Participatory warfare revised: innovation and the role of digital crowds in the Russia-Ukraine war

Participatory warfare revised: innovation and the role of digital crowds in the Russia-Ukraine war

EN. Over the last decade, we have seen the increasing role of digital crowds in conflicts. New forms of digital mediation reconstitute the relationship between crowd and conflicts, while giving rise to new forms of participatory warfare. The role of digital platforms in supporting various modes of conflict-related mobilisation is evident following the Russian aggression against Ukraine. The Russia-Ukraine war offers a broad range of examples of conflict-related innovation and crowdsourcing initiatives that support crowd resource mobilisation to address various conflict-related goals, starting from humanitarian aid and protecting cultural heritage to intelligence gathering and participation in cybersecurity operations.

The purpose of the talk is to examine how the dynamics of digital innovation that has been driven by digital crowds change the balance of power between the state actors. Relying on the concept of open innovation and generativity, the talk examines the role of digital platforms in the Russia-Ukraine war. It follows the change in the nature of participation in war relying on digital sourcing. The talk identifies generativity as the key feature of the development of war-related innovation and argues that digitally-mediated participation in warfare becomes more open and more offensive. The talk offers a notion of “open war” to explain the innovative advantage of the Ukrainian side in face of the Russian invasion. It also examines the role of domestication of warfare in shaping different forms of participation on two sides of the war.