‘Act now and sign our joint statement!’ What role do online global group petitions play in transnational movement networks?

摘要

The article focuses on a frequently used but under-researched protest medium through which transnational movement networks express their collective demands – what are termed here ‘global group petitions’ (GGPs), and activists themselves call ‘sign-on statements’ or ‘joint statements’. GGPs are online petitions typically framed as ‘global’ and linking sometimes hundreds of advocacy groups behind a common set of critical statements contesting global politics. Despite a burgeoning literature examining the use of digital media by movement networks, the article shows that GGPs are a distinct form of activism which to date has been overlooked by social science. Studying GGPs helps explore a series of issues central to understanding the role of advocacy groups in global politics, including their internal power relations (i.e. between North and South). Presenting empirical analysis and interviews with activists relating to five GGPs used in the course of a single transnational movement network – against negotiations to expand the World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Trade-in-Services – the article concludes that whilst GGPs are not as ‘global’ or representative of a movement network as they may claim, their value is in facilitating momentum and a process of dialogue between potential advocacy partners.