#AustraliaOnFire: Hashtag Activism and Collective Affect in the Black Summer Fires
Article
Article Title | #AustraliaOnFire: Hashtag Activism and Collective Affect in |
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ERA Journal ID | 34876 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Leimbach, Tania (Author) and Palmer, Jane (Author) |
Journal Title | Journal of Australian Studies |
Journal Citation | 46 (4), pp. 496-511 |
Number of Pages | 16 |
Year | 2022 |
Publisher | Routledge |
Place of Publication | United Kingdom |
ISSN | 0314-769X |
1444-3058 | |
1835-6419 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1080/14443058.2022.2121744 |
Web Address (URL) | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14443058.2022.2121744 |
Abstract | The 2019–2020 'Black Summer' bushfire season woke Australian and global populations to the harsh realities of a changing climate. The impact was profound, and it remains ongoing. Social media cast a spotlight on—and propelled into a mediatised, virtual space—the suffering of humans and other species. In particular, the iconic and severely threatened koala was a highly visible non-human species directly harmed alongside thousands of species in the order of individual billions. This article explores what comes to matter in the realms of affect, care and action, as observed in the public sphere via social media and the use of hashtags to interpret and performatively frame events. The catastrophic bushfires prompted a heightened multispecies awareness in the greater population. This article argues that the disaster produced a transversal event through social media communications, one that de-centred the human, allowing for novel connections between the human and non-human, prompting new questions and creating new responsibilities. |
Keywords | Australian bushfires; digital ethnography; climate change; affective publics; multispecies relations |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 410103. Human impacts of climate change and human adaptation |
450304. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander environmental knowledges | |
410102. Ecological impacts of climate change and ecological adaptation | |
470102. Communication technology and digital media studies | |
Public Notes | Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions. |
Byline Affiliations | University of Technology Sydney |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q7v57/-australiaonfire-hashtag-activism-and-collective-affect-in-the-black-summer-fires
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