Individual Submission Summary
Share...

Direct link:

The Rhizomatic Activism in Thailand: Voicing Dissent Against the Junta Government

Mon, May 28, 14:00 to 15:15, Hilton Old Town, Floor: M, Dvorak II/III

Abstract

Research in social movements often focuses on speeches, organizations or the rhetoric that serves the purposes of a movement’s end goals. However, recent public protests mobilized online can transform into mass protests, with no clear leaders nor speeches. This research charts out the changing cartography of resistance through visual forms in the age of hyperocular culture, paying particular attention to the amplifications that occur in people’s personal networked communication. The case of the Anti 2014 Coup activism protests in Thailand generated the visuals of their unruly bodily acts. I argue that these protesters’ dissident voices played out in adaptive forms when traversing oppression. Decentered Thai protesters initiated rhizomatic acts of activism to escape suppression, reappropirated the symbol from popular culture—The Hunger Games’ the three-finger salute to attract global alliances, and generated extralinguistic conversations with the institution of power and the public.

Author