New Media and Social Movements. How the Indigenous People of Biafra Movement Has Used the Internet to Mobilise for an Independent Biafran State

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PhD Thesis (10.07Mb)
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Publication date
2019Author
Nwofe, Emmanuel S.Supervisor
Goodall, Mark D.Reeve, Carlton
Thornton, Karen D.
Keyword
BiafraBiafran independence
Social movement
Indigenous People of Biafra Movement (IPOB Movement)
Radio Biafra
Altenative media
Digital activism
Internet mobilisation
Radical media
Ethnic nationalism
Nigeria
Rights

The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.
Institution
University of BradfordDepartment
School of Media, Design and Technology, Faculty of Engineering and InformaticsAwarded
2019
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Show full item recordAbstract
This study has examined the implications of the internet for the IPOB movement, focusing on the extent to which it has empowered the movement to engage in collective action mobilisation, enhance identity construction, framing and discourses for an independent Biafran state against multiple forms of state repressions. The thesis adopted a flexible approach that incorporated three level analysis including a macro-level analysis, which looked at the socio political and institutional environment; a meso-level, which examined the organisational infrastructure; and a micro-level exploring how the social movement made sense of their reality. The thesis addresses the debate between technology and society, and between the agency and political opportunity structures in Nigeria. It discussed the radical and agnostic democratic potential of the internet for African social movements and the dialectic between Biafra activism and the socio-political rootedness of Nigerian democracy. This approach allowed for providing analogies and new perspectives from the research and interpreting implications of human action. The thesis has found inconsistent, sometimes contradicting, data on the implication of internet technology for the IPOB movement. While there is some clear and robust evidence suggesting that new media technology has enhanced the movement's capabilities to organise, coordinate and mobilise for Biafran cause on many levels. The study reveals some severe limitations in the appropriation of internet technology in IPOB’s collective action objectives. The implication of the findings is discussed.Type
ThesisQualification name
PhDCollections
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