March 26: From a Facebook event to a Social Movement: The trajectory of the April 6th youth movement and the revolution in Egypt

March 26: From a Facebook event to a Social Movement: The trajectory of the April 6th youth movement and the revolution in Egypt

TASCHA Talk: Maria Garrido

March 26, 2012

This TASCHA Talk, in conjunction with the iSchool Research Conversation series, examined the different uses of information and communication technology (ICT) tools in the trajectory and evolution of the April 6th Youth Movement in Egypt. The April 6th Youth Movement emerged from a Facebook page created by two activists and bloggers (Ahmed Maher and Israa Abdel Fattah) to support the workers strikes in Mahalla in April 2008. It evolved into a broad social movement, providing a powerful narrative for social struggle as well as innovative strategies for collective action and mobilization, garnering a broad level of support that crystallized around the January 2011 protests. In making this historical event happen, Egyptian youth utilized old and new media, online spaces and offline street presence. These different tools became effective conduits for organizing, documenting, and communicating their Revolution, either nationally to fellow citizens or worldwide to a global audience. Maria discussed some of the factors that empowered the April 6th Youth Movement to mobilize and to make the leap from a Facebook page to a grassroots movements and the elements that shaped their use of technologies, and how did technologies influence their choice and strategies.

About the presenter

Maria Garrido is a Research Assistant Professor at the Technology & Social Change Group’s Information School. Her research explores how people in communities facing social and economic challenges use information and communication technologies to promote social and economic development and advance social change. Much of her work focuses on technology appropriation in the context of social movements and in international migration.

TASCHA Talks are bi-weekly sessions to share, discuss, and advance new ideas around topics related to technology and social change. Learn more at tascha.uw.edu/taschatalks.