Lievrouw Leah A. Bücher

Over the last four decades, new modes of communication have redefined people's engagement with media; media audiences are now also makers, influencers, followers, gamers, trolls, and indeed data subjects. This turbulent social and technological context has created new opportunities for expression and activism around the world. In this fully revised, second edition, Leah Lievrouw considers the shift toward algorithmic media for political and cultural activism online – where data capture and big-data analytics are not just tools for managing and moving people or information but sites of creativity, connection, and contention in themselves. The book examines a range of events and developments, such as: design activists' anti-facial recognition projects; the use of open source intelligence in citizen journalism; and new apps based on encryption and DIY local networks that support movements such as Occupy and Black Lives Matter. Alternative and Activist New Media charts the theoretical roots of contemporary internet-driven movements and provides a framework for understanding the changing face of protest in the age of algorithmic media. This timely new edition will be a useful addition to any course on new media and society and is essential reading for those interested in new media activism.

<i>Alternative and Activist New Media</i> provides a rich and accessible overview of the ways in which activists, artists, and citizen groups around the world use new media and information technologies to gain visibility and voice, present alternative or marginal views, share their own DIY information systems and content, and otherwise resist, talk back to, or confront dominant media culture. Today, a lively and contentious cycle of capture, cooptation, and subversion of information, content, and system design marks the relationship between the mainstream 'center' and the interactive, participatory 'edges' of media culture. Five principal forms of alternative and activist new media projects are introduced, including the characteristics that make them different from more conventional media forms and content. The book traces the historical roots of these projects in alternative media, social movements, and activist art, including analyses of key case studies and links to relevant electronic resources. <i>Alternative and Activist New Media</i> will be a useful addition to any course on new media and society, and essential for readers interested in new media activism.