Digital Technologies and Activism in Authoritarian Contexts and Beyond

Provides a critical, global perspective on the contested relationship between technology, activism and democracy

• Examines how digital technologies mediate power dynamics within authoritarian and other regimes and shape the possibilities and limitations of activism
• Explores how activists navigate technological and political constraints, including their use of alternative tools and strategies
• Analyses the intersection of political, economic, and social forces in shaping technologies and their consequences for activist movements
• Investigates the paradoxical role of technologies, highlighting both their empowering potential and their use as instruments of surveillance and repression
• Promotes a historically grounded and context-sensitive understanding of technologies and activist practices, challenging universalized narratives of digital activism

This volume examines the complex and often paradoxical relationship between technologies and activism in authoritarian contexts. While technologies offer activists new tools for empowerment, networking and self-representation, they are equally susceptible to co-optation by political and corporate interests, resulting in heightened surveillance, censorship and threats to democratic processes. Moving beyond a narrow focus on digital tools, the book adopts a broad and inclusive definition of technologies to explore their diverse roles in shaping activism.

Contributors investigate both the empowering and constraining effects of technologies across a range of authoritarian regimes, providing in-depth insights into the ways activists navigate and contest restrictive environments in authoritarian contexts and beyond. By bringing together interdisciplinary perspectives, the volume offers a comprehensive analysis of the opportunities and challenges facing activism today, enriching our understanding of the evolving interplay between technology, power and democratic aspirations in different contexts.