An exploration of online network societies of social movements, ideologies and the communication of united action in Kenya

近年来，社会和政治运动以及抗议活动在地球仪各地以惊人的数量上升，它们的成功在很大程度上归功于数字技术和新媒体的使用（Selander，Young和Vaast，2019）。然而，对这些运动的研究主要关注发生在全球北部的运动，除了北非的阿拉伯起义外，撒哈拉以南非洲活动家的大规模抵抗没有得到类似的关注（Aidi，2018）。北非阿拉伯之春可能激发了撒哈拉以南地区一些国家的其他社会政治运动（de Waal和Ibreck，2012）。然而，关于不同政治意识形态的不同运动如何协调在线行动主义并维持对国家的联合抵抗的研究很少。这项研究试图通过考察意识形态之间的关系、肯尼亚压迫的经历和结构是如何联系在一起的，以及活动人士是如何合作的，并通过数字通信的媒介形成反对压迫势力的统一战线，来填补这一空白。例如，最近西方在线运动（如#BLM）的成功努力据说得益于该运动所固有的多种意识形态，例如反警察暴行，种族平等，经济和社会阶层，酷儿权利，反法西斯主义，女权主义和进步或马克思主义政治动机（Cohen和杰克逊，2016; Ransby，2015;亚当斯，2020; Mattson，2016）。在肯尼亚，人权活动家和社会运动对该国普遍存在的几个问题持敌对态度。其中包括压制言论/媒体（Abdi，2019），反LGBT法律（Ghoshal，2019），杀戮女性和性别不平等（Ombuor，2019; Nyabola，2018），警察暴行（Wabwire，2020）和政治/政府腐败（Khalid和Thompson，2019），仅举几例。数字技术和社交媒体正在慢慢扩大该国政治异议的版图（Admire，Bosch和Ncube，2020; Ogenga，2020），同时也为社会和政治运动在网络空间中形成和找到自由铺平了道路（Lim，2012; Mbenga，2013; Kamau，2017）。然而，仍然存在制度性障碍，无法谈论某些反体制原因和实地活动，线下抗议有时会受到压制，并可能面临反对派团体的暴力行为（Mutahi和Ruteere，2019）。在线空间中信息的自由流动如何允许多种反建制意识形态形成活动家的数字社区，以及这可能导致反对国家强加和制度化压迫的凝聚力信息的能力。这项研究将调查肯尼亚的五个社会运动团体，其中包括男女同性恋、双性恋和变性者权利、妇女权利、言论/媒体自由、反政府腐败和反警察暴行。这项研究将探索这些运动使用数字技术，新媒体和社交媒体交流思想的方式，减轻在线行动主义的挑战，以及互联网是否在统一运动中发挥特殊作用。选择这些特定群体是基于这样一种想法，即虽然这些群体的动机是单一的问题，压迫或镇压的形式是主观的，但可以说，他们每一个原因的主要对手主要是肯尼亚国家，例如在法律和政策方面。因此，它提供了一个坚实的基础，在此基础上开始研究活动家和社会运动的数字网络的形成，以及这些意识形态的融合如何导致集体行动。

In recent years, social and political movements and protests have risen in striking numbersthroughout the globe, and much of their success may be attributed to the use of digital technologiesand new media (Selander, Young and Vaast, 2019). The studies into these movements, however,have been mostly interested in those that occur in the global north, and apart from the Arabuprising in North Africa, the mass resistance of activists in sub-Saharan Africa have not receivedsimilar attention (Aidi, 2018). The north African Arab Spring may have inspired other socio-political movements in some countries in the sub-Saharan region (de Waal and Ibreck, 2012).However, there is very little research available into how different movements of varying politicalideologies coordinate online activism and sustain a united resistance against the state. Thisresearch seeks to fill this gap, by examining the relationships between ideologies, how theexperiences and structures of oppression are connected in Kenya, and how activists collaborate,and form unified fronts against oppressive forces through the medium of digital communication.The successful efforts of recent western online movements like #BLM, for instance, is said to havebenefitted from the multiple sets of ideologies inherent in the movement, such as anti-policebrutality, racial equality, economic and social class, queer rights, anti-fascism, feminism andprogressive or Marxist political motivations (Cohen and Jackson, 2016; Ransby, 2015; Adams, 2020;Mattson, 2016). In the Kenyan context, human rights activists and social movements campaignagainst several issues that are prevalent in the country. These include suppression of speech/media(Abdi, 2019), anti-LGBT laws (Ghoshal, 2019), femicide and gender inequality (Ombuor, 2019;Nyabola, 2018), police brutality (Wabwire, 2020) and political/government corruption (Khalid andThompson, 2019), to name a few. Digital technology and social media are slowly broadening thelandscape for political dissent in the country (Admire, Bosch and Ncube, 2020; Ogenga, 2020),while also paving the way for social and political movements to form and find freedom in onlinespaces (Lim, 2012; Mbenga, 2013; Kamau, 2017). However, there are still institutional barriers tospeaking about certain anti-establishment causes and on-the-ground activities and offline protestsare sometimes stifled and may risk violence from opposition groups (Mutahi and Ruteere, 2019).This PhD is specifically interested in the bypassing of those institutional controls. How the freeflows of information in online spaces allows multiple strands of anti-establishment ideologies toform digital communities of activists, and the capacity to which this might lead to a cohesivemessage against state-imposed and institutionalised oppression. The study will investigate fivesocial movement groups in Kenya, which includes LGBT rights, women's rights, free speech/media,anti-government corruption and anti-police brutality. This research will explore the ways in whichthese movements use digital technologies, new and social media to exchange ideas, mitigatechallenges of online activism, and whether the internet plays a particular role in unifyingmovements. The selection of these particular groups is based on the idea that, although thesegroups are motivated by singular issues and that forms of oppression or repression are subjective,it can be argued that the principal adversary to each of their causes is primarily the Kenyan state,with regard to laws and policies, for example. Therefore, it provides a solid foundation on which tobegin a study into the formation of digital networks of activists and social movements, and how themerger of these ideologies may result in collective action.