Organizing and Communicating in Anti-Authoritarian Groups: Dissidents in Russia and Belarus Prior to the Ukraine War
How do evolving digital communication technologies, such as messaging platforms, change organizing and leadership mechanisms in contemporary anti-authoritarian movements? I analyze the two cases of relatively sustainable movements led by dissidents in Russia and Belarus. I based the analysis on data collected through interviews, observation, and scraping of Telegram, VK, OK, and Facebook content prior to the Ukraine War. Both movements were neither spontaneous nor highly centralized and bureaucratic. Instead, digital platforms like Telegram facilitated the emergence of segmentary and polycentric networks linked by charismatic leaders’ activities in these movements. I argue that dynamism in organizational and leadership styles and a diversity of communication tools employed are keys to the sustainability of such movements.
Aliaksandr HERASIMENKA @aherasimenka is a fellow at Oxford Martin School and a researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford. He studies computational propaganda and political communication in authoritarian regimes.
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