The importance of this project is to show that hacktivism has redefined the boundaries of what activists can do as well as the theoretical preconceptions of what is necessary to cause meaningful change and the creation of powerful social movements. The first chapter presents a literature review on social movement theory, that provides the theoretical context for the questions I explore in subsequent chapters. The following chapters are divided into three main research questions. Chapter Two addresses the first question: How does the non-territorial domain of cyberspace create new opportunities for activism? I argue that the Internet represents a unique location in which hacktivists engage each other and have bearing on the physical world and on the Internet itself. The research question I pose in Chapter Three is: How is power manifest differently in hacktivism compared to other forms of social movement strategy? This question follows the premise that social movements require large numbers of individuals to exercise greater impact. Hacktivists integrate individuals who are not technically adept at hacking into their activities. However, a single technically adept individual could cause as much if not more impact than a large group of individuals. The final research question I explore in Chapter Four is the following: Does hacktivism possess any distinct advantages over other forms of social movement protest, and if so, what are they? I show that the answer to this question has to do with the flexibility of hacktivism, which allows activists to use it effectively, on a global scale, against practically any target.
