Trott interrogates how feminist activists navigate complex technological ecosystems to build awareness of misogyny, violence against women, and oppressive experiences women face both online and offline while cultivating transnational feminist networks and carving out spaces upon which to build and elevate women’s voices.
This book is guided by a few key questions: how is feminist activism transforming and being mutually shaped by a dynamic and volatile platform ecosystem? How are activists attempting to negotiate this terrain? And, how are (anti)feminist politics contested within the platform society? These questions are addressed through analysis of three key case studies: the international feminist organisation Hollaback!; the #EndViolenceAgainstWomen campaign; and the global #TakeDownJulienBlanc movement. Building on the intersecting fields of feminist media studies, platform and internet research, and political communication, this book addresses cultural and social questions about how digital platforms shape the values of our communities and how stakeholders negotiate and engage in civic practices.
This timely and important work interweaves activist discourses, women’s voices and scholarly literature together to provide insight into the realities of operating within a platform society. It will be of interest to students and scholars of journalism, gender studies, media and communication studies, culture studies, and sociology.
Introduction: Feminist platform politics 1. The blogosphere and feminist-owned platforms 2. Mapping tools, organisational platforms, and online communities 3. Social media platforms and toxic-techno cultures 4. Negotiating feminist values on social media platforms 5. Social action platforms and the manosphere 6. Web infrastructure and alt-tech 7. Conclusion
Biography
Verity Trott is Lecturer in Digital Media Research in the School of Media, Film and Journalism at Monash University. Her published research explores digital feminist activism, networked masculinities, online communities and digital cultures and has appeared in international journals including New Media & Society, Information Communication & Society and Feminist Media Studies.
'Verity Trott’s Feminist Activism and Platform Politics does a brilliant job of describing and analysing individual actions and #hashtag activism but setting them in the context from which these actions emerge. Read right to the end to discover why it’s #yesallwomen. Scholarly but also beautifully written.'
Dr Jenna Price, Australian National University, Australia.
'Feminist Activism and Platform Politics provides a timely and compelling intervention into the complexities of digital spaces as sites of gendered violence and feminist resistance. Verity Trott offers a thoughtful and nuanced account of how platform architecture, misogyny and resistance are deeply intertwined.'
Dr Bianca Fileborn, University of Melbourne, Australia.
