When States Strike Back: Failures of Mediatized Activism in Azerbaijan and Turkey

Abstract

This article is a theoretical investigation of the failures of oppositional online movements in the year 2011 in Azerbaijan and Turkey. Through the analysis of a set of specific cases, namely the complete dispersion of social media based opposition in Azerbaijan and arrests of Anonymous led hacktivists in Turkey, the article aims to contribute to debates on online activism in the face of growing mediatized surveillance. The article also reflects on the future of social media based activism and hacktivism, and provides a unified approach, which incorporates both types of mediatized activism in a complementary manner, by taking into consideration shortcomings and promises of both.