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

近年来，全球范围内的社会和政治运动和抗议活动以惊人的数量上升，它们的成功在很大程度上可以归功于数字技术的使用以及新媒体(Selander、Young和Vaast，2019年)。然而，对这些运动的研究大多对发生在全球北部的运动感兴趣，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(德瓦尔和伊布雷克，2012年)，但关于不同政治意识形态的不同运动如何协调网上激进主义和维持对国家的联合抵抗的研究很少。这项研究试图填补这一空白，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，以及活动人士如何合作，并通过数字传播媒介形成对抗压迫势力的统一战线。例如，最近西方在线运动的成功努力，如#BLM，据说受益于该运动固有的多种意识形态，如反警察暴行、种族平等、经济和社会阶层、同性恋权利、反法西斯主义、女权主义和进步或马克思主义政治动机(科恩和杰克逊，2016；兰斯比，2015；亚当斯，2020；马特森，2016)。在肯尼亚，人权活动家和社会运动开展运动，反对该国普遍存在的几个问题。其中包括压制言论/媒体(Abdi，2019)、反LGBT法(Ghoshal，2019)、杀害女性和性别不平等(Ombuor，2019；Nypola，2018)、警察暴行(Wabwire，2020)和政治/政府腐败(Khalid and Thompson，2019)，仅举几例。数字技术和社交媒体正在慢慢拓宽该国持不同政见者的领域(Admire，Bosch and Ncube，2020；Ogenga，2020)，同时也为社会和政治运动在网上形成和找到自由铺平了道路(Lim，2012；Mbenga，2013；Kamau，2017)。然而，在某些反建制事业和实地活动和线下抗议活动方面，仍然存在制度障碍，有时会被扼杀，并可能面临反对派团体的暴力风险(Mutahi和Ruteere，2019年)。网络空间中信息的自由流动如何允许多股反建制意识形态形成活动人士的数字社区，以及这可能导致一种凝聚力的信息反对政府强加的和制度化的压迫的能力。这项研究将调查肯尼亚的五个社会运动团体，包括LGBT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如何使用数字技术、新的和社交媒体来交流思想、缓解在线激进主义的挑战，以及互联网是否在统一运动中发挥特殊作用。选择这些特殊团体的依据是，尽管这些团体的动机是单一的问题，而且压迫或镇压的形式是主观的，但可以说，在法律和政策方面，这些团体的每一项事业的主要对手主要是肯尼亚政府。因此，它为开始研究积极分子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提供了坚实的基础。

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.