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Voice and Listening in Social Media Facilitated Activist Collectives
Author(s) -
Dumitrica Delia
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
canadian review of sociology/revue canadienne de sociologie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.414
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1755-618X
pISSN - 1755-6171
DOI - 10.1111/cars.12302
Subject(s) - grassroots , active listening , articulation (sociology) , social movement , political science , mobilization , media studies , value (mathematics) , sociology , public relations , public administration , gender studies , politics , law , communication , machine learning , computer science
This paper examines the articulation of Canadian civic culture from below. Focusing on digitally mediated grassroots mobilizations, it asks how citizens construct and discursively deploy voice and listening as civic values. The paper draws from three empirical cases: the 2014 mobilization of parents during the teachers’ strike in British Columbia; the 2015 citizen mobilizations in support of Syrian refugees; and the 2016 sit‐in protest outside the Toronto Police headquarters. Citizens participating in these initiatives were keen to “speak up,” establishing voice as a civic value. Yet, this is not accompanied by equal attention to the role of listening. This invites simplistic takes to citizen participation, leaving it vulnerable to populist hijackings.