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Full-Text Articles in Politics and Social Change

The Technologization Of Politics: The Internet And The Electronic Citizen, Charlotte Yun Jan 2015

The Technologization Of Politics: The Internet And The Electronic Citizen, Charlotte Yun

2015 Undergraduate Awards

Dramatic shifts in technology have transformed the structures of civic participation and communication in the latter half of the 20th century, and optimistic presumptions purporting the global establishment of “e-democracy” has become a commonly understood concept. But reality has failed to demonstrate this ideal and has instead proven otherwise: whether online or offline, it is politics as usual. This paper explores the ramifications of online platforms for political engagement from a critical perspective. The author argues that sustaining political activity online in “user-powered,” democratized digital spaces is ultimately fruitless without offline mobilization. While contemporary Web 2.0 platforms for political activity …


Solidarity Is For White Women, Aramide Odutayo Jan 2015

Solidarity Is For White Women, Aramide Odutayo

2015 Undergraduate Awards

Can a simple hashtag constitute a social movement? The answer is a resounding yes. Using the definition of a social movement proposed in the Blackwell Companion to Social Movements as a framework, this paper illustrates that #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen is a perfect example of how social media and social movements have intersected to inspire profound change. Created by blogger and black feminist scholar Mikki Kendall, #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen highlighted the justified resentment that many black feminists have against the white liberal feminist movement. This paper contends that Kendall’s hashtag activism satisfies the fundamental characteristics of a social movement, because it was a coordinated, collective, …


Not In My Name, Brittany Lynn Cartwright Jan 2015

Not In My Name, Brittany Lynn Cartwright

2015 Undergraduate Awards

In exploring discourse regarding religious groups, the term ‘radical’ comes up frequently. Furthermore the term ‘radical’ comes up relative to both ideas and groups. Although it may be presumed that groups or individuals who are radical are so because they embody an ideology defined as such, this is not always the case. The “Not In My Name” social movement is called radical because it stands opposite to the ideology held by ISIS. This debate though, for once, does not exist on a spectrum; there is no ‘extreme right’ and ‘extreme left’. Through past examples of similar situations and scholarly analogy …