The Practices and Positionings of a Postcolonial Counterpublic: An Analysis of Black Lives Matter in Denmark
Drawing on postcolonial critique to analyze the work and political purpose of activist groups on social media, this article asks the question: How do digital media communications simultaneously reinstate binary oppositions and invite rhizomatic relations? While the concept of counterpublics is helpf...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Humanities |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/12/4/61 |
| _version_ | 1797584552987721728 |
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| author | Bolette B. Blaagaard |
| author_facet | Bolette B. Blaagaard |
| author_sort | Bolette B. Blaagaard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Drawing on postcolonial critique to analyze the work and political purpose of activist groups on social media, this article asks the question: How do digital media communications simultaneously reinstate binary oppositions and invite rhizomatic relations? While the concept of counterpublics is helpful when it comes to understanding the voices of opposition in public discourse, it is also necessary to introduce postcolonial critique and geopolitical and historical distinctions in order to grasp the particularities of global digital activism (Brouwer and Paulesc 2017; Blaagaard 2018). This article does exactly that: Illustrating the postcolonial, hybrid, and cosmopolitan qualities of digital activism on social media platforms, the article presents a discursive analysis of Black Lives Matter Denmark (BLM-DK) as they operate on the social media platform Facebook. The group’s posts are dedicated to juridical and political struggles over discrimination and racial violence in Denmark and the United States, thus producing a counterpublic. The posts moreover introduce and connect two very different geopolitical and historical contexts, thus showing social media’s potential for creating rhizomatic relations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:53:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6a621f2949934ecea07ba1b8799870c5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0787 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:53:22Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humanities |
| spelling | doaj.art-6a621f2949934ecea07ba1b8799870c52023-11-19T01:22:23ZengMDPI AGHumanities2076-07872023-07-011246110.3390/h12040061The Practices and Positionings of a Postcolonial Counterpublic: An Analysis of Black Lives Matter in DenmarkBolette B. Blaagaard0Department of Communication and Psychology, Aalborg University, 2450 Copenhagen, DenmarkDrawing on postcolonial critique to analyze the work and political purpose of activist groups on social media, this article asks the question: How do digital media communications simultaneously reinstate binary oppositions and invite rhizomatic relations? While the concept of counterpublics is helpful when it comes to understanding the voices of opposition in public discourse, it is also necessary to introduce postcolonial critique and geopolitical and historical distinctions in order to grasp the particularities of global digital activism (Brouwer and Paulesc 2017; Blaagaard 2018). This article does exactly that: Illustrating the postcolonial, hybrid, and cosmopolitan qualities of digital activism on social media platforms, the article presents a discursive analysis of Black Lives Matter Denmark (BLM-DK) as they operate on the social media platform Facebook. The group’s posts are dedicated to juridical and political struggles over discrimination and racial violence in Denmark and the United States, thus producing a counterpublic. The posts moreover introduce and connect two very different geopolitical and historical contexts, thus showing social media’s potential for creating rhizomatic relations.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/12/4/61BLM-DKpostcolonial critiquecounterpublicsdigital activismconnective media |
| spellingShingle | Bolette B. Blaagaard The Practices and Positionings of a Postcolonial Counterpublic: An Analysis of Black Lives Matter in Denmark Humanities BLM-DK postcolonial critique counterpublics digital activism connective media |
| title | The Practices and Positionings of a Postcolonial Counterpublic: An Analysis of Black Lives Matter in Denmark |
| title_full | The Practices and Positionings of a Postcolonial Counterpublic: An Analysis of Black Lives Matter in Denmark |
| title_fullStr | The Practices and Positionings of a Postcolonial Counterpublic: An Analysis of Black Lives Matter in Denmark |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Practices and Positionings of a Postcolonial Counterpublic: An Analysis of Black Lives Matter in Denmark |
| title_short | The Practices and Positionings of a Postcolonial Counterpublic: An Analysis of Black Lives Matter in Denmark |
| title_sort | practices and positionings of a postcolonial counterpublic an analysis of black lives matter in denmark |
| topic | BLM-DK postcolonial critique counterpublics digital activism connective media |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/12/4/61 |
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