Assignment Example on Direct Action

Explain What David Graeber Calls "Direct Action" And Discuss How He Differentiates Direct Action From "Civil Disobedience."

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Graeber describes direct action as an expression for one's readiness to fight when faced with a particular challenge (Graeber, 2009). For instance, the author gives an example that if one sees bulldozers coming to destroy his/her house, one should intervene and try stopping the destruction. The primary goal of direct action is to achieve our goals and ambition through our efforts instead of relying on others for help (Graeber, 2009). People take power for themselves as opposed to other forms of democracy where there are activities such as voting and exerting political pressure through the media and other means. Some examples of direct action include slowdowns, strikes, and sabotage in politics. In the community, direct action can be implemented by forming cooperatives and other organizations not only as a form of protest but also as a way of building the future.

On the other hand, civil disobedience occurs when an individual withdraws their consent to authority, and it is a form of protest. The difference between the two phrases explained above is that civil disobedience contains legal consequences of the actions taken by an individual (Graeber, 2009). Direct action involves taking action without defying the law or the authorities.

Describe how Maple Razsa and Andrej Kurnik contrast Occupy Slovenia with Occupy Wall Street (the encampment in Zuccotti Park in New York City) and identify two points of differences that Razsa and Kurnik underline.

One of the most significant contrasts between Occupy Slovenia and OWS is the type of democracy (Razsa & Kurnik 2012). The former exercise democracy of direct action while the latter has a consensus-based model. In Slovenia, there is no central assembly. Instead, people are encouraged to start new initiatives even those that might not get support at the assembly. The decision-making process ensures that even members of the minority or marginalized groups fully participate and become innovative. Most of the differences are about decision-making practices and their political implications. All decisions at the OWS must be approved at the general assembly after a consensus has been made. Here, at least 90% of the objections must be approved after the moderators have listened to them. Contrary to Occupy Slovenia, working groups at the OWS were only mandated to create proposals after which they had to be approved through a consensus at the general assembly (Razsa & Kurnik 2012). Another difference is that while the general assembly proceedings lasted for several hours in Slovenia, Ljubljana assemblies lasted for 30-45 minutes.

Finally, Identify A Specific Action (I.E., Type or Practice of Activism) From Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Slovenia That Can Be Considered as An Example of What Graeber Calls Direct Action, And Explain Why Each of These Actions Can Be Regarded as Direct Action.

One example of a specific action from Occupy Slovenia that can be considered as direct action is Direct Social Work (DSW). The DWS action created an opportunity for people to collaborate among those with distinct and unique positions like the antagonistic positions. Antagonistic positions include those of social workers who were commonly referred to as the users of services. A mutual transformation was also a significant part of the DWS, and it is a process described as a method of becoming someone else other than one is.

Identify At Least Two Distinct Features That the Use of Hashtags (#) On Twitter Has Gained, As Discussed by Yarimar Bonilla And Jonathan Rosa.

The two features gained by the use of hashtags include clerical and semiotic senses (Bonilla & Rosa 2015). In the clerical sense, the symbol # facilitates the quick retrieval and ordering of specific data or information. For instance, in the Ferguson case, users began tweeting about the death of Michael who was ruthlessly murdered using #Ferguson. For anyone looking for updates regarding the story of Michael's death, it was easy to retrieve all the information by typing the hashtag. On the other hand, the semiotic sense is critical since it depicts the significance of the utterances made. The semiotic sense is similar to the coding system used by anthropologists to gather information. The primary function of the hashtag to extensively frame the meaning of the comments and what they are about (Bonilla & Rosa 2015). Hashtags, thus, work similarly as library call numbers since they can locate specific texts from a particular conversation, therefore, allowing for fast retrieval of messages and data while at the same time marking a specific discussion as being about a particular topic. However, the hashtag ethnography is not very accurate since is it not easy to evaluate the extent of utterances in social media. For instance, in the #Ferguson's case, there were over 80 million tweets, but it was difficult to identify those that were critical of the police or the protestors.

Explain What Zeynep Tufekci Calls The "Networked Public Sphere" And Identify At Least Two Effects That the Shift from Blogs and Websites to The Privately Owned and Algorithmically Operated Digital Social Media Platforms, such as Facebook, Created for Networked Public Spheres.

Tufekci calls the networked public sphere or the digitally networked public sphere to describe the interaction between people while both online and offline transnationally and globally as well (Tufekci, 2017). The phrase public sphere does not mean the use of online means exclusively but is it a recognition of the entire public sphere and the whole form of operation by the movement in question and how digital technologies configure them. The author describes the phrase to describe the digital tools and online phrase that are crucial for political action. Tufekci cites three fundamental features of the networked public sphere that in the past have enhanced the capabilities of protest movements (Tufekci, 2017). The three features explained in the book are the ability of the network to reach a large audience, the volume, and speed of access of information to the masses, and the ability to organize resources. The digital tools have enabled activists to conduct protests and coordinate logistics among other responsibilities with ease, an activity that would have been impossible in the past. Technology has made it possible for ordinary people to have a platform where they can interact and share information which has the potential of reaching millions of people at the same time. One of the effects that took place after the shift from blogs and websites to social media platforms like Facebook is that it opened to the masses a networked public sphere that was only available to some few people in the society that were marginal and self-selected (Tufekci, 2017). Nowadays, Facebook connects families and friends worldwide and is cheaper than telephone calls since the prices of computers have gone down.

Finally, Discuss How Can Twitter's Hashtag Be Understood as A Means for Creating What Tufekci Calls the Networked Public Sphere?

Twitter's hashtag can create the calls for networked public sphere through the broadcast of messages and other information on social media platforms to reach millions of people over a short time. Tufekci describes how the Tahrir square protests that happened in 2011became widely known. The Facebook event page that was named "We are all Khaled" was purposed to bring attention to the world about the brutal force used by the police on civilians which led to the death of a young activist. The post went viral, and more than 100,000 Facebook users confirmed their attendance to join the protests. Tufekci describes how such online tools can allow for coordination of people from various parts of the world. Had it not been for the hashtag slogan, she would not have been part of the group that initiated the movement. The hashtag, for instance, can be used to manage large-scale direct action. The author gives an example of four young activists without prior knowledge or experience of logistics in medicine but were able to organize and control a constant flow of medical supplies and other amenities through twitter hashtags. Almost all the mechanisms explained in her article involve both offline and online operations with digital connectivity altering the way the tools mentioned above operate.

Bonilla, Y., & Rosa, J. (2015). # Ferguson: Digital protest, hashtag ethnography, and the racial politics of social media in the United States. American Ethnologist, 42(1), 4-17.

Graeber, D. (2009). Direct action: An ethnography. AK press.

Razsa, M., & Kurnik, A. (2012). The Occupy Movement in Zizek's hometown: Direct democracy and a politics of becoming. American Ethnologist, 39(2), 238-258.

Tufekci, Z. (2017). Twitter and tear gas: The power and fragility of networked protest. Yale University Press.