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Information and Communication Technologies as Contentious Repertoire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2020

Jun Liu
Jun Liu*
Affiliation:
University of Copenhagen, Denmark [liujun@hum.ku.dk]
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Abstract

This study advances an original theoretical framework to understand the deployment of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in political contention. It argues that we should not look only at the use of ICTs in contention, as technologies are not “born” to be used in and for political activism. Rather, people appropriate and manoeuvre technologies—some but not others—for such purposes, in specific contexts. This study proposes a relational understanding of ICT uses in contention, taking into account their technicalities and their sociality, as well as the transformation and actualisation that occurs between them. It suggests that an investigation necessitates the perception of communication technologies as a repertoire of contention on the basis of affordances that structure the possibilities of the use of technology. The study further presents an application of the framework in cases of protests in mainland China. Through fieldwork and in-depth interviews, this study indicates that the choice of (certain functions of) mobile phones as protest repertoire derives from a confluence of (a) a given social group’s habitus of media use that manifests particular affordances, and (b) the learned experience of the contested means of the past in official mass communication. It concludes that what people do and do not do with ICTs in political contention is significantly shaped by affordances and habitus, thereby revealing the dynamics behind repertoire selection and constraint.

Résumé

Résumé

Cette étude propose un cadre théorique original pour comprendre le déploiement des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication (TIC) en situation de contestation politique. Elle affirme que nous ne devrions pas nous contenter d’examiner l’usage contestataire des TIC, car les technologies ne sont pas « nées » pour être utilisées dans et pour l’activisme politique. Au contraire, les gens se les approprient et les utilisent – certaines mais pas d’autres –, à de telles fins dans des contextes spécifiques. Cette étude propose une compréhension relationnelle des utilisations contestataires des TIC, en tenant compte des aspects techniques, de la socialité, de leur transformation et actualisation mutuelle. Elle suggère que l’enquête doit concevoir les technologies de la communication comme un répertoire de contestation à partir des affordances qui structurent les possibilités d’usage de la technologie. L’article applique ce cadre théorique sur les cas de protestations en Chine continentale. À partir d’un travail de terrain et des entretiens approfondis, cette étude montre que le fait de concevoir les téléphones portables comme répertoire de protestation découle tant de l’habitus d’un groupe social donné qui manifeste des affordances particulières, que de l’expérience acquise des moyens de communication de masse officielle. Il conclut que ce que les gens font et ne font pas avec les TIC dans la contestation politique est fortement influencé par les affordances et l’habitus, révélant ainsi la dynamique derrière la sélection et la contrainte du répertoire.

Zusammenfassung

Zusammenfassung

Ein origineller theoretischer Rahmen liegt dieser Studie zugrunde, mit dem Ziel, den Einsatz von Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IKT) in politischen Konfliktsituationen zu analysieren. Ausgangspunkt ist die Feststellung, dass wir nicht einfach nur den IKT-Einsatz in Auseinandersetzungen untersuchen sollten, da Technologien nicht „geboren“ werden, um im und für politischen Aktivismus genutzt zu werden. Vielmehr machen die Menschen sie sich zu eigen und verwenden sie – einige, aber nicht andere – für solche Zwecke in besonderen Situationen. Diese Untersuchung legt ein relationales Verstehen der konkurrierenden Anwendungen von IKT nahe, wobei technische Aspekte, Sozialität und ihre gegenseitige Umwandlung und Aktualisierung berücksichtigt werden. Sie suggeriert, dass eine Studie der Kommunikationstechnologien als ein Streitigkeitsrepertoire verstanden werden sollte, welches die technologische Nutzung klassifizieren hilft. Dieser theoretische Rahmen wird auf Protestbewegungen des chinesischen Festlandes angewandt. Feldforschung und Tiefeninterviews zeigen, dass die Handybenutzung (gewisse Funktionen) als Protestrepertoire sowohl dem Habitus einer bestimmten sozialen Gruppe, als auch aus der gelernten Erfahrung politischen Protests durch offizielle Massenmedien entspringt. Schlussfolgernd kann festgestellt werden, dass der Rückgriff auf IKT in Konfliktsituationen stark von der Erschwinglichkeit und dem Habitus abhängig sind, die Auswahl und Grenzen des Repertoires charakterisieren.

Keywords

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)political contentionaffordancerepertoire of contentionhabitus.AffordanceContestation politiqueHabitusRépertoire de contestationTechnologie de l’Information et de la Communication.Affordancepolitischer ProtestHabitusProtestrepertoireInformations- und Kommunikationstechnologien.
Type
Research Article
Information
European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie , Volume 61 , Issue 1 , April 2020 , pp. 1 - 31
Copyright
© European Journal of Sociology 2020.

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