Revolution Stalled The Political Limits of the Internet in the Post-Soviet Sphere

by Oates, Sarah

• ISBN13: 9780199735952
• ISBN10: 0199735956
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-05-02
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Can the internet fundamentally challenge non-free regimes? The role that social networking played in political change in the Middle East and beyond raises important questions about the ability of authoritarian leaders to control the information sphere and their subjects. Revolution Stalledgoes beyond the idea of "virtual" politics to study five key components in the relationship between the online sphere and society: content, community, catalysts, control, and co-optation. This analysis of the contemporary Russian internet, written by a scholar with in-depth knowledge of both thepost-Soviet media and media theory, illuminates how and when online activity can spark political action. This book argues that there are critical pre-conditions that help the internet to challenge non-free states. For example, Russian leaders became vulnerable to online protest movements and onlinesocial entrepreneurs when they failed to control the internet as effectively as they control traditional media. At the same time, Russia experienced explosive growth in online audiences, tipping the balance of control away from state-run television and toward the more open online sphere. Drawing upon studies of small-scale protests involving health issues and children with disabilities, Oates provides compelling evidence of the way Russians are translating individual grievances into rising political awareness and efficacy via the online sphere. The Russian state is struggling tochange its information and control strategy in response to new types of information dissemination, networking, and protest. At the same time, this new environment has transformed a state strategy of co-opted elections into a powerful catalyst for protest and demands for rights. While the revolutionremains stalled, Oates shows how a new and changing generation of internet users is transforming the public sphere in Russia.

Author Biography

Sarah Oates has studied Russian politics and the media for the past twenty years. An expert in comparative political communication, she has published widely on the role of the media in relation to elections, terrorism, and democracy in general. A former journalist, she is Professor and Senior Scholar at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland, College Park.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

The National Borders of the Internet: How the Russian State Shapes the Global Potential of ICTs

The Internet Audience in Russia

Internet Control in Russia

Russian Parties On Line

Parents and Patients: Online health and fairness campaigns in Russia

The Winter of Discontent: Elections, Protests, and the Internet in Russia, 2011-12

Conclusions

Appendix

References

Index

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