Tactic as Art

Everyday Digital Resistance and Covid-19 in China 2021

This project uses cases from the early days of the pandemic to frame the concept of everyday digital resistance, unpacking the factors that contributed to its domination. While capitalism prioritizes digital platforms’ marketing values, online platforms are also venues for activism across borders. Everyday digital resistance is characterized as tactics of micro-interventions integrated into life, standing opposite from radical confrontations on the continuum of activism. Often spontaneous and unorganized, the actions collectively create impact and the potential to undermine power, while individuals can remain relatively disguised and unnoticed, which is especially valuable for actors in high-risk contexts.

Li, Xinyi. “Framing Everyday Digital Resistance” Message Journal: Covid-19 Special Edition, edited by Colm, Dunne, Åse Huus, Dóra Ísleifsdóttir, Lynda Cooper, Mark James, Peter Jones, and Victoria Squire (2021). University of Plymouth Press, https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/18929, February 2022.

Li, Xinyi. “Tactic as art: everyday digital resistance and COVID-19 in China.” in Jilly Traganou (Chair), Panel “Affective and Generative Dimensions in Covid 19 Activism.” presented at the College Art Association (CAA) Annual Conference, Online, February 10–13, 2021.