Volume 1 of Theaters and Public Sphere in a Global and Digital Society inquires theatre, in all of its accepted meanings, in its relationship with society, institutions, cultural and local norms, and the collective imagination which these reveal.

Volume 2 of Theaters and Public Sphere in a Global and Digital Society presents several qualitative and quantitative researches on the social roles of the theatre and performance, as organized institutions or social groups, in contemporary society.

Through the frame of Zoom, this collection of essays examines the rapid emergence of videoconferencing in everyday life under COVID-19, its preexisting performative logic, and the ongoing implication of these practices for millions of individuals and institutions. The year 2023 marked the end of the World Health Organization's classification of the COVID-19 outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern,” yet many of the organizational and institutional restructurings that occurred in the rapid response to the pandemic have remained firmly in place. The prevalence of videoconferencing in everyday life marks one such instance, not only highlighting the dramatic social and cultural transformations that occurred during a period of lockdowns, social distancing, and stay-at-home orders, but also serving as an index of all that has emerged as the “new normal” since March 2020. Overnight, it seemed, Zoom emerged as the default videoconferencing platform, rapidly morphing from brand name to eponymous generic. While this volume focuses predominantly on Zoom and its place in the collective imagination and daily practice of those of us whose lives are profoundly caught up in digital networks, many of these insights presented here apply to other videoconferencing platforms as well, and a supporting logic that has governed neoliberal lives since long before the first lockdowns began. The twelve chapters in this collection explore how videoconferencing platforms in general, and Zoom in particular, have provided individuals and institutions new modes of “engagement,” while at the same time reifying, normalizing, and domesticating modes of surveillance, control, and marginalization that have been part and parcel of a networked-based performative logic for nearly a century.

Volume 1 of Theaters and Public Sphere in a Global and Digital Society inquires theatre, in all of its accepted meanings, in its relationship with society, institutions, cultural and local norms, and the collective imagination which these reveal.

This book investigates the role of the internet and social media in political processes in non-western and non-democratic contexts. Using Zimbabwe as a case study, the book demonstrates how activists and ordinary people deploy social media, particularly Facebook, to subvert an enduring hegemonic state. However, the book also highlights how authoritarian regimes are in turn learning and adapting to the information age, challenging the impact of digital activism. Studies of digital activism in the Global South are often centred around democracy, but this book paints a more complex picture, examining the role and effect of digital activism in challenging state hegemony in authoritarian contexts. The book notes that while communication technologies help mediate activism, they are also simultaneously constrained by pre-existing and emergent challenges tied to the social and political context and the inherent limitations of those technologies. The book investigates the tactics used by digital activists, the contextual factors and restrictive political environment they operate in, including the role of pro-government activists, and ultimately, the impact of digital activism given these constraints. From the case of Zimbabwe, the book builds out a broader theoretical analysis of the evolution of ‘third world protest’ in the digital age, examining the limitations of activists’ actions and the ideological deficit in online activism to ferment a virulent counter hegemony.

Handbook of Social Media in Education, Consumer Behavior and Politics explores the impact of social media within these systems. The book covers who contributes to social media, from social influencers to everyday people, how that information is disseminated in shares and likes, and the impact social media has on perception, opinion and behavior. Education coverage includes influences on pedagogy, class participation, e-learning, academic performance, and it's use and influence on teachers, parents and students. Coverage in economics and commercialization includes different types of digital marketing and social media, the rise of social influencers, and impacts on consumer behavior. Coverage in politics includes the impact on political awareness, participation and its impact on election outcomes. Coverage on design and innovation includes the design of social media and tools and approaches for maximizing impact. - Reviews the economic impacts of social media, including social media influencers and digital marketing - Explores teacher, student and parental use of social media in K-12 education - Discusses how social media impacts elections and political awareness - Investigates the tools and approaches for impacting social change in a social media world

Using examples from the US, Europe and Asia,this collection presentsempirical studies of print, recorded music, movies, radio, television and the Internetto reveal both how media structure public spheresand how people use media to participate in the public sphere.

A ground-breaking study of political transformations in non-Western societies, this book applies anthropological, sociological and political concepts to the recent history of Iran to explore the role played by a ritual theatrical performance (Ta’ziyeh) and its symbols on the construction of public mobilisations. With particular attention to three formative phases – the 1978–79 Islamic Revolution, the 1980–88 Iran–Iraq War, and the 2009 Green Movement – the author concentrates on the relations between symbols of the ritual performance and the public sphere to shed light on the ways in which the symbols of Ta’ziyeh were used to claim political legitimacy. Thus, the book elucidates how symbols and images of a ritual performance can be utilised by ‘tricksters’, such as political actors and fanatical religious leaders, to take advantage of the prolongation of a state of transition within a society, and so manipulate the public in order to mobilise crowds and movements to fulfil their own interests and concerns. An insightful analysis of political mobilisation explained in terms of a set of interrelated master concepts such as ‘liminality’, ‘trickster’ and ‘schismogenesis’, Power, Legitimacy and the Public Sphere integrates theoretical, empirical and ‘diagnostic’ perspectives in order to investigate and illustrate links between the public sphere and religious and cultural rituals. As such, it will appeal to scholars of sociology, politics and anthropology with interests in social theory, public mobilisations and political transformation.

Bringing together contributions from the fields of sociology, media and cultural studies, arts, politics, science and technology studies, political communication theory and popular culture studies, this volume engages both with theoretical debates and detailed empirical studies, showcasing how the public sphere is transformed by digital media, and in turn how this digital public sphere shapes and is shaped by debates surrounding crisis, conflict, migration and culture. Case studies from Bulgaria, Nigeria, China, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, UK, Mexico and India are discussed in detail.

Global Youth in Digital Trajectories explores the most recent developments regarding youth and media in a global perspective. Representing an innovative contribution to virtual research methods, this book presents research carried out in areas as diverse as Greece, the Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, Russia, and India. The volume examines which new anthropological, and cultural-historical conditions and changes arise in connection with the widespread presence of digital media in the lives of the networked teens. Indeed, it is highlighted that the differentiation between an offline world and an online world is inapplicable to the lives of most young people. Exploring youth’s imaginary productions, personal sense-making processes and cross-media dialogues in today’s multimedia worlds, Global Youth in Digital Trajectories will be of particular interest to undergraduates and postgraduates in the fields of sociology, anthropology, education studies, media research and cultural studies. It may also appeal to practitioners in social work and schools. URL for circulation: www.routledge.com/9781138236035