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Tweets of Resistance: Social Media and Mobilization in Contemporary Kenya A discursive study on the Kenyan protests and online activism in 2024

Arzani Ardebili, Shaghayegh LU (2025) SIMZ11 20251
Graduate School
Abstract (Swedish)
This thesis examines how Kenyan Generation Z activists used social media, particularly X (Twitter) as a tool for resistance, mobilization, and political discourse during the 2024 protests against the Finance Bill. Drawing on a postcolonial Global Studies framework, the study situates Kenya’s digital protests within broader global systems of inequality, colonial legacy, and youth disenfranchisement. Through the application of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and visual methodologies, the research explores how textual and visual elements of tweets constructed collective identity, articulated dissent, and challenged both local authoritarianism and global digital asymmetries. The analysis focuses on protest hashtags such as #RutoMustGo and... (More)
This thesis examines how Kenyan Generation Z activists used social media, particularly X (Twitter) as a tool for resistance, mobilization, and political discourse during the 2024 protests against the Finance Bill. Drawing on a postcolonial Global Studies framework, the study situates Kenya’s digital protests within broader global systems of inequality, colonial legacy, and youth disenfranchisement. Through the application of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and visual methodologies, the research explores how textual and visual elements of tweets constructed collective identity, articulated dissent, and challenged both local authoritarianism and global digital asymmetries. The analysis focuses on protest hashtags such as #RutoMustGo and #RejectFinanceBill2024 as discursive anchors through which youth framed state criticism and mobilized support. The study highlights how Kenyan Gen Z protesters merged humor, satire, and political symbolism into multimodal content that resonated beyond national borders. The findings demonstrate that social media served not just as a communication tool but as a political arena where power, narrative, and resistance were actively negotiated. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Arzani Ardebili, Shaghayegh LU
supervisor
organization
course
SIMZ11 20251
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Kenya - Generation Z -Twitter - digital activism - youth protest - Finance Bill 2024
language
English
id
9201474
date added to LUP
2025-06-27 12:43:46
date last changed
2025-06-27 12:43:46
@misc{9201474,
  abstract     = {{This thesis examines how Kenyan Generation Z activists used social media, particularly X (Twitter) as a tool for resistance, mobilization, and political discourse during the 2024 protests against the Finance Bill. Drawing on a postcolonial Global Studies framework, the study situates Kenya’s digital protests within broader global systems of inequality, colonial legacy, and youth disenfranchisement. Through the application of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and visual methodologies, the research explores how textual and visual elements of tweets constructed collective identity, articulated dissent, and challenged both local authoritarianism and global digital asymmetries. The analysis focuses on protest hashtags such as #RutoMustGo and #RejectFinanceBill2024 as discursive anchors through which youth framed state criticism and mobilized support. The study highlights how Kenyan Gen Z protesters merged humor, satire, and political symbolism into multimodal content that resonated beyond national borders. The findings demonstrate that social media served not just as a communication tool but as a political arena where power, narrative, and resistance were actively negotiated.}},
  author       = {{Arzani Ardebili, Shaghayegh}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Tweets of Resistance: Social Media and Mobilization in Contemporary Kenya A discursive study on the Kenyan protests and online activism in 2024}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}