Not a Twitter Revolution: Anti-neoliberal and Antiracist Resistance in the Ferguson Movement

Abstract

Drawing from the literature on digital media, social movements, and race and class politics, this study analyzes the role media played in the 2014 and 2015 Ferguson Movement. Contrary to current conversations about #Ferguson, this article elevates the voices of local activists who organized from the streets of St. Louis, Missouri, through an analysis of 21 unstructured interviews with community activists. It also places these interviews within the context of Twitter discourse. Employing a mixed-methods approach, we illustrate how local activists repositioned themselves in ways not always captured via social media (particularly during the movement’s early stages). Such findings illustrate a more complex movement that is antiracist, anti-neoliberal, and locally specific.