For this week’s blog post, I chose to read and discuss the section of Castells’ book on the Arab Spring. This chapter discussed the involvement of technology in the spreading of activist movements throughout Arab countries. Castells describes a type of domino effect driven by the contributions from media outlets that led to these consecutive movements in the Arab world. Going into detail about the movements is not Castells goal, however in his writing, he delves into the specifics that made these movements memorable - and spreadable. An important note that he makes is that the movements lose their “spreadability” when they shift from a pro-democratic protest to a violent movement. He claims that when movements shift to violence, it alters the movement from a position of strength, with ideals of “peace, democracy, and justice” to a movement that contradicts all of these values. It is not these movements that media outlets latch onto, but the movements that inspire others to promote these ideals in their own countries. As he previously mentioned in his opening, Castells believes that activism movements in a technological world function on the emotionality of its material. The Arab Spring movements were unique because they were entirely “digitally mediated.” In other words, without the media to portray the movements in specific lights, inspiring others to join the cause for a democratic world, this domino effect of uprisings throughout Arab countries would not have occurred in the manner that it did. Videos and posts about the various movements spread throughout social media and the Internet at large, reaching many areas through one common forum.
Overall, I think that the arguments that Castells makes in his writing are very effective. The use of others’ work to back up his claims that technology played a large role in the activist movements of the Arab Spring helps to bolster his argument. Castells delved very superficially into the movements that occurred, allowing for a general understanding of the activism without getting too bogged down in the details of the uprisings. His explanation for the role of technology in the spreading of the movements made me really consider how technology is used in other activist movements around the world, reminding me of recent protests that occurred here in the U.S. Specifically, I was reminded of Ferguson and the impact that the media had on the spreading of support for that activist movement. News stations replayed the story for weeks following the incident, showing clips of the protesters, police brutality and angered Ferguson citizens. Social media sites housed a place for reposting of news stories, clips and strong opinions about the topic. In this situation here at home, the media’s emotional impact rallied support from people far from Ferguson. The angry and frustrated sentiments of the Ferguson citizens did not stop with those immediately affected, thanks to the media. The digital world brought these very real emotions to citizens from all over the U.S., rallying support from all ends of the country. This movement mirrors the events of the Arab Spring, not in its specifics, but in the role the media had in spreading the word, and emotional impact of the event.
Overall, I think that the arguments that Castells makes in his writing are very effective. The use of others’ work to back up his claims that technology played a large role in the activist movements of the Arab Spring helps to bolster his argument. Castells delved very superficially into the movements that occurred, allowing for a general understanding of the activism without getting too bogged down in the details of the uprisings. His explanation for the role of technology in the spreading of the movements made me really consider how technology is used in other activist movements around the world, reminding me of recent protests that occurred here in the U.S. Specifically, I was reminded of Ferguson and the impact that the media had on the spreading of support for that activist movement. News stations replayed the story for weeks following the incident, showing clips of the protesters, police brutality and angered Ferguson citizens. Social media sites housed a place for reposting of news stories, clips and strong opinions about the topic. In this situation here at home, the media’s emotional impact rallied support from people far from Ferguson. The angry and frustrated sentiments of the Ferguson citizens did not stop with those immediately affected, thanks to the media. The digital world brought these very real emotions to citizens from all over the U.S., rallying support from all ends of the country. This movement mirrors the events of the Arab Spring, not in its specifics, but in the role the media had in spreading the word, and emotional impact of the event.