Monsoon Uprising in Bangladesh: How Facebook Shaped Collective Identity

TL;DR

This paper explores how Facebook facilitated the formation of collective identity and mobilization during Bangladesh's 2024 pro-democracy uprising through multimodal digital expressions and symbolic communication.

Contribution

It provides a qualitative analysis of visual rhetoric and discourse on Facebook, revealing how online symbols and irony fostered solidarity and challenged authoritarian narratives.

Findings

Facebook unified protesters through multimodal expressions.

Shared symbols and irony built collective identity.

Online platform effectively mobilized political resistance.

Abstract

This study investigates how Facebook shaped collective identity during the July 2024 pro-democracy uprising in Bangladesh, known as the Monsoon Uprising. During government repression, protesters turned to Facebook as a central space for resistance, where multimodal expressions, images, memes, videos, hashtags, and satirical posts played an important role in unifying participants. Using a qualitative approach, this research analyzes visual rhetoric, verbal discourse, and digital irony to reveal how shared symbols, protest art, and slogans built a sense of solidarity. Key elements included the symbolic use of red, the ironic metaphorical use of the term "Razakar", and the widespread sharing of visuals representing courage, injustice, and resistance. The findings show that the combination of visual and verbal strategies on Facebook not only mobilized public sentiment, but also built a strong collective identity that challenged authoritarian narratives. This study tries to demonstrate how online platforms can serve as powerful tools for identity construction and political mobilization in the digital age.