When facebook is (Not) enough: hybridity in the media and political strategies of leftist youth organisations

The key term of this chapter is ‘hybridity’, referring to the blurring lines between media and political spheres, and between different media and their logics. We draw on two ethnographic studies of two youth-led leftist organisations aiming to impact institutional politics: the Czech Idealists and British Labour Party campaign group Momentum. This chapter focuses on intertwined media and political strategies employed by both organisations in changing European political and media environments. We ask: What is the role of media in both the communication practices and political agency of these groups? Within these two case studies, we highlight the professionalisation of the communication repertoires employed by their members, investigating each group’s diverse and innovative strategies for using media to influence politics.