The Reopen Movement (11.06.23)
Join us for a presentation by Jeremy Menchik, Associate Professor of International Relations and Director of CURA. Prof. Menchik will present a paper: The Reopen Movement.
DATE: Monday, November 6, 2023
TIME: 12 to 1:15 PM
LOCATION: Pardee School of Global Studies, 121 Bay State Road
This paper provides the first large-scale inquiry into the “Reopen” protest movement against COVID-19 public health shutdowns. We synthesize digital ethnography inside the movement with text analyses of an original data set spanning more than 1.8 million Facebook comments and posts from over 224 thousand online activists. We characterize the movement’s origin, growth, and evolution as it interacted with public policies and offline protests. Our findings stand in contrast to reductionist views of the Reopen movement as Astroturf or epiphenomenal. We trace individual- and group-level dynamics of radicalization over time, across topics, and, paradoxically, in response to content moderation. Theoretically, we draw on the classical theory of protest cycles while updating the framework to advance scholarship on social movements in the digital age.
This event takes place as part of the Pardee School of Global Studies Research Seminar Series. Co-sponsored by the Research in Comparative Politics Workshop. Lunch is provided. If you wish to join by Zoom, email cura@bu.edu.
