Beyond the Internet

Rita Figueiras is a professor at the Faculty of Human Sciences at the Universidade Catolica Portuguesa and member of the board of directors of the Research Centre for Communication and Culture (CECC). Her work focuses on media and political communication, particularly in the areas of public opinion, pundits, electoral campaigns, and, more broadly, the relationship between the media and democracy.Paula do Espírito Santo is a professor at the School of Social and Political Sciences (ISCSP)—University of Lisbon (ULisboa) and School of Police Sciences and Internal Security (ISCPSI), Portugal, and is a visiting scholar at other universities. Her research focus is on political communication and political sociology, including the study of political culture, party supporters and social sciences methodology.

'Beyond the Internet addresses a challenging question of much political communication research: to what extent the Internet and social media determine political participation and behaviour. The temptation of technological determinism and cyber-optimism is always lurking when it comes to explain why and how political protests have spanned through Europe in rich new-media ecosystems. The greatest strength of this volume is the authors’ ability to provide convincing evidence that the Internet’s magic is rather embedded in extra-web structures. The Internet empowers above all those that already possess a political culture. This book will be extremely useful not only to researchers but to practitioners in the media and in the political system.' - Gianpietro Mazzoleni, University of Milan, Italy'This is an extremely timely collection on the role of digital media and the internet in protest movements which avoids simplistic celebrations of technological affordances but yet gives the media proper attention. Through well chosen empirical cases and theoretical rigour, this is essential reading for anyone trying to understand the contemporary economic and political crises in Europe and beyond.'- Göran Bolin, Södertörn University, Sweden'This good collection examines how the internet has empowered radical opposition in Western Europe, but also takes account of the formidable obstacles that still stand in the way of its succeeding. It is a scholarly, level-headed but also uplifting book.' - James Curran, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK

• Introduction Rita Figueiras and Paula do Espírito Santo 1. Civic Cosmopolitanism and Political Communication: Media, Activism, and Agency Peter Dahlgren 2. Protest Camps as Media Stages: A Case Study of Activist Media Practices Across Three British Social Movements Anna Feigenbaum and Patrick McCurdy 3. Communication Strategies and New Political Movements in Spain Óscar G. Luengo and Javier G. Marín 4. From the Streets and the Occupied Squares to the Central Political Field: the narratives of the anti-austerity camp in Greece Nikos Sotirakopoupos and Olga Ntalaka 5. Social media and political participation: the Portuguese Indignados case João Carlos Correia 6. Unmasking the ‘Quiet Man’: Exploring Ireland’s Quiescent Response to Economic Crisis and Austerity Gemma Carney and Katy Hayward Unplugging the Protest Movement Wave Rita Figueiras and Paula Espírito Santo