#CeDEM13 day 2, Track: Bottom-­Up Movements, Main Hall, Chair: Rosanna De Rosa Relations of power within a field of contemporary

1. Relations of Power Within a Field of
Contemporary Activism
Activist Capitals in Network Societies
Dr. Jakob Svensson
HumanIT (www.kau.se/en/humanit)
Dept. of Geography Media and Communication (www.kau.se/en/media)
Karlstad University

2. Introduction
In network societies characterized by an infrastructure of social and
media networks enabling organizations at all societal and individual
levels relations and connections between people are
brought to the fore
The focus is on relations of power in a network society
A conception of power as processes that take place
between people
Some argue that internet-based organization facilitates
more horizontal and equal distribution of power
While acknowledging that the landscape of power is
changing in network societies, networks emphasize a
multiplication of connections and connectivity between
people - there is no reason not to believe that
relations of power are still at play and vital in network
societies

3. – Relations of power within
an activist community

5. Social Media Use
Facebook
Twitter
Blog
Ning

6. RQ: How did activists position
themselves in relation to each other
and the community values?
To answer this question, this paper will undertake two analyses
1) Central values of the activist community has to be discerned
2) An analysis of how activists positioned themselves an others
in relation to the community values

7. socialization into community values are important to
understanding relations of power within a community
updating based on values of reflexive
connectivity and responsiveness
values of location bound community and being
active and involved - proactive rather than reactive
VALUES

8. Core-Periphery Positions
Who updated/ engaged others - Core
Who was updated/ engaged by others - Periphery
POSITIONING
A dialectic between community
values and participants agency
This dialectic is understood as
processes of positioning

9. By reference to Bourdieu, the
activists are regarded as forming
a social field in which positions
are negotiated through interaction
between field specific values,
activists habitus and capital
BOURDIEU

10. Habitus
Animal rights movements
the Cinema Tellus
Student councils/ nations
the Scout Movement
built both a sense of a southern suburb
community feeling, and knowledge for
organizing and mobilizing participation
(i.e being proactive)
A kind of luggage giving the activist sense
of knowing how to navigate the field as
well as organizing practices within the field
A general belief in
change – together with
the value of being active
can be traced this habitus
- grounded in student
unions and vocal NGOs

11. Capital
A social relationship, an energy/ resource
that exists and produce its effects within
the field it is used
Capital use cannot be understood without
reference to the agents position within the field
Participation Capital
Mobilizing Capital
Legitimacy Capital
Networking Capital

12. Activist Capitals
the value of being active and engaged made it
possible for certain activists to accumulate and use
a type of participation capital when positioning
themselves in the field
while participation was considered important, there
were other things that were even more highly
esteemed in the community - mobilizing and
engaging others.

13. Legitimacy Capital
It is important to
consider previous
experiences in order
to understand why
certain come to
occupy core
positions.
Hence, certain activists entered
into the field already with a kind
of legitimacy which could be
used as a currency when
negotiating core positions.
Agents enter
the social field
with previously
acquired
capital.
At the same time, accumulated participation and mobilizing capital could
be exchanged for this legitimacy capital. In this way the boundaries
between participation, mobilization and legitimacy capital are permeable

14. Networking Capital
legitimacy capital is intertwined with perceived social and
networking competence
networking is based as much on social as technical skills
and political abilities
Knowing how to network, which is interlinked with gaining
recognition and sustaining reputation, also becomes a
capital resource
This capital is made possible by previous achievements
(legitimacy capital), active participation (participation
capital) and successful mobilisation of others (mobilization
capital), done through through a sense of knowing how
(habitus) and being in a position in the field to network

15. Conclusion
Power within the southern Stockholm activist field - understood
in terms of holding a core position - was connected with knowing
how to network, to maintain intermediary ties and being in a
position to mobilize these intermediary ties
In order to accumulate and exchange these different capitals,
and to negotiate core positions, activists needed to relate to the
values of community
The value of location bound community was even transformed
into a central belief that continued to bind activist together after
having lost the battle for the bathhouse.
Activists also needed to be constantly updated in order to
accumulate participation and legitimacy capital as well as
networking capital in the form of holding intermediary positions
between networks. This is the value of connectedness which is
interlinked with the value of responsiveness.

16. Thank you for listening!
jakob.svensson@kau.se