Online political activism and guerrilla communication tactics
ECTS: 5
Year/Semester: 3 . years, 5 . semester
Total hours: 60
Lecturers
Course objectives
The aim of this course is to acquire basic knowledge (historical development, terms and definitions) in the field of online political mobilization and cyber activism, relying on the conceptual apparatus and theoretical approaches of social movement studies. In case studies of cyber-feminism, cyber-environmentalism, cyber-terrorism and hackerism, students will gain insight into the specificities of computer-mediated communication and its potential for organizing individual and/or collective action with the aim of protest and resistance. The program conceived in this way aims to provide students with the basic knowledge necessary to distinguish and recognize the ways of using online communication as an unavoidable activist form of contemporary transnational social movements and global civil society. Given the democratic potential of online communication (bottom-up mobilization, do-it-yourself practices) and the theoretical and practical nature of this course, special emphasis is placed on developing the necessary competencies for recognizing all forms of guerrilla communication tactics and their successful use in order to achieve the goals of the organization.
Learning outcomes
The aim of this course is to acquire basic knowledge (historical development, terms and definitions) in the field of online political mobilization and cyber activism, relying on the conceptual apparatus and theoretical approaches of social movement studies. In case studies of cyber-feminism, cyber-environmentalism, cyber-terrorism and hackerism, students will gain insight into the specificities of computer-mediated communication and its potential for organizing individual and/or collective action with the aim of protest and resistance. The program conceived in this way aims to provide students with the basic knowledge necessary to distinguish and recognize the ways of using online communication as an unavoidable activist form of contemporary transnational social movements and global civil society. Given the democratic potential of online communication (bottom-up mobilization, do-it-yourself practices) and the theoretical and practical nature of this course, special emphasis is placed on developing the necessary competencies for recognizing all forms of guerrilla communication tactics and their successful use in order to achieve the goals of the organization.
