Anti-War Activism

This thoroughly interdisciplinary book is the first major study of the anti-war movement after the recent invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Brimming with empirical material that comes from two years of fieldwork and capturing the passions of its subjects, Anti-War Activism addresses post-9/11 circumstances, the character of Information War that promotes 'symbolic struggles', the changed information environment of war. The book looks at what use activists make of new technologies to organize as well as to campaign, assessing use of mobile phones, email and the web. It considers the production of the movement's alternative communication networks along with its connections with both major and emerging independent media. The book reflects on how anti-war groups seek to use such media to represent themselves and their cause, and how their political identities are maintained and challenged. The book documents the anti-war movement's coalitions and alliances - the tensions and strengths that come from feminists marching with patriarchs, the secular joining with the religiously committed - while paying close attention to the distinctive involvement of Muslim participation. It explores the national and international scale of such alliances and global days of protest. It reflects on how anti-war groups adopt new technologies and utilize its possibilities such as interactivity and collective content creation, and how members cope with information overload by intensive filtering.