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Thesis Format

Integrated Article

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Sociology

Supervisor

Quan-Haase, Anabel

Abstract

In early 2022, Canada – and the world – was gripped by protestors’ disruptive occupation of Ottawa’s downtown core, and several Canada-U.S. border crossings. Operating under the banner of the “Freedom Convoy,” an amalgamation of far-right actors – from anti-government extremists, White nationalists, and anti- “vaxxers” – united against Canada’s COVID-19 public health mandates. Instructive to understanding the Freedom Convoy’s ascendance was their ability to construct a symbolically inclusive collective identity, and their use of social media to that end. However, there are three notable gaps hindering a fuller understanding of these processes: how far-right social movements use short-form video platforms, like the pandemic favourite, TikTok, to mediate their collective identity, and how protestors’ TikTok use for identity building compares cross-nationally, and across platforms. I aimed to remedy these gaps, making decisive contributions to our understanding of collective identity’s mediation on social media. First, I explore Canadian Freedom Convoy supporters’ use of TikTok for expressing collective identity frames. I uncovered that the movement’s anti-institutional collective identity was buoyed by TikTok users’ practices, including alternative broadcasting, monologuing, and audio memes. I argue that TikTok’s emphasis on visuality, personability, and imitability was beneficial to conveying the Freedom Convoy’s anti-institutional collective identity. Second, I investigated the Freedom Convoy cross-nationally, looking into Canadian and New Zealanders’ use of TikTok to communicate collective identity frames. I found that New Zealanders’ collective identity did not passively copy Canadians’ anti-institutional collective identity, but rather “re-contextualized” these frames within their own localized political struggles, national histories, and symbolic registers. Moreover, I found that New Zealanders’ TikTok practices subtly differed from their Canadian counterparts, working to better capture New Zealand’s socio-cultural specificities, and the forceful crackdown on protests in Wellington. Lastly, I examined Canadian Freedom Convoy supporters’ use of TikTok and Facebook to articulate collective identity frames. I found that, while certain practices transcended platforms’ borders (e.g., alternative broadcasting, monologuing), they were nevertheless mediated through platforms’ specificities. I also found evidence that other practices were more recalcitrant to being transmuted (e.g., audio memes, public relations messaging), owing to each platform’s material infrastructure, and culture of use.

Summary for Lay Audience

In early 2022, Canada – and the world – was gripped by protestors’ disruptive occupation of Ottawa’s downtown core, and several Canada-U.S. border crossings. Operating under the banner of the “Freedom Convoy,” an amalgamation of far-right actors – from anti-government extremists, White nationalists, and anti- “vaxxers” – united against Canada’s COVID-19 public health mandates. Instructive to understanding the Freedom Convoy’s ascendance was their ability to construct a symbolically inclusive collective identity, and their use of social media to that end. However, there are three notable gaps hindering a fuller understanding of these processes: how far-right social movements use short-form video platforms, like the pandemic favourite, TikTok, to mediate their collective identity, and how protestors’ TikTok use for identity building compares cross-nationally, and across platforms. I aimed to remedy these gaps, making decisive contributions to our understanding of collective identity’s mediation on social media. First, I explore Canadian Freedom Convoy supporters’ use of TikTok for expressing collective identity frames. I uncovered that the movement’s anti-institutional collective identity was buoyed by TikTok users’ practices, including alternative broadcasting, monologuing, and audio memes. I argue that TikTok’s emphasis on visuality, personability, and imitability was beneficial to conveying the Freedom Convoy’s anti-institutional collective identity. Second, I investigated the Freedom Convoy cross-nationally, looking into Canadian and New Zealanders’ use of TikTok to communicate collective identity frames. I found that New Zealanders’ collective identity did not passively copy Canadians’ anti-institutional collective identity, but rather “re-contextualized” these frames within their own localized political struggles, national histories, and symbolic registers. Moreover, I found that New Zealanders’ TikTok practices subtly differed from their Canadian counterparts, working to better capture New Zealand’s socio-cultural specificities, and the forceful crackdown on protests in Wellington. Lastly, I examined Canadian Freedom Convoy supporters’ use of TikTok and Facebook to articulate collective identity frames. I found that, while certain practices transcended platforms’ borders (e.g., alternative broadcasting, monologuing), they were nevertheless mediated through platforms’ specificities. I also found evidence that other practices were more recalcitrant to being transmuted (e.g., audio memes, public relations messaging), owing to each platform’s material infrastructure, and culture of use.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License.

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