Protest Spaces Online and Offline: The Indignant Movement in Syntagma Square

This paper explores the relationship between social movements and space, both virtual and physical. Spaces are produced through the patterns of relations between different actors (Lefebvre 1991) and in turn shape the character of the collectives produced in them. The location, morphology, design, ownership and regulation of spaces reflect and shape specific relationships between the public, the state and corporate power, as well as the model of democracy in which these relationships are embedded. At the same time, social movements can employ these spaces in ways that disrupt their intended uses and make possible different patterns of association and political participation. To address these issues, this paper focuses on the case study of the Indignant Movement in Greece. The empirical results derive from interviews with ‘Indignant’ activists, a features analysis of the main online spaces occupied by the movement, as well as an analysis of the spatial history of Syntagma Square. Our study shows that the movement on the square became divided along spatial lines, sometimes following and sometimes dissolving the existing spatial divisions and characteristics of the square. While the upper square exhibited a more carnivalesque character, the lower square was organized around a process of participatory democracy. This divide was replicated and reinforced online as the websites and Facebook pages of different factions contained no links to those of the others.