Do Digital Social Networks Foster Civilian Participation among Millennials? Kitchenware Revolution and 15M Democratic Regeneration Cases

Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation, Special Issue: ‘Beyond Democracy: Innovation as Politics’. 2017, 3. DOI: 10.12893/gjcpi.2017.3.4. ISSN: 2283-7949

26 Pages Posted: 7 Dec 2017 Last revised: 16 May 2018

See all articles by Igor Calzada

Igor Calzada

Cardiff University, WISERD (Wales Institute for Social and Economic Research and Data); Basque Government - Basque Foundation for Science (IKERBASQUE); Ikerbasque Foundation UPV/EHU; University of the Basque Country

Date Written: February 12, 2018

Abstract

Nowadays “education for citizenship” is presented as a solution for many of the political, social, and co-existential issues in Western democratic societies in order to tackle dysfunctionalities produced by globalization, populism, migration, information and communication technologies (ICTs), and violence. At the same time, particularly among “millennials” or “digital natives”, lack of civil commitment and apathy toward politics as a whole contrasts with their intensive usage of digital social networks, or social media. By exploring potential conceptual correlations between the use of digital social networks and civilian participation among “millennials”, this paper presents two widely studied paradigmatic events of democratic regeneration: the “Kitchenware Revolution” in Iceland after the financial collapse on 6 October 2008, and the “15M Movement” in Spain after 15 May 2011. Despite the substantial relevance that digital social networks played in both cases, this paper wonders to what extent digital social networks foster millennials’ civilian participation, when, paradoxically, they seem to be the population target who contests the status quo but who is not actually being represented democratically in the formal political system. The author concludes that digital social networks could initially foster civilian participation, but they should be seen as a new artefact that, itself, does not necessarily lead to a better political representation of millennials. As well, this paper argues against the widespread assumption regarding the correlation between socioeconomic and educational status and Internet usage factors of millennials when it comes to civilian participation in extreme political mobilisation events such as the Kitchenware Revolution and 15M.

Keywords: Digital Social Networks, Civilian Participation, Democratic Regeneration, Education for Citizenship, 15M, Kitchenware Revolution, MIllennials

Suggested Citation

Calzada, Igor and Calzada, Igor, Do Digital Social Networks Foster Civilian Participation among Millennials? Kitchenware Revolution and 15M Democratic Regeneration Cases (February 12, 2018). Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation, Special Issue: ‘Beyond Democracy: Innovation as Politics’. 2017, 3. DOI: 10.12893/gjcpi.2017.3.4. ISSN: 2283-7949, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2831394

Igor Calzada (Contact Author)

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HOME PAGE: http://www.igorcalzada.com/publications

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