The Unmaking of Collective Action: Changing Organizing Logics in Civil Society Organizations Through Social Media Activism Culture

Authors

  • Suay Melisa Özkula University of Sheffield

Keywords:

connective action, network logic, social media logic, network–hierarchy tension, technological determinism, Amnesty International

Abstract

Through social technologies, long-standing civil society organizations are confronted with increasingly autonomous social media users. This article offers an overview of these challenging times at ethnographic case study Amnesty International, which was, during data collection, restructuring and diffusing its digital work throughout the organization toward a network logic. It tells a story of organizational social change in the social media age. It presents a view of how social media logics are constructed and embedded, arguing that they lead to the transformation of organizing logics in activist organizations as (a) they conflict with traditional organizational principles (network–hierarchy tension), and (b) the new organizing logic of connective action in social media activism creates pressure on organizations to change. Drawing on an ethnography conducted at Amnesty International, the article consequently suggests that social media logics lead to the unmaking of collective action.

Author Biography

Suay Melisa Özkula, University of Sheffield

Suay M. Ozkula is a University Teacher in Digital Society/ Sociology and was, until recently, Research Associate on the ESRC-funded project “Making Climate Social” at the Department of Sociological Studies at the University of Sheffield. Her research explores the digitalisation and social media culture of socio-political issues such as human rights and climate change.

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Published

2021-04-13

Issue

Vol. 15 (2021)

Section

Articles

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