PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY

Close Notification

Your cart does not contain any items

The Revolution That Wasn't

How Digital Activism Favors Conservatives

Jen Schradie

$78.95

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

QTY:

English
Harvard Uni.Press Academi
13 May 2019
This surprising study of online political mobilization shows that money and organizational sophistication influence politics online as much as off, and casts doubt on the democratizing power of digital activism.

The internet has been hailed as a leveling force that is reshaping activism. From the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter and #MeToo, digital activism seemed cheap, fast, and open to all. Now this celebratory narrative finds itself competing with an increasingly sinister story as platforms like Facebook and Twitter-once the darlings of digital democracy-are on the defensive for their role in promoting fake news. While hashtag activism captures headlines, conservative digital activism is proving more effective on the ground.

In this sharp-eyed and counterintuitive study, Jen Schradie shows how the web has become another weapon in the arsenal of the powerful. She zeroes in on workers' rights advocacy in North Carolina and finds a case study with broad implications. North Carolina's hard-right turn in the early 2010s should have alerted political analysts to the web's antidemocratic potential: amid booming online organizing, one of the country's most closely contested states elected the most conservative government in North Carolina's history.

The Revolution That Wasn't identifies the reasons behind this previously undiagnosed digital-activism gap. Large hierarchical political organizations with professional staff can amplify their digital impact, while horizontally organized volunteer groups tend to be less effective at translating online goodwill into meaningful action. Not only does technology fail to level the playing field, it tilts it further, so that only the most sophisticated and well-funded players can compete.

By:  
Imprint:   Harvard Uni.Press Academi
Country of Publication:   United States
Dimensions:   Height: 235mm,  Width: 156mm, 
ISBN:   9780674972339
ISBN 10:   0674972333
Pages:   384
Publication Date:  
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Jen Schradie is a sociologist and Assistant Professor at the Observatoire sociologique du changement at Sciences Po in Paris. Her work has been featured on CNN and the BBC and in the New Yorker, Washington Post, Time, Daily Beast, and Buzzfeed, among other media. She was awarded the Public Sociology Alumni Prize at the University of California, Berkeley, and has directed six documentary films.

Reviews for The Revolution That Wasn't: How Digital Activism Favors Conservatives

Simply put, The Revolution That Wasn't overturns our reigning assumptions about digital activism. Schradie demonstrates how resources, organizations, and ideology shape the potentials for and outcomes of digital activism, and reveals the dynamics behind the conservative digital organizing resurgence in the U.S. since 2010. This highly readable and richly detailed book will become the first stop for those seeking to understand why the internet failed to live up to the ideals of democratic dreamers.--Daniel Kreiss, University of North Carolina Trump has no overt presence in The Revolution That Wasn't: How Digital Activism Favors Conservatives. But the compulsive tweeter comes constantly to mind as French sociologist Jen Schradie persuasively argues her counterintuitive case: digital organizing--once complacently thought by progressives to advantage their grassroots uprisings--has turned out to be another 'weapon in the arsenal of the powerful.'-- (01/01/2019) Don't believe the mythology of what works in digital activism, or the hyped advice that all voices can simply count. This book lays out the real deal. Perfect for change agents aiming to turn their wild ideas into new realities.--Nilofer Merchant, author of The Power of Onlyness The Revolution That Wasn't reveals the textured reality of contemporary activism, challenging widespread assumptions about technology's role in social movements. Beautiful storytelling and grounded insights make this book a delightful and important read for anyone who is concerned about politics today.--danah boyd, author of It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens The Revolution That Wasn't synthesizes a wealth of accumulated knowledge to launch a new phase of scholarly endeavor. Blending ethnographic methods with quantitative assessments, Jen Schradie's work shows that the claims of both digital optimists and pessimists miss the mark. She reveals that successful digital activism is linked to more traditional resources that give well-endowed groups a natural advantage, but one that can be acquired by their progressive opponents. A pleasure to read, and packed with vibrant interactions with activists of both types, Schradie's book will take the study of digital activism to a new level.--Sidney Tarrow, author of Power in Movement


  • Winner of Charles Tilly Award 2020 (United States)
  • Winner of ICA Outstanding Book Award 2020 (United States)

See Also