PhD Thesis Defence of Margus Tamm

On 12 December, 2025 Margus Tamm, external doctoral student of Art and Design curriculum, will defend his doctoral thesis „Artistic Interventions in the Public Space: Tactical Media and the Communicative Turn in Protest Culture at the Turn of the Millennium“ („Kunstilised sekkumised avalikus ruumis. Taktikaline meedia ja kommunikatiivne pööre protestikultuuris aastatuhande vahetusel“).
The public defense will take place at 11.00 at EKA (Põhja pst 7), room A101.

Thesis is available in EKA digital repository.

Supervisors: Prof. Andres Kurg (Estonian Academy of Arts)
Prof. Marek Tamm (Tallinn University)
External reviewers: Dr. Ingrid Ruudi (Estonian Academy of Arts)
Prof. Daniele Monticelli (Tallinn University)
Opponent: Prof. Daniele Monticelli (Tallinn University)

Summary:

The political culture of the 21st century is increasingly shaped by protest movements and protest politics. Against the backdrop of weakening traditional democratic institutions, protest activism has become a fertile ground for civic participation and democratic renewal – revitalizing political debate, creating new collective identities, and expanding the ways of political engagement.

This research focuses on the spectacular dimensions of contemporary protest culture and on the period 1990–2010 – an academically under-studied transitional era during which a radically democratic and artistically interventionist protest repertoire emerged. The dissertation consists of five articles that, through case studies and theoretical discussion, examine the defining features of interventionist artistic activism, accompanied by an introductory umbrella chapter that frames the research topic and situates it within a broader discussion.

The study addresses the following questions: what kind of social role do protest movements and popular protest politics play in contemporary Western democracies; how has the communicative turn in the social sciences shaped the conceptualization of protest movements; what is the role of artistic practices in contemporary protest culture; what developments characterize democratic protest culture during the period of 1990–2010; and finally – and most crucially – how can the passion for political change be reconciled with institutional sustainability?

The broader aim of the dissertation is to examine contemporary protest culture as a point of intersection between artistic and political expression, to contribute to the critical discourse on its expanding social role, and to highlight both the challenges and opportunities that arise from employing artistic practices for activist purposes.