If Not Now, When? Configuring (Mis)Representations via Camp James Talib Dean's Instagram and Philadelphian News Outlets

Abstract

This thesis seeks to explore the narratives that were created about Camp James Talib Dean (JTD), a protest encampment for the homeless, through Instagram and Philadelphian news outlets. While mass media offered an account of encampments as deviant and insular, Camp JTD was able to utilize social media to create its own distinctive sociality that was dynamic and relational, enabling witnesses on social media to connect to the encampment from home. I also consider the account after-the-fact as a living archive, a space that allows past critical acts of documentation to be felt in the present. This thesis aims to uncover the ways spatial, political and embodied notions of difference were at play in how news outlets and Camp JTD negotiated the encampment’s (mis)representation. I do so by conducting an anthropological close reading of news excerpts, live streams, and Instagram posts.