ERMeCC Lunch Seminar

Given the recent developments, this lunch seminar will be hosted entirely online.

Claiming Dignidad  beyond digital dualism: Activism for an inclusive Chile

Amanda Lara Wall, Mariana Fried, Isabel Awad, Ana Uribe Sandoval

Digital dualism has been criticized for ignoring the intersections between the offline and the online and for overlooking how real, rather than virtual, the online actually is. Translating this critique into contemporary activism, our analysis explores specific practices to claim Dignidad in the recent (and arguably ongoing) Chilean uprising.  The notion of dignidad [dignity], which has defined the Chilean social movement since 2019, encapsulates claims for gender, ethnic, socioeconomic, and regional justice. These claims have been successfully articulated in a wide range of practices that resist off/online dualisms. We focus on four of them: the renaming of spaces by carrying boards in the streets and hacking the Google Maps’ algorithm; painting and digitally archiving artistic murals; projecting messages on emblematic buildings; and livestreaming offline political actions. Our discussion underscores the empirical and political limitations of endorsing sharp distinctions between the off- and online in contemporary activism and the advantages of an integrated approach.   

Colin Kaepernick and Black athlete activism: How new media are changing the game again

Irene Blum, Isabel Awad, and Jacco van Sterkenburg

Until recently, Black athlete activism in the United States seemed to be a phenomenon from the past. It had arguably been dismantled, for good, by color-blind racism and the increasing commercialization of sports. What prevailed instead among successful Black athletes was political apathy. By relying on the case of former U.S. football player Colin Kaepernick, this paper revisits this narrative of political nostalgia and pessimism and questions its validity today. An empirical analysis of Kaepernick’s engagement with both mainstream and social media reveals novel and powerful possibilities for the re-politicization of minority group athletes in the contemporary media environment. Specifically, the study identifies and discusses a broad range of media strategies that have enabled Kaepernick to by-pass conventional media platforms and reach large audiences directly, with messages that give voice to marginalized perspectives, uncover the logics of color-blind racism, underscore its historical and structural underpinnings, and ultimately challenge racist stereotypes and social injustice.