematic year 2011 (Arab Spring, Indignados, Occupy Movement)…
Paying for the Revolution in Monopoly Money
by Julian Gottlieb In my last post for RA, I made the case for movements to be more strategically adaptive; to evolve, pivot on issues, and tinker with new tactics. This may seem a bit obvious; duh! movements have to change with the times and try new tactics when old ones decay in efficacy over…
The Productivity of Protest
by Laura Portwood-Stacer I’m writing this post a few days after the world learned that Donald Trump had won enough electoral votes to become the 45th president of the United States. In the hours following the announcement, those who had feared this outcome (even if they didn’t really expect it) rapidly transitioned from denial to…
UKIP Research and Activism Resources
The European elections are taking place this week. The UK Independence Party (UKIP) has dominated UK media coverage of the elections and is reportedly on track for a landslide victory. However, anti-UKIP activists have also been occupying the media coverage, from Twitter requests to post back UKIP flyers to subverting billboards, creative activist actions have…
“Yes! We Have Bananas”: The upcoming World Cup and issues of Racism in the football field
Marina Fuser is a doctoral researcher at the University of Sussex in Film Studies. She is currently at UC Berkeley, researching with Prof. Trinh Minh-a. Her research includes Feminism, Postcolonialism, Post-structuralism and cinematic experimentalisms. This week, Marina reflects on racism on and off the football field. The Brazilian football player Daniel Alves’ response to a…
‘Study Hard and Don’t Meddle in Politics’: Media Representation of Taiwan’s 318 Student Occupation
Emilia Chi-Jung Cheng is a research student in Film Studies at the University of Sussex. Her research deals with issues of historical representation, identity, and nationhood across contemporary transnational filmmaking practices across Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China. Kwan-Fan Su is also a research student in Film Studies at the University of Sussex. His research deals with…
Coffee Activism
Eleftheria Lekakis is Lecturer in Global Communications in the School of Media, Film and Music at the University of Sussex. Eleftheria’s research focuses on aspects of global communication which stem from the intersection of politics, economy and culture. This week, Eleftheria Lekakis introduces her new book on Coffee Activism. There are contemporary crises in the…
The Revolutionary Resonance of Praxis: Zapatismo as Public Pedagogy
James Anderson is a Ph.D student in Mass Communications and Media Arts at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale. His interests include social movements, alternative media, Amy Goodman, critical theory, prefigurative politics, horizontalidad, political economy and praxis. This week, James explores the practices of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. A little over 20 years ago,…
From optimism to delusion: Cyber-technologies, democracy and surveillance
Géraud de Ville is a PhD student at the Open University, Department of Engineering & Innovation. His research focuses on the use of information and communication technologies by indigenous communities in the Guiana Shield. In addition, he is a researcher on the EU-funded @Project_Cobra that uses participatory video and photo to disseminate community-owned solutions for…
In Between Priests and Units: A Manifesto for Education as Labour
Maïa Pal has a PhD in International Relations from the University of Sussex. Her research interests are on the politics and history of international law, extraterritorial property relations and jurisdictional struggles. She is engaged in debates on higher education, and lectures in Sociology at the University of Sussex. This week, Maïa Pal explores the lessons…
“I melt the glass with my forehead”
Joanna Callaghan is a filmmaker and Senior Lecturer in Film Production at the University of Sussex. This week, Joanna shares her documentary “I melt the glass with my forehead”. The film made in collaboration with Martin McQuillan explores the state of higher education in the wake of the introduction of £9,000 tuition fees. In the autumn of…