Social media activism, digital resilience and resistance to democratic regression

Journée d’étude / Atelier

Sarah Anaïs ANDRIEU, Gloria Truly ESTRELITA and Gabriel FACAL participates to the summer course 2021 organised by LP3ES, a research institute in Indonesia.

​Recent studies have found that in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, instead of strengthening civil society movements and democracy, social media has facilitated authoritarian regimes to further strengthen their authoritarianism and make newly democratic countries like Indonesia experience democratic decline. Why is this happening and how can it be explained ? What is still left to do to strengthen the civil society movement against democratic decline ?

This summer course will provide students with theoretical and methodological tools to answer these questions, as well as provide empirical findings and a roadmap for activists to face the challenges of digital activism in the future. It departs from an understanding that the problems we face today are not enough for us to solve alone. Issues such as democratic backsliding, climate change, and, of course, pandemics are global issues that require cross-border cooperation and, of course, require cross-border civil society collaboration. The cosmopolitan awareness, which grows along with the information technology revolution is the breath of this forum. 

Hence, this summer course is designed for students, scholars, and activists in Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and beyond who are interested in the dynamics of digital democracy in this region. 

Please send a short application (Letter of Interest) accompanied by a CV (curriculum vitae) no later than August 20, 2021 to [ghulam[at]lecturer.undip.ac.id->mailto:ghulam lecturer.undip.ac.id] and cc it to : wijayanto[[at]->mailto:wijayanto live.undip.ac.id]live.undip.ac.id. The results of the selection will be announced on August 21 the next day.