From Doomscrolling to Activism/Action

Do you know the feeling? Climate change, ongoing wars, increasing hostilities. The world seems to be on fire and more polarized than ever, and it seems almost impossible to do anything about it. How do we break through this helpless feeling of despair? How can sharing empathy and care online translate into action in the real world? And what does it take to turn discontent into successful political movements?

During From Doomscrolling to Activism/Action we look at how large-scale protests and political actions come about. From both a theoretical and practical perspective we look at what protest entails. During the event:

• Dr Paul Reilly tells us about how social media protests eventually move to the streets, based on his analysis of the Flag protests in Northern Ireland in 2012-13. What does a protest need to move forward? And what can we learn from past protests for today's goals?
• Chris Julien challenges us to step outside our comfort zone and shares insights to be part of systemic change. Is there room for activism in the everyday? Can protest bring about change? And when is activism a 'success'?
• The event will be moderated by Dr. Delia Dumitrica .

Dr Paul Reilly is a Senior Lecturer in Communications, Media and Democracy at the School of Social & Political Sciences at the University of Glasgow and his research focuses on the role of the internet in conflict transformation. He is the author of Digital Contention in a Divided Society: Social Media, Parades and Protest in Northern Ireland.

Chris Julien is a PhD candidate at Utrecht University, active in and spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion NL and Senior Research Fellow at Waag Futurelab. His research focuses on new materialisms, decolonial and eco-thinking, with the aim of developing materialist-epistemological techniques for ecological governance. He wrote the book Alledaags Activisme .

This event is a collaboration between Studium Generale and Dr. Delia Dumitrica, lecturer in Politics and Media at the Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication (ESHCC).