Woman, Life, Freedom Global Revolts: Intersectional and Transnational Memetic Politics of Contemporary Social Movements and Activisms

• This paper-presentation explores the question of which unique characteristics of the recent Woman, Life, Freedom feminist revolts led it to become so globally viral. I argue that, among many factors, memes – or, more accurately, the memefication of contemporary social movements _– was a main reason. Memes are ubiquitous. They have shaped our worldviews and ways of being. They no longer exist only on our screens with cute cats and funny captions but have pervaded our everyday encounters with the world. Memes have been commodified by capitalist consumerism and populist aesthetics and instrumentalized through alt-right abstract eliminationism. Furthermore, they have become part of the politics and intersectional social movements. In this talk, I delve into the recent contemporary global social movements by focusing on their fundamentally memetic elements. I argue that the intersectional and memetic elements of these movements– such as the assemblies of marginalized, revolting bodies memeing themselves from TikTok to streets and back in the Woman, Life, Freedom movement– have been integral to their global virality and sociopolitical advancements. To contextualize, I first address some examples of meme pages on Instagram and Facebook to illustrate how today’s “digital junk” is not only deeply political but has become the core of the current feminist politics of transformation. Then, I elaborate on the key intersectional and memetic elements of mediated, audiovisual, and embodied protest performances from Jina Amini WLF protests across multiple social media platforms and every corner of the streets around the world, to highlight how these instances are transforming contemporary global social justice movements in the present era. Ultimately, I assert that we no longer have to “argue for” the importance of digital technologies (and memes in particular) in our politics and society; rather, we must come to terms with the fact that, from image macros to bodies in revolt, our world is increasingly an actualization of memetics as politics.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Genusstudier (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Gender Studies (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Statsvetenskap -- Globaliseringsstudier (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Political Science -- Globalisation Studies (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Kommunikationsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Communication Studies (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Systemvetenskap, informationssystem och informatik med samhällsvetenskaplig inriktning (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Information Systems, Social aspects (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Medievetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Media Studies (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Annan humaniora -- Kulturstudier (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Other Humanities -- Cultural Studies (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)