Movements

Social movements and their action dynamics, both in and out of digital networks, is a priority research and action area for the group. Movements are a key actor in the sociopolitical functioning and transformations of contemporary democracies. They themselves are undergoing profound changes due to the proliferation of practices associated with ICTs. As a result, new forms of collective construction, action and intelligence emerge. 

 

Analysing these transformations requires to innovate in research methodologies. Therefore, our work combines traditional qualitative and quantitative methods in the social sciences (interviews, fieldwork, surveys, etc.) with methods coming from network and data sciences. The goal is to study the multifaceted configuration of networked movements, their actors and processes.

 

In recent years, our group has been involved in projects such as BALZAN and in surveys such as the Encuesta15M2014, the OccupySurvey or the PesquisaJornadasDeJunho. Furthermore, we have intervened actively (and not merely analytically) in numerous processes of social transformation. Rigorous analysis is for us a way to imagine and build new forms of political action. We understand the study of movements as a way to explore and strengthen the power of connected multitudes. 

As part of this research and action (R&A) line, we have developed projects such as Balzan (OccupySurvey), Encuesta15M, PesquisasJornadasDeJunho, or Tecnopolítica: the power of connected multitudes.

 

Several PhD theses by researchers from the team are also in progress: Feminist strikes in Spain: open-ended (re)configurations of feminist activisims towards societal change (Tayrine Dias) and An exploration of activist practices to counter hate speech in a networked public sphere (Marta Cambronero).