Water protectors ‘behind the screen’. Digital activism practices within the #nodapl movement

Abstract

The article discusses the processes of global participation and political listening towards the indigenous claims on land rights activated by the #NoDAPL movement against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The focus is stressed on hashtag activism, which had a crucial role in the mediatization of the struggles. Using the #NoDAPL hashtag as a specific case of study, I aim to examine how Standing Rock activists reframed the debate around settler policies to adjust and broaden public perceptions of indigenous rights and environmental issues to the global present. Hashtags such as #NoDAPL and #WaterIsLife captured the international attention of media, politicians, and the public, thus providing a transmedia commentary of the ongoing demonstrations at Standing Rock, as well as inviting individuals and groups around the world to flash mobs, marches, informative seminars, and any sort of gathering in support of the indigenous struggles. On-site and online activism provide rich phenomena for exploring the relationships between marginalization, participation, and political listening. Through mediatization and virtualization theory applied to digital ethnography, the aim is to analyse the aforementioned context and recompile a brief summary of the impacts that the #NoDAPL movement has had within the contemporary processes of indigenous voicing and policymaking in the US and across the globe.