Re: [Occupyresearch] Fwd: New Book: Tweets and the Streets: …

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Author: Paolo Gerbaudo
Date:  
To: List of the shared space for distributed research occupyresearch
Subject: Re: [Occupyresearch] Fwd: New Book: Tweets and the Streets: Social Media and Contemporary Activism
Thanks Jasper for forwarding this to other lists.

If you are interested in the book here you find a sample
http://www.tweetsandthestreets.org/2012/10/04/tweets-and-the-streets-free-sample/

For this book I have done ethnographic research in US, Spain, Egypt and 80
interviews with activists.

The findings highlight among other things the 1) fundamental though often
neglected importance of emotionality in the use of social media as
mobilising tool 2) the continuing presence of forms of leadership - for how
distributed and consensual they might be. I know this bit is not going to
go down well with many people, but I also think that if one is fair with
the empirical data this is something quite evident to see (power law
distributions etc.) and something that really should make us think about
many of the established concepts in the current debate on new media
(networks, horizontality etc.)

I hope this book can spark some debate about these issues, and I would be
very happy to debate these particular critical elements with people who see
it differently.

By the way in mid November I will be in New York and possibly at Harvard
presenting the book. If anybody based nearby (MIT) wants
to host a presentation do let me know!

Best,

Paolo

On Wed, Oct 17, 2012 at 7:06 PM, jasper teunissen <
jasperteunissen@???> wrote:

> -------- Origineel bericht --------
> Onderwerp: [seizing_building_commoning] Fwd: New Book: Tweets and the
> Streets: Social Media and Contemporary Activism + Datum: Wed, 17 Oct
> 2012 23:29:23 +1100 Van: dr.woooo <dr.woooo@???><dr.woooo@???> Antwoord-naar:
> seizing_building_commoning@??? Aan: undisclosed-recipients:;
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: *Paolo Gerbaudo*
> Date: Wednesday, October 17, 2012
> Subject: [climate09-int] + New Book: Tweets and the Streets: Social Media
> and Contemporary Activism +
> To: climate09-int@???
>
>
> Fyi
>
> Paolo Gerbaudo
> TWEETS AND THE STREETS: SOCIAL MEDIA AND CONTEMPORARY ACTIVISM
> London: Pluto Press, 2012
>
> http://www.plutobooks.com/display.asp?K=9780745332482
>
> Tweets and the Streets analyses the culture of the new protest
> movements of the 21st century. From the Arab Spring to the
> "indignados" protests in Spain and the Occupy movement, Paolo Gerbaudo
> examines the relationship between the rise of social media and the
> emergence of new forms of protest. Drawing on an extensive
> ethnographic research, comprising 80 in-depth interviews, observations
> of protest events and textual analysis of social media messages, the
> book unveils the narratives and identities involved in the grassroots
> appropriation of corporate platforms like Facebook and Twitter as
> means of organisation and mobilisation.
>
> Gerbaudo argues that activists' use of Twitter and Facebook does not
> fit with the image of a "cyberspace" detached from physical reality.
> Instead, social media are used as part of a project of
> re-appropriation of public space and are turned by protest organises
> into means to 'choreograph' the assembling of individualised
> constituencies around "occupied" places such as Cairo's Tahrir Square
> or New York's Zuccotti Park. An exciting and invigorating journey
> through the new politics of dissent, Tweets and the Streets points
> both to the creative possibilities and to the risks of political
> evanescence which social media brings to the contemporary protest
> experience.
>
> // Content
>
> Introduction
>
> 1. Friendly Reunions: Social Media and the Choreography of Assembly
>
> 2. 'We are not guys of comment and like': the Revolutionary
> Coalescence of Shabab-al-Facebook
>
> 3. 'We are on the streets, we are not on Facebook': the Harvesting of
> Indignation
>
> 4. 'The hash-tag which did (not) start a revolution': the laborious
> Adding up to the 99%
>
> 5. 'Follow me, but don't ask me to lead you': Liquid Organising and
> Choreographic Leadership
>
> Conclusion
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Paolo Gerbaudo is a Lecturer in Digital Culture and Society at King’s
> College London, and has been an Adjunct Professor of Sociology at the
> American University in Cairo and a journalist for Italian newspaper il
> manifesto.
>
> If you are interested in adopting the book for your course please
> contact chrisb@???
>
> If you are interested in reviewing the book please contact
> jonw@???
>
> // Book sample
>
> http://www.tweetsandthestreets.org/2012/10/04/tweets-and-the-streets-free-sample/
>
> // Book blog
> http://www.tweetsandthestreets.org/
>
> // Book Facebook Page
> http://www.facebook.com/#!/tweetsandthestreets
>
> // Book Tour
>
> - October 25th - Book Launch @ King's College London, Council Room -
> 7,30pm - 8,30pm with Tim Jordan and Joss Hands
>
> - November 15th - Book Presentation @ Creative Activism Thursdays -
> 7pm Performance Studies Dept. NYU, 721 Broadway, 6th floor, New York - with
> Stephen Duncombe
>
> - November 20th - Book Presentation @ Goldsmiths College - New
> Academic Building (NAB) 302 - 6pm - New Cross, London - with Nick
> Couldry, Alberto Toscano and Natalie Fenton
>
> - November 25th - Cairo - tbc
>
> - Madrid - tbc
>
> - Milan - tbc
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Dr Paolo Gerbaudo,
> Lecturer in Digital Culture and Society,
> Culture, Media and Creative Industries Department,
> Room 217A, 2nd Floor,
> Norfolk Building,
> King's College London,
> Strand,
> London WC2R 2LS, England
>
> Phone: +44 (0)20 78481576
> E-mail: paolo.gerbaudo@???
> Twitter: @paologerbaudo
>
>
> --
> Paolo Gerbaudo
> Researcher and free-lance journalist
> my blog: tweetsandthestreets.org
> twitter: @paologerbaudo
> location: Egypt
> egyptian mobile: 00201111052097
> UK mobile: 00447940527990
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Occupyresearch mailing list
> Occupyresearch@???
> https://www.autistici.org/mailman/listinfo/occupyresearch
>
>



--
Paolo Gerbaudo
Researcher and free-lance journalist
my blog: tweetsandthestreets.org
twitter: @paologerbaudo
location: Egypt
egyptian mobile: 00201111052097
UK mobile: 00447940527990