TY - JOUR
T1 - The targets of online protest
T2 - State and private targets of four online protest tactics
AU - Earl, Jennifer
AU - Kimport, Katrina
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank Alan Schussman for his technical and programming support and Kim Caplan for help in preliminary coding, and acknowledge the generous financial support of the following University of California, Santa Barbara programmes: the Institute for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Research’s Faculty Research Grant Program; the Academic Senate Faculty Research Grant Program; and the Regents Junior Faculty Fellowship Program.
PY - 2008/6
Y1 - 2008/6
N2 - A major debate has erupted in recent work on social movements about the role of the state in protest, with some advocating alternative approaches to the study of social movements, such as a focus on institutional authorities. Using data on four types of online protest (petitions, boycotts, and letter-writing and email campaigns), acquired using an innovative new methodology that produces a generalizable sample of online protest actions, this paper addresses this debate. While the state is a frequent target of online protest, a significant portion of protest activity targets other institutional authorities. The authors' analyses disaggregate the state and distinguish between types of institutional authorities, further deepening the understanding of both state and non-state actors. Their data also suggest an association between tactical forms and their targets. Finally, by using Internet data, this paper contributes to an under-studied area of social movement research: online protest.
AB - A major debate has erupted in recent work on social movements about the role of the state in protest, with some advocating alternative approaches to the study of social movements, such as a focus on institutional authorities. Using data on four types of online protest (petitions, boycotts, and letter-writing and email campaigns), acquired using an innovative new methodology that produces a generalizable sample of online protest actions, this paper addresses this debate. While the state is a frequent target of online protest, a significant portion of protest activity targets other institutional authorities. The authors' analyses disaggregate the state and distinguish between types of institutional authorities, further deepening the understanding of both state and non-state actors. Their data also suggest an association between tactical forms and their targets. Finally, by using Internet data, this paper contributes to an under-studied area of social movement research: online protest.
KW - Contentious politics
KW - Internet
KW - Online protest
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U2 - 10.1080/13691180801999035
DO - 10.1080/13691180801999035
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:47549113264
SN - 1369-118X
VL - 11
SP - 449
EP - 472
JO - Information Communication and Society
JF - Information Communication and Society
IS - 4
ER -