Practices and Agencies in the Belarusian Protests of 2020
Perspectives of Protest Participants and Leaders
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6423355 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alesia Rudnik (0000-0003-0040-0293, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 77 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 537-560 |
| Publication date | 2025-04-21 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Europe Asia Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0966-8136 • E-ISSN: 1465-3427 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09668136.2025.2495338 |
| OpenAlex | W4410284242 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 33 |
This article explores the roles of digital platforms, protesters and protest organisers in mobilising and coordinating prodemocratic protests in Belarus in summer 2020. Following the actors in the network of the Belarusian protests of August 2020, and drawing on Latour’s actor–network theory, I examine protest-related practices and types of agency in these protests by engaging with the opinions and reflections of protesters, activists, politicians and moderators of the leading Telegram channels who participated in the protests. I argue that these Belarusian protests produced multiple agencies and transformed Telegram into a mediator with agency rather than merely a tool in the hands of protesters
Media studies · Political economy · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Eastern European Communism and Reforms · Public Administration · Sociopolitical Dynamics in Russia
What is Qualitative Interviewing?
Social Media, Political Polarization, and Political Disinformation
Gender and technology in the making
The Sage Handbook of Social Media
Do Artifacts Have Politics
Competitive Authoritarianism
The Associations between Technologies and Societies
Reassembling the Social
Belarus’ new political nation? 2020 anti-authoritarian protests as identity building
Online Media and Offline Empowerment in Post-Rebellion Tunisia
From Cyberspace to Independence Square
Platform Surveillance and Resistance in Iran and Russia
The social movement was live streamed
The End of Adaptive Authoritarianism in Belarus
Liberation Technology’ or ‘Net Delusion’? Civic Activists’ Perceptions of Social Media as a Platform for Civic Activism in Belarus and Ukraine
Deplatforming
State Violence and Pains of Punishment
The 2020 Presidential Election in Belarus
Flowers, Tractors, & Telegram
Human-Machine Reconfigurations
Is Telegram a “harbinger of freedom”? The performance, practices, and perception of platforms as political actors in authoritarian states
Anti-opposition crackdowns and protest
All of Belarus has come out onto the streets
Anti-regime action and geopolitical polarization
How Social Media Facilitates Political Protest
Launching Revolution
Color revolutions
Actor-Network Theory and methodology
Not This One
Mixing Humans and Nonhumans Together
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |