Personal protagonism: The trait of gender activism online.
Why valuing individual histories of people makes Internet activism more revolutionary
By Gabriel Galli
Translated by Daniel O’Maley
It is so common to judge the suffering of others based on our own standards that we often forget to listen to what other people have to say. Subverting this is the principal element that transforms classic activism into something more horizontal that values and respects the wishes and vulnerabilities of individuals. Personal protagonism is what is making activism on the Internet as transforming, aggregating and mobilizing as it is to so many people.
These are the perceptions of activists like Sophia, who fights for the rights of trans people, and Marcelo Branco, who struggles for freedom on the Internet. They talked about the issue last Saturday June 16 during the Freeda Talks — Gender and Activism Online. The event was organized by the Freeda group and took place at the headquarters of Thoughtworks in the Science and Technology Park of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
According to Sophia, the ability to share personal experiences is in itself a form of empowerment.
“I feel that there is a ‘storyteller’ element in the way women are practicing feminism today. I see women who have been active in the movement for a long time feeling comfortable sharing experiences,” says Sophia.
Therefore, it is important to create an environment of protection and care, which is often found in private virtual communities where it is expected participants are more understanding.
Personal protagonism has a lot to do with recognizing one’s own history and privileges. “It is a more revolutionary way to use social networks, rather than just a showcase of successes. The social network becomes space to expose problems, failures, and vulnerabilities,” added the activist.
For Marcelo Branco, changes in activism are not only technological, but also reflect changes in ways of relating with each other. “The principal impact is to horizontalize social relations in various aspects. The notion of a person who is an explicit authority is something that disappears. Protagonism is shared,” he said.
The very idea that feminism online creates safe spaces for people demonstrates the readjustment of relations. “You’ll never get in contact with a marginalized person if she does not feel safe,” says Sophia.
A delicate point of the activism online is the exclusion of people who are not connected or do not have the knowledge to use digital tools. This happens in the case of many transvestites and transsexuals, for example, that due to a history of discrimination cannot access the labor market and traditional educational institutions.
The impact of self-communication.
Marcelo explains that knowledge and information are no longer centralized. The Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells calls this process of ‘self-communication’. For the first time in world history, individuals do not depend so much of traditional media outlets to distribute information. “It is no longer necessary to be mediated by a means of communication, be it the mass media or a union newspaper,” he says.
The Internet allows individuals to no longer be mere spectators, but also editors of information that is circulating. This is a crucial factor in the way of doing activism today.
These movements call into question the organization structure of the traditional press (which does not understand how to produce content), the traditional leaders of social movements (who are not heard), and the government authorities (who do not know which mechanisms to use to attend to societal demands, nor how to negotiate with movements that have no clear leaders).
Standards amid chaotic demonstrations
Marcelo cites the June 2013 protests against increases in the price of bus tickets in Brazil as an example of typical protests of our era, which reconfigure the dynamics of political and social movements.
Among the issues is the switch from single leadership structure toward a more distributed one that is centered around ideas. There are not demonstrations done by intermediaries, but rather networked, multimedia individuals who organize mass actions without a hierarchy. Participation is determined in accordance with ideas, there is no overall theme, with definitions in relation to economics, sociology and many other aspects.
“It’s a topic that is incubated online, goes to the street, networks and feeds back virally as an outrage. Police brutality is almost always a fuel. You can tell that if not for the police brutality in the demonstrations of June 2013, the movement would not have the size that had", says Marcelo.
Sophia highlights the creation of the Slut Walk in Canada, which emerged in response to sexist statements by a police officer after a woman was raped. The online mobilization created a global network of individual who organized marches around the world and now occupy a much larger space, both chronologically and geographically. The plurality of voices finds more space online to interact.
“Those who still thinks that the movements on the Internet are just about sitting at home on your computer and hitting ‘enter’ after 2013 should retire,” Marcelo said.
However, a common criticism is on very diffuse deamnds, which is actually quite classic for new movements. “In May 68 it was like this as well. Orthodox communists criticized what was asked in the streets. It is a common feature that when the protests became viral each person goes out with their smartphone in hand claiming individual agendas", he explains.
We must change the system
Two conclusions are obvious: The current system can not meet the expectations of the new movements in the networked society, but at the same time there can be peaceful coexistence among them the old institutions.
“It is ironic that the Internet can visualize so many things, it being an invisible non-place, but it happens. It gives us more voice, but it may not give you much power. The important thing is that they can visualize their agendas,” says Sophia.
The forms of classical organization, such as political parties and trade unions, are not dismissed as old forms of political mobilization, but now they have to live with new movements. “There will be times when the new and old [forms of militancy] will collaborate, there will be times when they do not. And there’s no way to incorporate the new in the old structures. Hardly a political party will be horizontal as a network in motion,” says Marcelo.
Sophia recalled that people who are on the boards, making decisions, are also on the internet. “I’ve been invited to speak to members of the Rio Grande do Sul Psychology Council because of the texts I write on the Internet. Things are not so far away,” she says.
As for Marcelo, there is a global movement for a new democracy. It needs to be something that young people do not feel dependent on traditional forms or specific times of voting to decide. “We will live with movements that mobilize masses, tipping rulers, but they are not powerful enough to establish a government. Experience what is happening in Spain is an example of what can happen. Several groups founded parties like we can, for example.”
Learn more about Freeda. visit http://freeda.me.
