In "The Future of Protest in a Post-Digital Age", Anthony Downey outlines the impact of digital technologies on contemporary protests. Throughout this short presentation he poses a series of questions about the future of protest and how social media, through algorithmic means, effectively prescribes our understanding of historical events (including the Arab revolutions of 2011 and, more recently, the attacks on Capitol Hill in 2021). Given the extent to which algorithms determine whether an incident is viewed as “newsworthy” or not, it is increasingly important to enquire into what digital technologies will afford us when it comes to future acts of protesting.
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Anthony Downey is Professor of Visual Culture in the Middle East and North Africa (Birmingham City University). He is the Cultural Lead and Co-Investigator on a four-year UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded research project that focuses on cultural practices, education, and digital methodologies in Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan (2020-2024). He sits on the editorial boards of Third Text and the Journal of Digital War, respectively, and is the series editor for Research/Practice (Sternberg Press, 2019–ongoing). He is currently writing up his forthcoming volume Unbearable States: Digital Media and Cultural Activism in a Post-Digital Age (2021).
This program is organized in conjunction with the publication of The Protest and The Recuperation. The publication accompanies the forthcoming exhibition, The Protest and The Recuperation, which opens in June 2021. An exhibition preview is currently on view in the Windows of The Forum on Broadway and West 125th Street through April 4, 2021. To learn more about The Protest and The Recuperation click here.
