On April 24 at 13:00, we invite you to participate in the online research seminar "Digital activism in the future past: How Dutch Extinction Rebellion activists connect past, present and future in their memory work on Instagram", hosted by Dr. Rik Smit, Senior Lecturer at the University of Groningen. Duration: 1.5 hours.
Abstract
This article investigates the ways in which Dutch Extinction Rebellion activists discursively engage with the past, present and future on Instagram and leverage the platform’s affordances for mnemonic purposes. We argue that Extinction Rebellion activists, in their communication on the platform, connect these temporal planes retrospectively and prospectively. First, Extinction Rebellion activists use the past as a resource for present action aimed at producing lasting change. This relates to cultural reservoirs and repertoires of past injustices. Second, the present is perceived by Extinction Rebellion activists as a concern for future memory. The recording and documenting of climate injustices and the actions of the movement itself are examples of this. Both positive and negative imagined futures are used by Extinction Rebellion activists to legitimise and delegitimise past and present (in)action. In other words, Extinction Rebellion activists’ future imaginaries not just shape present action, but also shape their memory work. Instagram’s affordances of archivability, connectivity and spreadability are used by Extinction Rebellion to support their digital memory work. These socio-technical affordances are thus appropriated as mnemonic affordances for rhetorical and practical purposes. We support these claims through in-depth interviews with Extinction Rebellion activists and a thematic analysis of Instagram content shared by them.
Speaker bio
Rik Smit is Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Media and Journalism Studies at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. His research focuses on the intersections of media practices and digital technology. This includes memory practices, algorithmic media and Artificial Intelligence. In his research he employs a variety of methods, ranging from people-centered qualitative methods to text and technology-based approaches. He has published in a broad variety of peer-review journals and books. Based on his initial research on social media and memory, he has developed an interdisciplinary research agenda on the relationship between AI and personal and collective forms of memory. Moreover, Rik is program coordinator of the MA tracks in Media Studies, including Media Creation & Innovation, Datafication & Digital Literacy, Social Media & Society and Journalism. In these programs and in the BA Media Studies he teaches courses such as Transformations in the Digital Society, Technology and Creative Destruction and Algorithmic Culture. He currently supervises two PhD candidates: one on the digital identification system DigID, inclusion and citizenship and one on the development and uses of the Dutch Web.
Organisation
This research seminar is part of the spring 2025 seminar series of the Department of Digital Cultures and Communication, Faculty of Communication, Vilnius University, organised by the Connective Research Group, and moderated by Prof. Costis (Konstantinos) Dallas. For further information contact .