Post digital dialogue and activism in the public sphere

Abstract

Dialogue in the public sphere includes the biopower of the individual, his or her agency and legitimacy as an activist. Digital technology and social media platforms provide individuals and groups with opportunities to communicate their personal experiences and to share their opinions and views within various continually evolving digital networks that may or may not consist of structures that can facilitate protest action. Digital dialogue has drastically altered our social and political realities as well as our modes of participation within the virtual public spheres. The purpose of this conceptual chapter is to explore the opportunities dialogue in the virtual public sphere offers political protestors to influence more diverse groups, increase their resistance of normative hierarchies and improve quality of participation from like-minded citizens. The discussion is contextualised within a political protest in the Alexandra Township, South Africa.