Networks of Play and Resentment: Emotionally Mobilized Protests in Macau in the Internet Age

Abstract

Scholars have hotly debated the relationship between the Internet and protest throughout the current global cycle of protests. This study, however, introduces two crucial yet understudied factors of associations and emotions—especially the central role of emotion—to develop a metacomprehensive analytical framework that stretches beyond the binary relationship between the Internet and social protests. Situated in Macau’s specific context, this study explores how particular associations strategically appeal to two emotional routes to mobilize the public to participate in protests in Macau in the Internet age. Through the use of case studies, ethnographic participant observation, and in-depth interviews, this study focuses on two particular strands of emotion-centered, association-initiated, and Internet-facilitated protests, namely, playful protests and resentful protests, to illustrate the working mechanisms of emotional mobilization of protests in the Internet age.