{"id":7310,"date":"2019-05-07T07:39:04","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T12:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/?p=7310"},"modified":"2019-05-07T07:39:06","modified_gmt":"2019-05-07T12:39:06","slug":"politics-protests-and-activist-memes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/2019\/05\/07\/politics-protests-and-activist-memes\/","title":{"rendered":"Politics, Protests and Activist Memes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/kurrija\/6860067025\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/files\/2019\/05\/6860067025_c9fbf42765_z.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7313\" width=\"503\" height=\"357\"\/><\/a><figcaption>Photo by kurrija, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ve all seen cats and celebrities become images that represent cultural moments in spreadable and shareable ways &#8212; also known as a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/meme\">meme<\/a>.\u201d Memes often represent jokes and light-hearted cultural moments, but they have also become an outlet for activist movements and political expression. <em>VICE<\/em> news recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en_us\/article\/mbzxa3\/memes-are-our-generations-protest-art\">featured<\/a> a new type of meme circulating worldwide: \u201cactivist memes.\u201d Previous generations wrote songs and created art to protest policies and create movements, but <em>VICE<\/em> notes that 21st century memes can go viral in seconds.<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gc.cuny.edu\/Page-Elements\/Academics-Research-Centers-Initiatives\/Doctoral-Programs\/Sociology\/Faculty-Bios\/James-M-Jasper\">James M. Jasper<\/a>, a sociology professor, argues that protest movements often involve emotional elements. To this end, Jasper argues that the subjects of activist memes are often villains: <br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cThey\u2019re an important step in arousing the anger or fear that can mobilize people&#8230;the media [of protest art] have changed somewhat, but the purposes are similar: the blaming of villains, the identification of victims, as well as outrage at the villains and compassion for those victims.\u201d<br \/><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Political figures like President Trump are a major target for activist memes and protest art in both liberal and conservative camps, especially for those who disagree with major players\u2019 policies. According to <em>VICE<\/em> author Sage Lazzaro:<br \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p> \u201ccreating or consuming political memes that align with one\u2019s point of view can be therapeutic. They reflect what\u2019s happening in society, and help justify feelings of rage and fear while helping us feel less alone.\u201d<br \/><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019ve all seen cats and celebrities become images that represent cultural moments in spreadable and shareable ways &#8212; also known as a \u201cmeme.\u201d Memes often represent jokes and light-hearted cultural moments, but they have also become an outlet for activist movements and political expression. VICE news recently featured a new type of meme circulating worldwide: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2020,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2020"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7310"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7314,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7310\/revisions\/7314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/clippings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}