New Social Movements in the Context of Digital Activism: A Systematic Literature Review Through National Literature

Abstract

Developments in technology, especially in communication technologies, have radically transformed the structure of social movements and forms of social action. This development in technologies and the proliferation of new media have enabled communities and individuals to express their wishes more quickly and visibly. It is possible to define digital activism as individuals realizing their demands in digital environments, and social movements, which also stand out as a form of digital activism, as organizations with flexible and horizontal structures on digital platforms. This study aims to examine the impact of the digital age on social movements, to determine how digital activism has become a power element, and to address the relationship between digital activism and new social movements by creating certain categories through a systematic literature review. In this context, studies published in Turkish and English between 2010 and 2025 were examined; 79 studies were analyzed as a result of the search using the keywords “digital activism”, “new social movements”, “online activism”, “online activism” in the Dergi Park, Google Scholar and YÖKTEZ databases. The findings of the study revealed that digital activism effectively increases the speed of spread of new social movements in terms of their visibility and organizational capacity, and accelerates the participation of individuals in social movements, especially through digital media platforms. Digital activism, which increases the massification and online visibility of new social movements, should be considered a mobilizing element in social transformation processes; however, it should be supported by offline organizations and actions for social change.