FROM REINVENTION TO REPRODUCTION OF CIVIC ACTIVISM: PORTUGAL’S ANTI-AUSTERITY SOCIAL MOVEMENTS ON FACEBOOK

Abstract

This research aims to study how Facebook was appropriated among anti-austerity social movements in Portugal during the Great Recession, in a context marked by the emergence of digital social networks. In this way, we can contribute to the vast debate around the role of digital social networks in political and civic participation.To pursue this objective, we carried out content analysis on the Facebook pages of eight social movements that stood out in these period and semi-structured interviews with activists from these. The main finding consists in a considerable inequality of resources mobilised in civic practices on Facebook between activists and citizen users. This allows us to see that there are upstream factors such as socio-economic status, education and even political sophistication that impact on the appropriation of digital tools such as Facebook