The nexus between media, communication, and social movements. Looking back and the way forward

This chapter offers a brief introduction to the study of the ‘intricacy of interactions between media and movements’. It focuses on traditional approaches developed within social movement studies. The chapter summarizes the debate on the nexus between digital media and movements by paying specific attention to three main aspects: the modes in which movements organize and act, the formation of collective identities and the hybridization of action repertoires. Traditionally, social movement studies have not paid particular attention to the nexus between collective action, media and communication processes, which has remained of secondary importance in comparison to movement organizational and symbolic practices. The transition from a mass-media to a ‘spreadable media’ communication environment, where citizens are no longer simply receivers of messages but increasingly act as producers and transmitters of contents, irreversibly modified the overall ‘field of opportunities and constraints’.