[ONLINE] - #HashtagActivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice

The power of hashtag activism became clear in 2011, when #IranElection served as an organizing tool for Iranians protesting a disputed election and offered a global audience a front-row seat to a nascent revolution. Since then, activists have used a variety of hashtags, including #JusticeForTrayvon, #BlackLivesMatter, #YesAllWomen, and #MeToo to advocate, mobilize, and communicate. In #HashtagActivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice, Sarah Jackson, Moya Bailey, and Brooke Foucault Welles explore how and why Twitter has become an important platform for historically disenfranchised populations, including people of color, women, and LGBTQ communities.

From both academic and practitioner angles, our panel will explore how marginalized groups, long excluded from elite media spaces, have used Twitter hashtag to advance counternarratives, preempt political spin, and build diverse networks of dissent. We’ll also hear about how existing organizations can support these grassroots movements.

Copies of #HashtagActivism are available for purchase here from our bookselling partner, Solid State Books.

Speakers:

Sarah J. Jackson, @sjjphd
2019 National Fellow, New America
Author, #HashtagActivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice

Dave Karpf, @davekarpf
Professor of Media and Public Affairs, The George Washington University

Erin Longbottom, @_ErinML
Senior Manager of Campaign and Digital Strategies, National Women’s Law Center

Moderator:

Mark Schmitt, @mschmitt9
Director, Political Reform Program, New America