Mobilising the Micro-Political Voice: Doing the ‘Human Microphone’ and the ‘Mic-Check’

A notable feature of the participatory communication repertoire developed by the Occupy movement is known as the “Human Microphone” or “People’s Mic”, reminiscent of the call-and-response format of action. A collection was made of more than 160 online amateur videos recorded at an Occupy protest site or event in which the Human Mic and the disaffiliative “mic check” were used in diverse ways. In 19 separate cases, more than one video recording was independently uploaded of the same event, thus giving a unique insight into the constitution of participation in a collective (and yet potentially dissensual) politico-interactional space from disparate technology-mediated spatial positions at the site. Ethnomethodological conversation analysis (EMCA) is used to analyse the social interactional accomplishment and collective organisation of the ‘voice’ of the Human Mic, including its propagation to larger audiences and its interdiscursive translation into new settings as a strategic tool of political communication that attempts to ‘occupy’ institutional speech.