Political Participation in Romania: the Anti-establishment dimension of the „E-street”

• Main Author: Gabriela Ionașcu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Facultatea de Stiinte Politice, SNSPA 2014-11-01
• Series: Sfera Politicii
• Subjects: social mouvements; social networks; political participation; Schengen
• Online Access: http://www.sferapoliticii.ro/sfera/180-181/art05-Ionascu.php

This article aims to analyze the role of e-street in protest movements and to show the performative limits of virtual activism. To what extent is virtual activism efficient? What are the main difficulties in associating the contemporary online forms of activism with the classical forms of political participation (particularly when they are not followed by street movements, official letters, public statements etc.)? The study tackles these questions based on a case study, namely: the reaction of Romanian virtual communities to the EU refusal to include Romania in the Schengen area. The analysis will show the increasing role of virtual communities in the articulation of the Romanian protest movements, particularly in what concerns setting the media’s agenda and raising public awareness. Nevertheless, these new forms of virtual activism remain without visible outcome when they are not endorsed by classical forms of participation.