Protests 2.0: Through networked consolidation to participation: why Russian Manezhka cannot become Ukrainian Maidan

The Russian Journal of Communication. 2014. Vol. 6. No. 3. P. 246–259.

Nikiporets-Takigawa G.

This paper analyses debates on Twitter associated with the events of the 2011–2013 Russian protests against the government, with the wide-scale demonstration in front of Kremlin on Manezhnaya Square (Manezhka) on 18 July 2013, as well as other rallies in more than 35 cities spanning Russia. It indicates the specific Russian character of mobilisation and participation, and the implications of the internet and new communication technologies in such events, having positioned the Russian experience within the worldwide context, and in line with the frame of theories of emotions of protest and social movements (Jasper, Goodwin) and digital communication networks (Castells). The paper further contributes to understanding and awareness concerning the implications of the internet, and also in relation to the characteristics specific to the Russian protest movement in the current situation of the large-scale debates on the differences between Russian Manezhka and Ukrainian Maidan.

Keywords: протестное движение, protest movements, political mobilization, политическая мобилизация, digital political participation, emotional mobilization, negative consolidation, эмоциональная мобилизация, онлайн политическое участие