Understanding the Diffusion of Grassroots Collective Actions in Digital Societies Through a Practice-Based Approach

• In Event: 20861 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 5: How do Digital Technologies and New Media Influence Collective Action?

Abstract

In 2010, the Indian civil society organization Janaagraha launched I Paid a Bribe (IPAB), a crowdsourced website that allows citizens to anonymously report cases of bribery and fosters an alternative space for grassroots anti-corruption activism. Celebrated as a grassroots collective action that relied on digital innovation, IPAB inspired replication efforts around the world, involving 15 official partners, 14 potential adopters, and numerous unaffiliated initiatives. While IPAB demonstrated the potential of spreading digital technologies across borders to strengthen civic engagement around corruption, its diffusion revealed significant challenges. Many diffusion efforts struggled to maintain momentum, reflecting the complex dynamics of transnational technology transfer across borders. This study examines the diffusion of IPAB through the lens of practice theories, focusing on four key practices - ideating, designing, translating, and maintaining - to discuss and introduce the concept of partial diffusion in the case of grassroots collective action that revolves heavily around digital technologies - and innovation - related to anti-corruption activism. These practices shed light on how digital technologies are adapted and sustained in different settings, highlighting the interplay of material, social and symbolic elements. Findings suggest that specific configurations of these elements act as obstacles or triggers to the diffusion of digital technologies, complicating efforts to effectively replicate grassroots collective action. Using qualitative interviews with IPAB initiators, adopters, and non-adopters in different countries around the world, as well as secondary data, the research employs thematic analysis to examine cross-border diffusion, shedding light on the possibilities and limitations of grassroots digital activism in creating sustainable spaces for civic engagement and collective action.

Authors

• Alice Mattoni, University of Bologna

• Alessandra Lo Piccolo, Scuola Normale Superiore