"We Want Us Alive, Free and Unindebted!" : Embodied Resistance of Precarious Bodies in Digital Feminist Activism of Ni Una Menos
Martikainen, Miia Emilia (2024)
2024
Master's Programme in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research
Yhteiskuntatieteiden tiedekunta - Faculty of Social Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2024-12-01
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-2024111910322
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-2024111910322
Tiivistelmä
Argentina has been known for its failing economy and unstable political systems for decades. In Autumn 2023, the general elections resulted in the election of Javier Milei as the new president. Notorious for his ultra-libertarist views, Milei has sparked outrage among feminist and civil organizations in Argentina. The reforms suggested and implemented by his government have slowed down inflation – but also led to rising poverty rates and drastic reduction in policies and public sector services that contribute to social well-being and gender-equality.
Ni Una Menos (NUM), a feminist collective that rose to popularity in 2015 protesting femicides and later, abortion rights, has been one of the most active organizations to take part in social media activism before and after the election of Milei. To NUM, Milei and his government represent cruelty and plurality of violences that are manifested in femicides, poverty, hunger and lack of decent housing.
This thesis consists of an analysis of over 200 posts collected from NUM’s social media accounts between June 2023 and June 2024. Posts were analyzed using Qualitative Visual Content Analysis, drawing from the contributions of Bouvier and Rasmussen (2022). The analysis focuses on the use of bodies and embodied emotions in digital feminist activism of NUM. Furthermore, the analysis provides a look into the way in which NUM utilizes social media platforms for disseminating feminist ideas. The analysis of bodies in digital media concludes that bodies are present in the modes of digital activism and that the display of bodies further stimulates mobilization in the offline sphere. Additionally, it is argued that the use of digital media contributes to the re-negotiation of feminist ideas, that are spread transnationally and in hybrid modes.
Building and expanding on previous studies that have theorized Latin American feminist movements and bodies in digital media, this thesis suggests that NUM has succeeded in the politicization of not female bodies, but precarious bodies. Drawing from the theoretical framework, this conceptualization suggests that precarious bodies allow the rise of feminist articulations that are not limited to identity projects: rather, precarity becomes the concept that frames structural injustices that precarious populations suffer from disproportionately more. The contribution of this thesis is to situate NUM in the historical continuum of Argentinean social movements, like Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo. The general exploration of digital feminist activism suggests that bodies have a significance in the articulation of feminist issues and that the digital activism is continuously informed and inspired by situated events, struggles and activist practices.
Ni Una Menos (NUM), a feminist collective that rose to popularity in 2015 protesting femicides and later, abortion rights, has been one of the most active organizations to take part in social media activism before and after the election of Milei. To NUM, Milei and his government represent cruelty and plurality of violences that are manifested in femicides, poverty, hunger and lack of decent housing.
This thesis consists of an analysis of over 200 posts collected from NUM’s social media accounts between June 2023 and June 2024. Posts were analyzed using Qualitative Visual Content Analysis, drawing from the contributions of Bouvier and Rasmussen (2022). The analysis focuses on the use of bodies and embodied emotions in digital feminist activism of NUM. Furthermore, the analysis provides a look into the way in which NUM utilizes social media platforms for disseminating feminist ideas. The analysis of bodies in digital media concludes that bodies are present in the modes of digital activism and that the display of bodies further stimulates mobilization in the offline sphere. Additionally, it is argued that the use of digital media contributes to the re-negotiation of feminist ideas, that are spread transnationally and in hybrid modes.
Building and expanding on previous studies that have theorized Latin American feminist movements and bodies in digital media, this thesis suggests that NUM has succeeded in the politicization of not female bodies, but precarious bodies. Drawing from the theoretical framework, this conceptualization suggests that precarious bodies allow the rise of feminist articulations that are not limited to identity projects: rather, precarity becomes the concept that frames structural injustices that precarious populations suffer from disproportionately more. The contribution of this thesis is to situate NUM in the historical continuum of Argentinean social movements, like Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo. The general exploration of digital feminist activism suggests that bodies have a significance in the articulation of feminist issues and that the digital activism is continuously informed and inspired by situated events, struggles and activist practices.