Obywatele ACTA [ACTA Citizens]

ACTA Citizens] Redakcja: Łukasz Jurczyszyn, Jacek Kołtan, Paweł Kuczyński, Mikołaj Rakusa-Suszczewski To pierwsza naukowa analiza największego i najciekawszego ruchu społecznego protestu młodego pokolenia w Polsce ostatnich dwóch dekad. Ruch ten nie tylko zmobilizował do manifestowania blisko sto tysięcy osób, ale również rozprzestrzenił się na całą Europę by doprowadzić ostatecznie do odrzucenia kontrowersyjnych porozumień przez Parlament Europejski. Obywatele ACTA nie są kroniką wydarzeń, ale raportem z tzw. Interwencji socjologicznej, to jest oryginalnej i rzadko praktykowanej metody badawczej, tworzonej przez francuskiego socjologa i myśliciela Alaina Touraine’a. Zgodnie z jej założeniami badanie przeprowadzono w środowisku organizatorów tych burzliwych manifestacji, by dociec kim byli, czego chcieli, oraz co czuli ACTA-wiści. Przyniosło to zapis interesującego procesu autoanalizy liderów protestu weryfikującego także jak bardzo interwencja socjologiczna stanowi narzędzie uwalniania komunikacji i oddziaływania na tożsamość oraz subtelną formę quasi-politycznego oddziaływania zaangażowanej socjologii. Przede wszystkim jednak Obywatele ACTA to zbiór swobodnie powiązanych rozważań na temat logik działania młodego pokolenia użytkowników Internetu – pokolenia Y. Wyniki interwencji socjologicznej zostały uzupełnione przez źródła internetowe i prasowe, wzbogacające kontekst naszych analiz, a także o wyniki badań ilościowych. Raport przygotowaliśmy z myślą o czytelnikach zainteresowanych bardziej pogłębioną refleksją nad ruchem protestu STOP ACTA. Utwór jest udostępniony na licencji Creative Commons Uznanie Autorstwa - Na Tych Samych Warunkach 3.0 Polska (CC BY-SA 3.0 PL) ABSTRACT IN ENGLISH: Our book entitled The ACTA Citizens is dedicated to the largest and most outstanding social protest movement of the young generation in Poland of the last two decades. This movement not only mobilized over hundred thousand people to manifest, but also spread all around the Europe, and finally led to the rejection of the controversial agreement by the European Parliament. In the first, introductory chapter we have described in detail the sequence of events including the initial work on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (as well as PIPA and SOPA), the first controversies and protests in response to the content of what was at that moment a confidential agreement, as well as the critical involvement of NGOs, the protests both in the streets and on the web, as well as, finally, the political and social repercussions of these events. Sociologists of ZARS [Social Movement Research Team], inspired by Alain Touraine, decided to start the research in accordance with the principles of sociological intervention in the environment of the leading organizers of these turbulent protests, and find out who they were, what they wanted, and what they felt. This brought an interesting recording of protest leaders self­ analysis. We have managed to verify how much the sociological intervention is a tool for liberating commu­ nication, how much it impacts identity, and to what degree it remains a subtle form of exerting quasi­political influence of engaged sociology. Yet, first of all “The ACTA Citizens” is a collection of loosely related reflections on the logic of action of the young generation of the Internet users (so called Generation Y). In Chapter II we present various inter­ locking logics of action and scenarios of mobilization. Laser strategy consists in focusing all the energy on one target of the protest; I choose – I demand is a logic of the so­called “consumers of politics” – not just citizens but alienated state customers; New subjects of politics is an important demand of the protest movement that turned into spon­taneous and sometimes reflective critique of democracy and brought diverse proposals of minor and major changes of the system (usually advocating direct democracy mechanisms); High wave describes a par­ ticular sense of the approaching catastrophe deeply felt by the leaders of the protest that pushed them to a more radical and direct actions. In the ending we pay attention to the emergence of the new network structures that allow to activate protest movements in an unprece­ dented way, and to start protests which reveal both their destructive, anarchic, anonymous and threatening nature, as well as a remarkable potential for philanthropy and universalism. What is interesting is that these strategies embody the character of modernization itself. Chapter III is a reflection on one of the forms of action, embodied by the catchword and principal of mobilization of this protest: NO LOGO. We argue in fact that it was not just a slogan, but a flexible frame of protest, which at different stages allowed formulating different and eloquent messages. NO LOGO embodied, firstly, tactical attitude of impartiality, pragmatism and prudence necessary to mobilize the youth. Secondly, it expressed the attitude of self­limitation in the name of the collective good, and in this sense, an expression of citizenship, and finally, an eloquent symptom of distance and distrust characteristic for the revolted generation Y. In Chapter IV we note that despite the great diversity of people involved in the protest (the young, leftist and right­wing oriented, anarchists and nationalists, activists of various non­governmental organizations and representatives of various political parties, people with the aspi­ rations and those frustrated, acting against the system and careworn republicans, football fans and students, etc.) there are some impor­ tant and lasting narratives of action: historical, anchored in the ethos of peaceful opposition of the Solidarity movement; structural and spatial, specifically related to the urban environment of protest; non- -spatial, associated with the existence of the network, especially social networking sites. Within these narratives we have identified numerous attempts of self­organization of the protesters, who began to divide themselves into different task­groups responsible for the informati­ ve, educational and professional aims. These divisions did not form spontaneously, but were rather the result of a previously disclosed competences in the network. Chapter V characterizes the context of post­social situation in which the Anti­ACTA mobilization takes place. A politically empowered young generation tries to express itself as a new social actor among tradi­tional political subjects with the help of a new symbol – a Guy Fawkes mask. It is a paradoxical symbolic form showing powerless people deprived of their own name, but still trying to make themselves visible on the public scene as Anonymous, a group without a name. The main aim of the movement is to maintain the autonomy from the power of the global multimedia corporations and political institutions. This global issue of new movement in the era of network society had at the same time a local character. In case of Polish Anti­ACTA mobilization a generational tension between old and young played an important role. The problem of networking, the specific meaning of the Internet and especially the role of social media in the activity of this protest move­ ment as well as the issue of the mobilization to so­called ad hoc engagement (according to the notion used by the authors of the article) have been documented in the last Chapter VI. The chapter also contains a report from two quantitative surveys that were conducted in these hot days of protest. Both studies concern the fears and opinions about ACTA and the government’s position on this issue, the participation in the ongoing discussion and the willingness to continue the protest. In conclusion of this section we have highlighted the significant impact of the online media on the public opinion. We have verified that the involvement in the online dialogue raises the willingness to engage in discussions on important social issues. Unlike traditional media, which force towards passivity, social media stimulate for “realistic” engagement. The ad hoc engagement that was possible thanks to the Internet builds the potential to re­engage in discussions or protests, if the need arises. Five independent articles (not including the introductory chapter) constitute the unique sociological record of these interesting and still debated events. For many young people these protests will remain for a long time only the protests against ACTA. For sociologists of ZARS it was an interesting manifestation of the multiple and interlocking logics of action illustrating the variety of contexts, identities, and what is most important the dynamic nature of the modernity itself. This study was made possible thanks to the financial, substantive and editorial support of the European Solidarity Centre, which dressed our work with appropriate setting worthy of an eBook published under the Creative Commons license.