THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND SOCIAL MEDIA: THE EXAMPLE OF THE TAHRIR PROTESTS

Year 2018, Volume: 10 Issue: 2, 92 - 112, 01.12.2018

Turgay Yerlikaya

Abstract

This article examines the Tahrir protests in the context ofNew Social Movements NSMs and resource mobilizationand argues that the Tahrir protests can be assessed withinthe framework of these movements. The literature reviewpresented evaluates how NSMs became conceptualizedafter different theoretical debates took place and howNSMs depart from conventional models. The main argument of this article is that due to its dynamics, the Tahrirprotests present a new social movement model. It is further illustrated how social media plays an important rolein the organization and diversification of informationsources of social movements. It is claimed that while socialmedia is not the absolute determinant in social movements, it brings abour structural reforms such as the elimination of the hierarchical relationship model, thetendency of acting without a leader, and granting socialmovements autonomy

Keywords

Tahrir Protests, New Social Movements, Resource Mobilization, Social Media

TOPLUMSAL HAREKETLER VE SOSYAL MEDYA ARASINDAKİ İLİŞKİ: TAHRİR EYLEMLERİ ÖRNEĞİ

Abstract

25 Ocak 2011 tarihinde başlayan ve kısa sürede önemli sonuçlara yol açan kitlesel hareketler, otoriter rejimlerin ürettiği kronik sorunların öfke patlaması olarak değerlendirilebilir. 6 Ekim 1981’de Enver Sedat’ın öldürülmesinin ardından devlet başkanı olan Hüsnü Mübarek’in uzun yıllar süren baskıcı tek adam rejimi ülke halkının otoriteryen bir rejim altında yaşamasını beraberinde getirmiştir. Bu makale Tahrir protestolarını Yeni Toplumsal Hareketler YTH ve Kaynak mobilizasyonu bağlamında incelemekte ve söz konusu hareketin bu kategorilerde değerlendirilebileceğini iddia etmektedir. Bu çerçevede toplumsal hareketler literatürü ele alınmakta ve zaman içerisinde sosyal teoride yaşanan tartışmalarla birlikte YHT’nin kavramsal olarak ortaya çıkışı ve geleneksel modellerden ayrıştığı değerlendirilmektedir. Çalışmanın ana argümanı ise Tahrir protestolarının taşıdğı dinamikler itibariyle tipolojik olarak bir yeni toplumsal hareket modeli sunduğudur.

Keywords

Tahrir Protestoları, Yeni Toplumsal Hareketler, Kaynak Mobilizasyonu, Sosyal Medya

References

• Akdoğan Itır, Digital-Political Fantasies in Istanbul: An Analysis of the Perceived Role of ICT in Changing Institutional Politics, Activism, and Identity, Communication Re- search Centre CRC, Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, 2012, p. 37.
• Akdoğan, Itır. Dijital Politik Fantaziler. İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2014.
• Alterman Jonh B. “The revolution will Not be Tweeted” , The Washington Quarterly, 34(4): (2011), 103–116.
• Ardıç, Nurullah. “Understanding the ‘Arab Spring’: Justice, Dignity, Religion and Interna- tional Politics”. Afro Eurasian Studies. Volume.1, Issue.1, Bahar 2012, p. 14.
• Atacan, Fulya. “‘Ekmek, Özgürlük, Sosyal Adalet’: Mısır’da Muhaliflerin Talepleri Açık Değil mi”. Sokağın Belleği: 1 Mayıs 1997’den Gezi Direnişi’ne Toplumsal Hareketler ve Kent Mekanı. Derya Fırat (drl.). Dipnot Yayınları, 2014, p. 52.
• Atacan, Fulya. “Duvar: Devrim mi, Geri Dönüş mü?”. Moment Dergi. Volume.1 Issue.1, 2014, p. 58-59.
• Barany, Zoltan. “Comparing the Arab Revolts: The role of the Military”. Journal of Democ- racy. Volume.22, Issue.4, October 2011, p. 28-40.
• Bassem, Hafez. “New Social Movements and the Egyptian Spring: A Comparative Analysis between the April 6 Movement and the Revolutionary Socialists”. Perspevtives on Global Development and Technology. Volume.12, Issue.1-2, 2013.
• Bayat, Asef. “Social Movements, Activism and Social Development in the Middle East”. Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper No. 3. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), November 2000.
• Bekaroğlu Edip Asaf, Kurt Veysel, “Mısır’da Otoriter Rejimin Sürekliliği ve Ordu: ‘Arap Ba- harı’ ve Sonrası Sürecin Analizi” , Türkiye Ortadoğu Çalışmaları Dergisi, Volume: 2, Issue: 2, 2015, p.1-36.
• Castells, Manuel. “İsyan ve Umut Ağları: İnternet Çağında Toplumsal Hareketler”. Ebru Kılıç (translation.). Koç Üniversitesi Yayınları, 2013, p. 61.
• El Mahdi, Rabap. ”The Democracy Movement: Cycles Protests”. Rabab Mahdi ve Philip Marfleet (Ed.). Egypt: The Moment of Change içinde, Londra: Zed Books, 2009, p. 87.
• El Ofi, Mohammed. “Influence without Power: Al Jazeera and the Arab Public Sphere”, Mo- hamed Zayani (Ed.). The Al Jazeera Phenomenon: Critical Perspectives on New Arab Media in. Pluto Press, 2005, p. 66 - 80.
• Eltantawy, Nahed ve Julie B. Wiest. “Social Media in the Egyptian Revolution: Reconsidering Resource Mobilization Theory”. International Journal of Communication. Volume.5, 2011, p. 1207–1224.
• Gregory, Derek. “Tahrir: ‘Politics, Publics and Performances of Space’”. Middle East Critique, Volume.22, Issue.3, November 2013, p. 238.
• Gregory, Derek. “Tahrir: ‘Politics, Publics and Performances of Space’”. Middle East Critique, Volume.22, Issue.3, November 2013, p. 237.
• Herrera, Linde. Revolution in the Age of Social Media. Verso, 2014.
• Howard, Philip N. ve Muzammil M. Hussain. Democracy’s Fourth Wave?: Digital Media and the Arab Spring. Oxford University Press, 2013.
• Howard, Philip N. ve Sheetal D. Agarwal. “When Do States Disconnect Their Digital Net- works? Regime Responses to the Political Uses of Social Media”. The Communication Review. Volume.14, September 2011, p. 216-232.
• Idle, Nadia ve Alex Nunns. (Ed.). Tahrir Meydanından Tweet’ler. Esra Ergün (translation.). Paloma Yayınları, 2014.
• Joseph, S. “Social Media, Political Change and Human Rights”. Boston College International and Comparative Law Review. Volume.35, Issue.1, Winter 2012, p. 145 - 188.
• Lynch, Marc. Voices of the New Arab Public: Iraq, Al-Jazeera, And Mıddle East Politics Today, New York: Columbia University Press, 2006.
• Miles, Ian, Howard Rush, Kevin Turner ve John Bessant. Information Horizons: The Long- Term Social Implications of New Information Technologies. Edward Elgar Pub. 1988.
• Offe, Claus. “New Social Movements: Challenging the Boundaries of Institutional Politics”. Social Research. Volume.52, No.4, Social Movements, Winter 1985.
• Oweidat, Nadia vd. “The Kefaya Movement: A Case Study of a Grassroots Reform Initavive”. Rand Corporation: National Defense Research Instıtue. 2008.
• Rahimi, Babak. “The Agonistic Social Media: Cyberspace in the Formation of Dissent and Consolidation of State Power in Postelection Iran”. The Communication Review. Vol- ume.14, September 2011, p. 158-178.
• Shahin, Emad Din. “The Egyptian Revolution: The Power of Mass Mobilization and the Spirit of Tahrir Square”. The Journal of the Middle East and Africa. Volume.3 No.1, May 2012, p. 46-69.
• Shorbagy, Manar. “The Egyptian Movement for Change-Kefaya: Redefining Politics in Egypt”. Public Culture. Volume.19, Issue.1, 2007, p. 175-196.
• Telci İsmail Numan, (2015). “Mısır’da Devrim ve Karşı-Devrim Sürecinde İç ve Dış Aktör- lerin Rolü: 2011-2015, Unpublished doctorate thesis, Sakarya Üniversitesi SBE.
• Telci, İsmail Numan. “Mısır’da Geleceğini Arayan Karşı Devrim”. SETA Analiz. Issue.149, Ocak 2016, p. 7.
• Tüfekçi Zeynep, Wilson Christopher, “Social Media and the Decision to Participate in Polit- ical Protest: Observations From Tahrir Square” , Journal of Communication, Volume 62, Issue2, April 2012, p. 363-379.
• The New York Times, 17 February 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/books/re- view/how-an-egyptian-revolution-began-on-facebook.html (10 March 2018).
• Wilson Christopher ve Dunn Alexandra, “Digital Media in the Egyptian Revolution: De- scriptive Analysis from the Tahrir Data Sets”, International Journal of Communica- tion, 5 2011, p. 1248–1272.