Games for Social Change

Abstract

Building on the use of the internet and social media as sites for activism, this paper highlights the emergence of political activism and collective protest in the online gaming environment. Referencing social movement theory and the rapidly evolving capacity of multiplayer online games to facilitate the development of strong group identities and real-time, real-world collaboration, the paper explores the potential of such games to create a space and a mechanism for enabling the emergence of movements for social change. Highlighting the growing number of social activist games designers, building values of equality and social justice into their gameplay, the paper draws an epistemological link between the work of these “conscientious designers” and the process of Conscientization within youth and community work inspired by the critical analysis of political activists such as Paulo Freire and Augusto Boal.