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,…
Category: Research
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…
Egypt’s First Hyperlocal Paper: A New Route to Fostering Community Activism and Citizen Engagement
Heba Elsayed is a research fellow at the University of Oxford. Heba’s research interests have centred around media and identity construction, particularly in the Egyptian context. In her guest post for RE.FRAMING ACTIVISM, Heba explores Mantiqti, Egypt’s first hyperlocal paper. The 25th January 2011 not only marked Egypt’s political and social revolution against 30 years…
Small resistances to Big Data: Protecting – and politicising – personal data trails
Tanya Kant is a doctoral researcher in Media and Cultural Studies in the School of Media, Film and Music at the University of Sussex. Her current research focuses on personalisation on popular online platforms. She is currently conducting interviews with users of tracker blocking tools, especially Ghostery, about their experiences of data tracking, online privacy and…
Abandoning Spirituality, or Abandoning Sexuality? Mediation Between Faith and Identity within LGBTQ Activism
Emily Daina Šaras is a Massachusetts Promise Fellow in youth empowerment and social justice, working with disadvantaged teens at a nonprofit organization in Boston, USA. After graduating from Wellesley College in 2010, Emily was a Fulbright Fellow in Lithuania, and earned Fulbright-Hays and Smith-Mundt grants from the US Embassy for her work teaching Lithuanian youth…
The Newspapers, if they did not Remain Silent, rushed to Fabricate Wrongdoings by the protestors
Işınsu Engindeniz is a Masters student of Journalism and Media Studies at the University of Sussex. She has recently returned to Turkey, participated in the demonstrations in Gezi Park in Taksim and is now reporting on the protests from Ankara. This week, Işınsu contributes a guest post about activist actions in Turkey and the lack of response…
Movement Praxis Prefigures System Change
James Anderson is a Ph.D student in Mass Communications and Media Arts at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale. His research interests include social movements, political economy, world systems analysis, critical pedagogy, prefigurative direct action and satire. He believes praxis makes perfect. He also says his words are his weapon, and, like so many others, he…
Examining Celebrity Activism and Social Media: Lady Gaga, Fandom and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Lucy Bennett is the co-founder of the Fan Studies Network. She graduated with a PhD in online fandom at JOMEC, Cardiff University, with a thesis focusing on online R.E.M. fans. Her research examines audiences and their use of the internet, with particular focuses on fandom, music and social media. Lucy’s work has been published in…
Blogging For (A) Change
Eric Anthony Grollman is a PhD candidate in Sociology at Indiana University. Eric’s research primarily focuses on the health consequences of discrimination, with attention to the health and well-being of women, LGBT people, and people of colour more generally. Through his blogging on his own website and for Kinsey Confidential, Eric aims to make academic…
FEMEN: The Unveiling of Colonialist Feminism
Marina Fuser is a social scientist and doctoral researcher in Gender & Film Studies at the University of Sussex. Marina is part of the RE.FRAMING ACTIVISM editorial team and this week explores the protest group FEMEN‘s recent international protests. The 10th of April of 2013 is the day of the 5th anniversary of a controversial “Feminist” group called Femen. These…