Twitter and Tear Gas
The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest
A firsthand account and incisive analysis of modern protest, revealing internet-fueled social movements' greatest strengths and frequent challenges.
To understand a thwarted Turkish coup, an anti–Wall Street encampment, and a packed Tahrir Square, we must first comprehend the power and the weaknesses of using new technologies to mobilize large numbers of people. An incisive observer, writer, and participant in today's social movements, Zeynep Tufekci explains in this accessible and compelling book the nuanced trajectories of modern protests – how they form, how they operate differently from past protests, and why they have difficulty persisting in their long-term quests for change.
Tufekci speaks from direct experience, combining on-the-ground interviews with insightful analysis. She describes how the internet helped the Zapatista uprisings in Mexico, the necessity of remote Twitter users to organize medical supplies during Arab Spring, the refusal to use bullhorns in the Occupy Movement that started in New York, and the empowering effect of tear gas in Istanbul's Gezi Park. These details from life inside social movements complete a moving investigation of authority, technology, and culture – and offer essential insights into the future of governance.
About the Author
Zeynep Tufekci is a contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, associate professor at the University of North Carolina School of Information and Library Science, and a faculty associate at the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society.
Reviews
"Incisive and illuminating, Tufekci's book arrives at the perfect movement, right when we desperately need our activism to become smarter and more effective than ever before, or else" – Astra Taylor, author of "The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age" and co-founder of the Debt Collective
"Many have asked why people rebel, but few describe how. Here, Tufekci uses firsthand observation to offer an intelligent and informed examination of the tools and nature of today's political protests" – Vali Nasr, author of "The Dispensable Nation" and "The Shia Revival"
"A striking and original conclusion: today's low barrier for organizing a movement can also lead to its long term frustrations. Tufekci's superb book will define the debate on social protest for years to come" – Dani Rodrik, author of "Economic Rules: The Rights and Wrongs of the Dismal Science"
"For all the claims that new technologies afford grass roots movements new power, research on the topic is rare. Tufekci's book provides just that – and a cautionary conclusion" – Doug McAdam, author of "Deeply Divided: Racial Politics and Social Movements in Postwar America"
