1. News & Events
  2. Events
  3. Everyday Forms of Digital Activism and Resistance: An International Symposium
Cartoon fists in the air

Everyday Forms of Digital Activism and Resistance: An International Symposium

April 18-19, 2024 Various Times
  • Annenberg School, Room 500
Audience Open to the Public

Everyday Forms of Digital Activism and Resistance: An International Symposium

Register here

About the Event

All over the world, countless people engage in quotidian forms of mundane activism and resistance which contribute to the collective wellbeing and sustainability of their communities. The internet and social media add new possibilities and vulnerabilities to these everyday acts of struggles, reconfiguring normative understandings and established practices around social movements and giving rise to new and emergent digital forms of activism. Yet these mundane forms of activism remain under-theorized, and the lived experiences of people in their everyday struggles are under-appreciated. This symposium convenes scholars from around the world to address these emerging issues. Invited speakers bring innovative theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of these everyday forms of activism and resistance, and their contribution towards social change.

Schedule

Thursday, April 18

Room 500, Annenberg School for Communication

4:30-5:00pm-Reception

Outside of Room 500

5:00-5:15pm-Welcome and Introductory Remark

With ASL interpretation
Guobin Yang (University of Pennsylvania)

5:15-6:00pm-Keynote

With ASL interpretation
Arseli Dokumaci (Concordia University) - Activist Affordances: Disability, Shrinkage and Improvisation
Introduction by Jingyi Gu (University of Pennsylvania)

6:00-6:45pm- Keynote

With ASL interpretation
Jun Liu (University of Copenhagen)  - The Dynamics of Everyday Politics: Blind Spots and Opportunities in Understanding Activism
Introduction by Mohammed Rashid (University of Pennsylvania)

Friday, April 19, 2024

Room 500, Annenberg School for Communication

8:30-9:00am-Registration and breakfast

Room 500

9:00-10:30am-Panel 1: Body, Activism, and Social Difference

Moderator: Simron Gill (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Chloe Turner (Columbia University)- Untimely Activist Legacies: Linking HIV/AIDS, Covid-19 and the Transgender Health Crisis
  • Jaggar DeMarco (Temple University)- A Step Too Far: Stair Climbing Wheelchairs, Online Activism, and Other Crip (Re)actions
  • Kim Fernandes (University of Pennsylvania)- Who Counts, and When?: Disability Activism and Rights-Based Claims in Urban India
  • Youngrim Kim (Rutgers University)- Repairing Queer Infrastructures: The politics of hotzones and urban resilience in South Korea’s Queer Action Against COVID-19

10:30-10:45am-Coffee break

10:45-12:15pm-Panel 2: Everyday Resistance in and through Digital Technologies

Moderator: Devo Probol (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Elisabetta Ferrari (University of Glasgow) - “Oh God, next time we have to take pictures”: mutual aid activism on Instagram
  • Jingyi Gu (University of Pennsylvania)- #babysolidfood: The Contested Everyday Feminist Resistance in Negotiating Algorithmic Visibility
  • Jinsook Kim (Emory University )- Feminist Digital Storytelling of “K-culture”: Alternative Voices and Everyday Activism in South Korea
  • Yizhou Joe Xu (Old Dominion University )- “Touching fish”: Quiet Quitting and Performative Productivity in the Chinese Mobile Tech Industry

12:15-1:30pm-Lunch

The Plaza

1:30-3:00pm-Panel 3: Personal and Crowdsourcing Actions in Different Political Contexts

Moderator: Sandeep Mertia (University of Pennsylvania)
Hande UzOzcan (Carleton University)- “Anyone has extra cute cat pics?” Memes, Censorship and Resistance on Turkish Twitter/X
Mads Skovgaard and Devo Probol (University of Copenhagen/University of Pennsylvania)- What Do You ‘Meme’ when you say ‘capitalism’?: Boundary Work and Collective Identity Formation in the (digital) US socialist movement
Qingyue Sun (Drexel University)- “We have never been pseudo-feminists!”: Unveiling the feminist potential and ambivalence of top Chinese beauty influencers in the age of digital feminism
Wangari Njathi (Seaver College, Pepperdine University)- A Stab at Afropessimism by Nairobi Digital Content Creators

3:00-3:15pm-Coffee break

3:15-4:45pm-Panel 4: Artifacts, Journals, Archives, and Networks of Activism and Resistance

Moderator: Adetobi (Tobi) Moses (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Alejandra Regla-Vargas (University of Pennsylvania)- Tracing Cultural Dynamics of Anti-Asian Racism During COVID-19 Using Twitter
  • Jane Yeahin Pyo (University of Massachusetts-Amherst)- "Report+trash activism: Digital archives of “trashy” journalism as demanding accountability in South Korea"
  • Junyi Lv (University of Pennsylvania)- “I Use Dish Detergent to Shower:” Coal Miners’ Digital Journals as Everyday Activism
  • Zoe Zhao (University of California, Santa Cruz)- Ghost in Artifacts: Post-Digital Formations of China’s Digital Activism Since 2020

4:45 - 5:30pm-Closing keynote

Anne Kaun ( Södertörn University) - Resisting the automated welfare state: digital vulnerabilities and mundane civic engagement
Introduction by Guobin Yang

5:30 - 7pm-Reception

The Plaza

Events

View All

Disclaimer: This event may be photographed and/or video recorded for archival, educational, and related promotional purposes. We also may share these video recordings through Annenberg's website or related platforms. Certain events may also be livestreamed. By attending or participating in this event, you are giving your consent to be photographed and/or video recorded and you are waiving any and all claims regarding the use of your image by the Annenberg School for Communication. The Annenberg School for Communication, at its discretion, may provide a copy of the photos/footage upon written request.