Micro-Politics and Meme's: 'Somebody got time for that'

'The sixties was only superficially a decade of individualism, if the counter cultural revolution transformed society, it is because individuals, knowingly or unknowingly, acted on mass, as a swarm' (Coalition of the Willing 2011)

The idea of micro-politics and bio-politics can, I feel, be seen to be largely defined in the above quote, individuals acting, knowingly or unknowingly, on mass. Further defined, Erin Manning summarises Michael Foucault, stating, 'In the political episteme, movements of bodies work not at the level of individual detail but with global mechanisms of equilibrium, of regularity, of normatively' (Manning 2009). These counter-political motions are so completely intangible in their nature, yet their outcomes completely achievable. A movement so elegant in it's complete lack of its own awareness is something which would fit these categories, something like, perhaps, picking a potential example for the benefit of this blog, the increasingly popular, worldwide phenomenon of memes. A meme is, as defined on merriam-webster.com, 'an idea, behaviour, style, or usage, that spreads from person to person within a culture'. 

A Meme is the act of individuals engaging with the world around them. They are the transformation and development of ideas, people and events. It is loose, free, ungraspable and unaware of itself. Largely free from outside (corporate/marketing) influence. It is the unrestricted spread of ideologies and free thought and expression. As stated by Brandon Hopkins, 'Even when this DNA (contained within all memes) is a trivial and arbitrary substance memes can be as powerful as computer viruses' (Hopkins 2011). Though open to capitalisation, it is something, at its core, devoid of political influence, with the ability to reflect upon its surroundings and make light of things overseen or cast aside. It is individuals engaging on a global scale, forming a loose melee of interaction, thought and growth to bring about a form of social organisation. 

Although now they are largely comical and may never develop into a useful counter-political or micro-political tool, they demonstrate a platform for worldwide communication and expression, knowingly or unknowingly. It can be seen then, that some form of counter-political revolution could form, of itself, through the spread of memes. Those involved in the practice could be largely unaware of the great power they have in spreading information and ideologies. A simple picture captioned with a few words could be the spark which ignites a flame of counter-political thought. A flame that links groups from differing cultures who share ideologies on similar issues, like global warming, gun polices or abortion, or simply spreads ideas around the globe and start people thinking. It could be the silent hero, completely unaware of its own political affect. 

It goes without saying that such a platform has great room for beneficial use and vast room for misuse. However, personally, I find something like this has far more potential then say, the 'haktivist' group, Anonymous. Though their values are counter-political, their execution is far to centralised. Its anonymous aspect cannot make it truly micro-political, it is simply to controlled, with no potential for that free swarm movement of information or counter-political ideology through the masses.

The Coalition of the Willing 2011, online video, accessed 9th May 2013 <http://vimeo.com/12772935>

Hopkins, B 2011, 'Micro-Politics: The Hidden Battle Against Internet Censorship', Hypocrite Reader, accessed 9th May 2013 <http://www.hypocritereader.com/2/micro-politics-china>

Manning, E 2009, 'From Biopolitics to the Biogram, or How Leni Rienfenstahl Moves through Fascism'