Researching Online Political Campaigns: Strategic Essentialism and Cadence in a Peri-Urban Context
My thesis examines the grassroots campaign of the Darley Power Fight (DPF) in the periurban area of Darley, located on the western edge of Melbourne’s metropolitan area. The DPF’s campaign is focused on opposing the construction of the Western Renewables Link (WRL) transmission powerlines. Drawing on Gayatri Spivak’s concept of strategic essentialism, this study explores how the DPF curated a collective digital identity to resist the threats posed by the WRL.
Through digital ethnography, the research investigates the cadence of online activism, revealing how digital communication frequency and tone were critical in shaping representation and mobilising support. While DPF’s simplified narrative successfully unified diverse community concerns, it also risked homogenising the internal diversity within the group. This study critically reflects on how strategic essentialism can strengthen and limit efforts by promoting cohesion at the expense of marginalising diverse voices.
This finding contributes to discussions on the role of digital tools in community activism, offering a case study that illustrates how the cadence and nature of digital content are central to the formation of collective identity and placemaking in contested peri-urban spaces. It highlights the evolving intersection of digital media, community mobilisation, and socio-political resistance in the digital age.
Outline
This thesis explores the intersection of digital tools, identity formation, and grassroots activism by examining the Darley Power Fight (DPF), a community movement opposing the construction of the Western Renewables Link (WRL). Situated in the peri-urban area of Darley on Melbourne’s western fringe, the DPF serves as a case study for understanding how digital platforms enable the mobilisation of diverse communities in response to infrastructure projects that challenge their sense of place, environment, and identity.
Using Gayatri Spivak’s concept of strategic essentialism, the research investigates how the DPF strategically simplified its collective identity to project a unified front against the WRL. This process involved using digital platforms to shape narratives, foster engagement, and organise community resistance. The thesis also introduces the concept of cadence—the rhythm, tone, and frequency of digital communication—as a critical lens to analyse how the DPF sustained its momentum and visibility over time.
Research Objectives
- To understand how strategic essentialism helps diverse grassroots movements curate collective digital identities.
- To examine how the cadence of digital communications influences engagement, mobilisation, and identity formation.
- To critically assess the limitations of digital ethnography in capturing the complexities of community activism.
Methodology
The research employs digital ethnography, focusing on the DPF’s blog posts, online materials, and public communications between 2021 and 2023. The study compares the DPF’s activities with other campaigns, such as the Stop Labour’s Towers (SLT) group, to uncover differences in strategies, communication styles, and levels of engagement. Complementary data, such as demographic insights and observations from field visits, contextualises the digital narratives.
Key Findings
- Strategic Essentialism in Action:
- The DPF curated a unified digital identity by focusing on shared community concerns, such as environmental preservation, bushfire risks, and health impacts.
- This simplified narrative effectively mobilised a diverse group of supporters but risked marginalising internal differences, such as varied socio-economic and cultural perspectives.
- The Role of Digital Cadence:
- Cadence emerged as a vital strategy for maintaining engagement. The DPF used bursts of frequent, high-impact posts during critical campaign phases, followed by more sustained, periodic updates.
- The content’s tone evolved from urgent mobilisation to reflective critiques of stakeholders like AusNet and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), positioning the DPF as both a community voice and a watchdog.
- Digital Ethnography Insights:
- Blogs and other digital platforms provided valuable data on public-facing narratives but also revealed inherent limitations. The curated nature of digital content often masked internal dynamics, power imbalances, and diverse viewpoints within the group.
- The study highlighted the tension between the inclusivity of digital platforms and their tendency to prioritise dominant narratives.
- Identity and Place-Making:
- The DPF’s digital strategies intertwined identity formation with place-making. By framing Darley’s landscapes as central to community well-being and cultural heritage, the campaign reinforced a shared sense of belonging and resistance.
- This digital placemaking became a counter-narrative to the hegemonic discourse of state-supported development projects, such as the WRL.
- Tensions and Critiques:
- The strategic essentialism employed by the DPF succeeded in rallying support but struggled to represent the full diversity of community voices, echoing critiques from intersectionality theory.
- Environmental priorities dominated the campaign’s narrative, potentially sidelining economic and cultural concerns that were equally significant for some members.
Broader Implications
The findings contribute to broader discussions about the role of digital tools in grassroots activism, particularly in contested peri-urban spaces. They highlight both the opportunities and challenges of using digital platforms to foster solidarity, sustain engagement, and amplify resistance. While digital tools offer powerful means for mobilisation, they also risk oversimplifying complex identities and dynamics, necessitating critical reflexivity in both activism and research.
Conclusion and Future Directions
The thesis concludes by emphasising the importance of digital research in anthropology, particularly in studying contemporary social movements. It underscores the need for methodologies that balance digital and offline insights to capture the nuances of community resistance. Future research could expand on the interplay between digital cadence and identity formation or explore how digital tools shape long-term activism strategies.
By critically reflecting on its methodologies and findings, this thesis offers a nuanced understanding of how grassroots movements navigate the digital age, bridging the gaps between anthropological theory, digital media studies, and socio-political activism.
Reflections on the Research
The framing of this thesis reflects my desire to seek new ways to understand how we see humans within an increasingly digital world. My professional career in digital technology and media has spanned three decades. With this background, I was mindful of how my experience and knowledge may shape my observations of a group’s digital identity. The rhythm and tone of the digital content produced by the observed with the studied groups felt familiar. These actions align with how a business may seek to build brand awareness and customer loyalty. However, taking a reflexive position raised the question of whether these patterns emerged organically or were the product of deliberate, brand-like positioning. Similar strategies are used within digital marketing.
This tension between viewing the campaign as a grassroots movement versus a carefully curated digital narrative required a conscious effort to remain objective in my analysis. This reflexive position also influenced my approach to ethical considerations in digital ethnography. Working with publicly available data risked crossing the line between observation and participation. I had to remain aware of how my reactions shaped my interpretations and acknowledge my dual role as a researcher and consumer of content.
Being reflexive also required consideration of the power dynamics inherent in digital spaces, recognising how some voices are amplified or muted depending on platform usage. This awareness led to looking beyond the visible narratives and seeking out the marginalised voices that might be overlooked. Adding to this was framing digital spaces as curated environments, where they only present slices of experience rather than the whole. A need to balance anthropological methods with the fragmented nature of digital representations made me aware that my findings captured only a snapshot of the group’s experience, not the entirety of it.
As a result, this research deepened my understanding of reflexivity in digital ethnography, where the researcher’s positionality can be inseparable from interpretation. It allowed me to apply an ethnographic lens to the observed groups while drawing from digital strategy knowledge and anthropological theory. This dual perspective enriched my analysis of how communities construct identity, belonging, and resistance in contested digital and physical
spaces.
Other Information:
Field Photography
Some of the photos are from the field exploration. These were taken along with audio notes. The audio was transcribed using Otter.ai
Data Visualisations
Tableau data visualisations were an important aspect of the research. Using data mining, including the use of simple Python, to extract blog content for analysis. This was enhanced with the use of ABS census data to develop an understanding of the complex diversity of the area.
Home Ownership in Darley
Simple look as SA1 ABS data with Meshblock mapping
