WhatsApp and Autonomy Space: Digital ethnography on the mobilization of an activist group linked to the Movimento Brasil Livre and the Anti-Privilege Cause

Abstract

This article seeks to answer the question: “Can mobilization actions undertaken mainly in WhatsApp activist groups succeed in social claim causes?”. To this end, a survey was carried out on the WhatsApp group #EmendaAntiPrivilégio between September 27 and October 16, 2020, which aimed to make efforts among members to collect a signature to guide a project in the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil that seeks to change the Administrative Reform and include some careers of State considered privileged. In the 20 days of data collection, 48 project signatures were observed, raising the total amount to 142 of the 171 required. The present study is strongly based on Manuel Castells’ theoretical notes on contemporary social movements and information networks. It concludes with the research that it is possible to speak of manifestations that occur in all its phases through the internet and deliver expressive results in this way, contributing to a broader interpretation of the concept of Space of Autonomy by the Spanish scholar.

WhatsApp | social movements | autonomy space | Manuel Castells | cyberactivism