Online social movement learning and the possibilities of counter-hegemonic knowledge production: the revolution will not be 'zoom'ed out

Abstract

Social movements, native to the streets, were forced to operate online during the global Covid-19 pandemic. This did not only change the tactics of protest and structures of organising but also fundamentally altered social movement learning. Adopting a mixed methods approach, this study conducted 23 surveys and 10 interviews to research how members of training collectives active within the European climate justice movement perceive social movement learning in the online space. Exploring the self-directed, incidental, integrative-embodied and socialised forms of informal learning, this study proposes a framework to demonstrate how social movement learning in the online context facilitates counter-hegemonic knowledge
production. Working at the gap of informal and collective learning, the framework describes how the processes and methods initiated by trainers, shape counter hegemonic knowledge production. Secondly, this study suggests five components to assess to what extent social movement learning facilitates counter-hegemonic knowledge production. The paper concludes that the online space significantly complicates counter-hegemonic knowledge production and is hence not capable of generating radical counter-spaces, necessary to nourish, educate and strengthen counter-hegemonic discourse. The findings are useful not only for social movements, but can inform academia, policy and practise about manifestations of informal and
collective learning, especially in today’s omnipresent online space, as well as foster understanding of the the inner workings of democracy, social movements.