A network of yarns, a network of networks: exploring the evolution of the urban knitting movement

Abstract

ABSTRACT The paper focuses on a specific form of activism – urban knitting – and analyses “Mettiamoci una pezza” (“Let’s patch it”), an initiative organized by a group of women activists from L’Aquila, Italy, for the 10th anniversary of the earthquake, not only to draw public attention to the state of the city but also to other social and political issues. To analyze the organizational infrastructure of this movement, a qualitative content analysis of the videos produced by the craftivists was conducted, to which was added an analysis of the initiative’s website. The findings show the main characteristics of this collective action, as well as the creation of a particular organizational infrastructure consisting of a network of networks, made possible thanks to digital media. This infrastructure enabled the achievements of outcomes that the organizations could not achieve independently, recomposing a widespread but fragmented activism, based not on a geographical proximity, but on common goals.