'Intergalactic' Resistance Studies Conference

Individual presentation

Voices in Action: Autoethnography Study of Resistance during the July Revolution in Bangladesh

Nusrat Jahan
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
This autoethnographic study explores my personal engagement in the July Revolution in Bangladesh, focusing on both my participation in the 5th August rally and my digital activism through Facebook posts that challenged government authority. Drawing on Zizi Papacharissi’s (2004) framework of online political expression, this study examines digital and physical spaces of resistance traverse in one of the most crucial political event of Bangladesh. It emphasizes the democratic potential of digital discussion spaces and the ways online communication facilitates civic engagement. Papacharissi argues that online platforms serve as spaces where citizens can talk about political meaning, express opinions, and participate in public dialogue, creating options for online engagement even under conditions of political constraint. Through reflective autoethnography, I describe the reasons, emotional experiences, and consequences of both attending mass protests and posting political content on social media. The study situates personal narratives of resistance within the broader socio-political context of Bangladesh, highlighting the risks associated with visible dissent and the complexities of navigating authority while asserting political voice. My Facebook activity functioned as a digital space for expression, allowing me to articulate counter-narratives, mobilize attention, and connect with like-minded citizens, thereby exemplifying Papacharissi’s concept of online spaces as sites of civic negotiation and resistance. This study also highlights the relationship between digital activism and embodied protest, showing how online platforms reinforce and magnify the effects of physical acts. The study advances knowledge of how people use various forms of resistance in modern political movements by examining the strategic and emotional aspects of my involvement. Additionally, the study provides insights into the obligations and dangers associated with participatory digital expression by illuminating the moral and practical difficulties of recording politically sensitive events in real time. This study emphasizes the lived experience of dissent while highlighting the transformative potential of digital platforms for political opposition through the application of Papacharissi's theory through an autoethnographic lens. It emphasizes how individual actions—both online and offline—contribute to public discourse, question prevailing political narratives, and help shape collective resistance. The results show how important it is to combine personal narrative with digital resistance theory in order to comprehend the potential, challenges, and constraints of civic involvement in authoritarian or politically restricted environments.
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