Alternative media, performance and power in cultures of technology.

Atton, Chris

Abstract

If, as Michel de Certeau argued, space is a practiced place, then what social practices enable what we might term an activist geography of cyberspace? Alternative media have a key role to play in online activism, particularly when they are understood as a set of social practices rather than as media 'products'. We can then consider alternative media as methods for the building of identities and communities, where two practices appear as central: reflexive media performance and the interrogation of media power. Whilst most research has emphasised the development of these practices through traditional print and broadcast media, emerging research is beginning to engage in a set of problems - some well known, some less familiar - that are raised by the location of alternative media practices in cyberspace.

Citation

Atton, C. (2013, May). Alternative media, performance and power in cultures of technology. Presented at Cyberspace, Alternative Media and Activism Symposium, University of Liverpool

• Presentation Conference Type: Keynote
• Conference Name: Cyberspace, Alternative Media and Activism Symposium
• Start Date: May 1, 2013
• End Date: May 1, 2013
• Publication Date: May 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: Apr 29, 2013
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: Alternative media; culture of technology; online activism; cyberspace
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/5999