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My First Wikipedia Training Workshop – Theatre Outreach Unit, University of Hyderabad
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/my-first-wikipedia-training-workshop
<b>On March 8, 2013, a day-long Telugu Wikipedia training workshop was organized by the Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K) team at the Golden Threshold, Nampally, Hyderabad in collaboration with Theatre Outreach Unit, University of Hyderabad. This blog post gives a concise account of the event.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b><a class="external-link" href="http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge">CIS-A2K</a></b> had planned a day long <a class="external-link" href="http://te.wikipedia.org">Telugu Wikipedia</a> training workshop in collaboration with Telugu Wikipedians at the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.efluniversity.ac.in/">English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU)</a>, Hyderabad on March 8, 2013. The intention was to target research students at EFLU who are using Telugu material or working on topics related to Telugu and Andhra Pradesh. This event was also to be part of the Wiki Women’s month events across India. However, this event had to be cancelled in the last minute as a Research Student of EFLU committed suicide on the campus and there was major unrest. The faculty from EFLU though had informed of the possible cancellation of the event earlier, had only confirmed it on March 7, 2013. <b><a class="external-link" href="http://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B0%B5%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%A1%E0%B1%81%E0%B0%95%E0%B0%B0%E0%B0%BF:%E0%B0%B0%E0%B0%B9%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%AE%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%A8%E0%B1%81%E0%B0%A6%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%A6%E0%B1%80%E0%B0%A8%E0%B1%8D">Rahmanuddin Shaik</a></b> (Telugu SIG, <a class="external-link" href="http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_India_chapter">Wikimedia India Chapter</a>) and <a class="external-link" href="http://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B0%B5%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%A1%E0%B1%81%E0%B0%95%E0%B0%B0%E0%B0%BF:Rajasekhar1961"><b>Dr. Rajasekhar</b> </a>(Telugu Wikipedia Administrator) had already blocked an entire day for this training workshop. In fact a lot of background work was already done for the EFLU event.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">When I got the news of cancellation of the workshop, initially I was very dejected at the thought of informing the two active Telugu Wikipedians about it, which I had to do. As my tickets were anyhow booked to Hyderabad and there was no point cancelling them, as I was already on my way to catch the flight, I decided to go ahead with my journey. I made some couple of quick calls and with some effort managed to organize a Wikipedia Training Workshop in collaboration with the <a class="external-link" href="http://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B0%A5%E0%B0%BF%E0%B0%AF%E0%B1%87%E0%B0%9F%E0%B0%B0%E0%B1%8D_%E0%B0%94%E0%B0%9F%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%B0%E0%B1%80%E0%B0%9A%E0%B1%8D_%E0%B0%AF%E0%B1%82%E0%B0%A8%E0%B0%BF%E0%B0%9F%E0%B1%8D_%28%E0%B0%9F%E0%B0%BF.%E0%B0%93.%E0%B0%AF%E0%B1%81%29">Theatre Outreach Unit (TOU)</a>, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.uohyd.ac.in/">University of Hyderabad (UoH)</a>. I was anyhow planning on visiting them to explore an institutional collaboration. The Project Director of TOU Dr. Peddi Ramarao, though agreed to spread the word about the workshop, yet was not sure how many would turn up at such a short notice of one night.</p>
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<th><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/TOUphoto2forCIS.png" title="TOU Training photo 2" height="364" width="486" alt="null" class="image-inline" /></th> <th>
<p>Rahmanuddin and Dr. Rajasekhar giving hands-on training to edit Telugu Wikipedia at Golden Threshold, Hyderabad</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">So on March 8, 2013 Rahmanuddin, Dr. Rajasekhar and I landed at the <a class="external-link" href="http://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B0%97%E0%B1%8B%E0%B0%B2%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%A1%E0%B1%86%E0%B0%A8%E0%B1%8D_%E0%B0%A4%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%B0%E0%B1%86%E0%B0%B7%E0%B1%8B%E0%B0%B2%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%A1%E0%B1%8D">Golden Threshold</a> hoping against hope to see at least 3 or 4 participants. But alas there were only 2 people when we reached the venue by 10 a.m.. By 10.25 a.m. we had 9 participants, which excited us all. The training workshop began with an introduction of all the participants. Following this a presentation was made on the significance of Wikipedia in the digital era and how Indian language-Wikipedias are pivotal in preserving the vernacular language and culture. This session was interactive with participants asking many questions. Dr. Peddi Ramarao, later, spoke about his experience of using Wikipedia as a reference tool and how he got introduced to contributing Wikipedia. Further, the discussion went on to the poor quality of articles on Telugu Wikipedia and how the participants can take part in improving the existing articles and contribute new articles. Rahmanuddin and Rajasekhar practically demonstrated the process of editing on <a class="external-link" href="http://te.wikipedia.org">Telugu Wikipedia</a>. This was followed by a hands-on session where the participants actively participated in creating their Wikipedia User name on Telugu Wikipedia and did editing of few articles. The training programme was to officially end at Lunch time but even post lunch some of the participants were enthusiastic about learning more nuances of contributing on Telugu Wikipedia. The hands-on session thus continued until 4 p.m.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Post the Wikipedia training programme, I have had interactions with the Project Director of TOU to explore possible future collaborations. TOU, UoH agreed to offer space to host all Telugu Wikipedia meet-ups. As the Golden Threshold space was in the central part of the city, having this infrastructure accessible was a major boost for the Telugu Wikipedia community in Hyderabad. Further, in the discussions we have agreed to collaborate with TOU, UoH in hosting the first mega Telugu Wikipedia community event <i>Telugu Wiki Mahotsavam 2013</i>.</p>
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<th><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/TOUphoto3forCIS.png" title="TOU Training photo 3" height="261" width="348" alt="null" class="image-inline" /></th>
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<td><b>Telugu Wikipedia Orientation in progress</b></td>
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<h3><b>Outcomes and Impact:</b></h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Out of the 9 new Users, who were trained during this workshop, 5 people have done more than 5 edits.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">One person has become a very active editor on Telugu Wikipedia with more than 1000 edits in 3 months. A detailed account of this event was put up by this user on Telugu Wikipedia here <a href="#fn*" name="fr*">[*]</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Because of CIS-A2K’s efforts, Telugu Wikipedians in Hyderabad now have a good meeting space.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The availability of this space has also encouraged the Telugu Wikipedians to meet more often than before. Since March 8, 2013 Telugu Wikipedians had a total of 6 meet-ups, and all these were held at Golden Threshold.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Golden Threshold also became a venue for hosting <i>Telugu Wiki Mahotsavam 2013</i>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">This visit to Hyderabad triggered a discussion about organizing <i>Telugu Wiki Mahotsavam</i>, which was successfully organized in a month’s time.</li>
</ol>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Looking back, though this event was done as a last minute measure without many expectations, yet it turned out to be a lucky break! Especially, because this was my first ever event as the CIS-A2K Programme Director. It will remain a very memorable one. More so because it was done in collaboration with two of the active Telugu Wikipedians. Even more so because it has created some positive energy for the Telugu Wikipedia community, which has since then become a home turf.</p>
<hr />
<p>[<a href="#fr*" name="fn*">*</a>]. <a class="external-link" href="http://bit.ly/17WYq7X">http://bit.ly/17WYq7X</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/my-first-wikipedia-training-workshop'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/my-first-wikipedia-training-workshop</a>
</p>
No publishervishnuDigital ActivismArtAccess to KnowledgeDigital AccessWikimediaWikipediaCyberculturesTelugu WikipediaOpen ContentCommunitiesOpennessMeetingEvent2013-08-19T06:51:16ZBlog EntryMaps for Making Change Kicks Off, and You Can Get Involved!
http://editors.cis-india.org/advocacy/other-advocacy/maps-for-making-change-kicks-off-and-you-can-get-involved
<b>A first in India, Maps for Making Change explores the use of geographical mapping techniques to support struggles for social justice in India. On 3 December, the project officially kicks off during a one-day workshop in Delhi. But even if you can not be there with us in Delhi, there are ways to get involved. </b>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/advocacy/other-advocacy/maps-for-making-change-kicks-off-and-you-can-get-involved'>http://editors.cis-india.org/advocacy/other-advocacy/maps-for-making-change-kicks-off-and-you-can-get-involved</a>
</p>
No publisheranjaDigital ActivismPracticeWorkshopResearchers at WorkMaps for Making Change2015-10-05T15:03:39ZBlog EntryLocating Internets: Histories of the Internet(s) in India — Research Training and Curriculum Workshop: Call for Participation
http://editors.cis-india.org/research/conferences/conference-blogs/workshop
<b>Deadline for submission: 26th July 2011-06-08;
When: 19th - 22nd August, 2011;
Where: Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) University, Ahmedabad;
Organised by: Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore and CEPT University, Ahmedabad.
Please Note: Travel support is only available for domestic travel within India.</b>
<p>LOCATING INTERNETS is an innovative, multi-disciplinary, workshop that engages with some of the most crucial debates around Internet and Society within academic scholarship, discourse and practice in India. It explores Where, When, How and What has changed with the emergence of Internet and Digital Technologies in the country. The Internet is not a singular monolithic entity but is articulated in various forms – sometimes materially, through accessing the web; at others, through our experiences; and yet others through imaginations of policy and law. Internets have become a part of our everyday practice, from museums and archives, to school and university programmes, living rooms and public spaces, relationships and our bodily lived realities. It becomes necessary to reconfigure our existing concepts, frameworks and ideas to make sense of the rapidly digitising world around us. The Internet is no longer contained in niche disciplines or specialised everyday practices. LOCATING INTERNETS invites scholars, teachers, researchers, advanced research students and educationalists from any discipline to learn and discuss how to ask new questions and design innovative curricula in their discipline by introducing concepts and ideas from path-breaking research in India.</p>
<p>Comprised of training, public lectures, open discussion spaces, and hands-on curriculum building exercises, this workshop will introduce the participants to contemporary debates, help them articulate concerns and problems from their own research and practice, and build knowledge clusters to develop innovative and open curricula which can be implemented in interdisciplinary undergraduate spaces in the country. It showcases the research outputs produced by the Centre for Internet and Society’s Researchers @ Work Programme, and brings together nine researchers to talk about alternative histories, processes, and bodies of the Internets, and how they can be integrated into mainstream pedagogic practices and teaching environments.</p>
<h3>Knowledge Clusters for the Workshop</h3>
<p>LOCATING INTERNETS is designed innovatively to accommodate for various intellectual and practice based needs of the participants. While the aim is to introduce the participants to a wide interdisciplinary range of scholarship, we also hope to address particular disciplinary and scholarly concerns of the participants. The workshop is further divided into three knowledge clusters which help the participants to focus their energies and ideas in the course of the four days.</p>
<ul><li><strong>Bridging the Gap</strong>: This workshop seeks to break away from the utopian public discourse of the Internets as a-historical and completely dis-attached from existing technology ecologies in the country. This knowledge cluster intends to produce frameworks that help us contextualize the contemporary internet policy, discourse and practice within larger geo-political and socio-historical flows and continuities in Modern India. The first cluster chartsdifferent pre-histories of the Internets, mapping the continuities and ruptures through philosophy of techno-science, archiving practices, and electronifcation of governments,to develop new technology-society perspectives.</li><li><strong>Paradigms of Practice</strong>:One of the biggest concerns about Internet studies in India and other similar developed contexts is the object oriented approach that looks largely at specific usages, access, infrastructure, etc. However, it is necessary to understand that the Internet is not merely a tool or a gadget. The growth of Internets produces systemic changes at the level of process and thought. The technologies often get appropriated for governance both by the state and the civil society, producing new processes and dissonances which need to be charted. The second cluster looks at certain contemporary processes that the digital and Internet technologies change drastically in order to recalibrate the relationship between the state, the market and the citizen.</li><li><strong>Feet on the Ground</strong>: The third cluster looks at contemporary practices of the Internet to understand the recent histories of movements, activism and cultural practices online. It offers an innovative way of understanding the physical objects and bodies that undergo dramatic transitions as digital technologies become pervasive, persuasive and ubiquitous. It draws upon historical discourse, everyday practices and cultural performances to form new ways of formulating and articulating the shapes and forms of social and cultural structures.</li></ul>
<h3>Workshop Outcomes</h3>
<p>The participants are expected to engage with issue of Internet and it various systemic processes through their own disciplinary interests. Apart from lectures and orientation sessions, the participants will actively work on their own project ideas during the period in groups and will be guided by experts. The final outcome of the workshops would be curriculum for undergraduate and graduate teaching space of various disciplines in the country.</p>
<h3>Participation Guidelines</h3>
<p>LOCATING INTERNETS is now accepting submissions from interested participants in the following format:</p>
<ol><li>Name:</li><li>Institutional affiliation and title:</li><li>Address:</li><li>Email address:</li><li>Phone number:</li><li>A brief resume of work experience (max. 350 words)</li><li>Statement of interest (max. 350 words)</li><li>Key concerns you want to address in the Internet and Society field (max. 350 words)</li><li>Identification with one Knowledge-cluster of the workshop and a proposal for integrating it in your research/teaching practice (max. 500 words)</li><li>Current interface with technologies in your pedagogic practices (max. 350 words)</li><li>Additional information or relevant hyperlinks you might want to add (Max. 10 lines)<br /></li></ol>
<pre>Notes:</pre>
<ul><li>Submissions will be accepted only from participants in India, as attachments in .doc, .docx or .odt formats at <a class="external-link" href="mailto:locatinginternets@cis-india.org">locatingInternets@cis-india.org</a></li><li>Submissions made beyond 26th July 2011 may not be considered for participation. <br /></li><li>Submissions will be scrutinized by the organisers and selected participants will be informed by the 30th July 2011, about their participation.</li><li>Selected participants will be required to make their own travel arrangements to the workshop. A 2nd A.C. train return fare will be reimbursed to the participants. Shared accommodation and selected meals will be provided at the workshop.</li><li>A limited number of air-fare reimbursements will be available to participants in extraordinary circumstances. All travel support is only available for domestic travel in the country.<br /></li></ul>
<p><strong>Chairs</strong>: Nishant Shah, Director-Research, Centre for Internet and Society Bangalore;</p>
<p>Pratyush Shankar, Associate Professor & Head of Undergraduate Program, Faculty of Architecture, CEPT University</p>
<p><strong>Supported by</strong>: Kusuma Foundation, Hyderabad</p>
<p><strong>Experts</strong>:Anja Kovacs, Arun Menon, Asha Achuthan, Ashish Rajadhykasha, Aparna Balachandran, Namita Malhotra, Nithin Manayath, Nithya Vasudevan, Pratyush Shankar, Rochelle Pinto and Zainab Bawa</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/research/conferences/conference-blogs/workshop'>http://editors.cis-india.org/research/conferences/conference-blogs/workshop</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaDevelopmentGamingDigital ActivismDigital GovernanceResearchCISRAWFeaturedCyberculturesarchivesNew PedagogiesWorkshopIT Cities2011-07-21T06:00:39ZBlog EntryInquilab 2.0? Reflections on Online Activism in India*
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/revolution-2.0/digiactivprop
<b>Research and activism on the Internet in India remain fledgling in spite the media hype, says Anja Kovacs in her blog post that charts online activism in India as it has emerged. </b>
<p>Since the late 1990s when protesters against the WTO in Seattle used a variety of new technologies to revolutionize their ways of protesting so as to further their old goals in the information age, much has been made of the possibilities that new technologies seem to offer social movements. The emergence of Web 2.0 seems to have only multiplied the possibilities of building on the Internet's democratising potentials, so widely heralded since the rise of the commercial Internet in the 1990s, and since then, the use of social media for social change has received widespread media attention worldwide. From Spain to Mexico, activists used the Internet as a central tool in their efforts to organise and mobilise – be it to express their stand against a war in Iraq, against a Costa Rican Free Trade Agreement with the United States, to mobilise support for the Zapatistas of Chiapas, or more recently, to push for a change of guard in Iran.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In 2009, when Nisha Susan launched the Pink Chaddi campaign, the 'ICT for Revolution' buzz finally seemed to have reached India as well. Phenomenally successful in terms of the attention it generated for the issue it sought to address, the campaign sought to protest in a humorous fashion against attacks on women pub-goers in Karnataka by Hindu right wing elements. In only a matter of weeks, Facebook associated with the campaign – 'The Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women', which gathered tens of thousands of members. It was ultimately killed off when Susan's Facebook account was cracked by rivals. The campaign was perhaps the singular most successful account of ‘digital activism’ in India so far, and an impressive one by all measures.</p>
<p>The creativity of the campaign should not come as a surprise to those familiar with the long and rich history of activism for social change in India. Organised social actors have been critical influences in the emergence of new social identities as well as on critical policy junctures from colonial times onwards, developing a fascinating and unmistakably Indian language of protest in the process (see Kumar 1997 and Zubaan 2006 for examples from feminist movement).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As Raka Ray and Mary Faizod Katzenstein (2006) have pointed out, in the post-independence period, such organised activism for long was connected by at least verbal – if not actual – commitment to the common master frame of poverty alleviation and the ending of inequality and injustice, and this irrespective of the particular issues groups were working on. Since the late 1980s, however, a number of far-reaching changes have taken place in India. This period has been marked by the definite demise of secular democratic socialism as the dominant script of the Indian state and its simultaneous replacement by neo-liberalism. Moreover, in the same period, Hindu nationalism as an ideology too has gone from strength to strength, with only in the last five years a slowdown in its ascendancy. While for many traditional social movements of the Left the commitment to social justice remains, in this context a space has undeniably been created for groups with a very different agenda. The considerable popularity of organisations such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, both Hindu nationalist organisations, are prime indications of these transformations. However, the fragmentation of the activist space did not only benefit reactionary elements of society. The final emergence into visibility of a well-articulated middle class queer politics, for example, too, may well in many ways have been facilitated by the evolutions of the past 20 years. Although this point has been mostly elaborated in the context of the US (Hennessey 2000), in India, too, this seems to ring true at least in some senses.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The general shape-shifting of activism in India since the 1990s is not the only contextual factor that deserves obvious consideration in a study like this. In addition, since independence a close link has been forged in policy and people's imagination alike between science and technology on the one hand and development paradigms in India on the other. Not everyone agrees on the benefits of this association: all too frequently, the struggles of grassroots social movements are directed precisely against the outcomes or consequences of a supposedly 'scientifically' inspired development policy. The neo-liberal era is no exception to this: as Carol Upadhya (2004) has shown quite convincingly, the economic reform policies that are at the heart of neo-liberalism have been inspired first and foremost by the information technology sector in India, which has also in turn been their first beneficiary. And today as earlier, Asha Achuthan (2009) has pointed out, in the resistance to these policies, the subaltern who is the agent of grassroots social movements is frequently associated with a pre-technological purity that needs to be maintained in order to resist discourses and material consequences of technological change themselves. In popular discourses, at least, attitudes towards technology inevitably come in a binary mode.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Seeing the context in which digital activism in India has emerged, a number of pressing questions regarding the new forms that even progressive activism takes as it adopts new tools and methods, then, immediately offer themselves. Leaving aside the activities of right wing groups in India, who are the actors that occupy this space for activism and what are their relationship with offline activists groups? Which are the issues online activism seeks to address, and what are its master narratives, goals and audiences? Where does it locate problems in today's society, and what kind of solutions does it propose? How does it posit its relation to the global/international and to the offline-local; to dominant understandings of science and technology, development, or desirable social change? How are these understandings reflected in online activism, including in the choice and use of technologies but also in the discourses that are deployed and the audiences that are targeted? What are its methods, its strategies, its ways of organising? What role is played by organisations, collectives, networks, individuals? In what ways is the field marked by the conjuncture at which it emerged? Do those who first occupy (most of) it also set the parameters? Or do its tools fashion online activism's very conditions of existence?</p>
<p>The value of greater insight into these issues is not immediately apparent to all. For one thing, some would argue that, as connectivity in the emerging IT superpower remains limited, the importance of these questions to those concerned with social justice in India is really marginal. It is true that while commercial Internet services have been available in the country since 1995, for long the number of connections remained abysmally low. Even today, the number of subscriptions has only just crossed the 14 million mark, and barely half of these are broadband subscriptions, severely limiting the usefulness of a wide range of potential online activism tools (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India 2009 – figures are for the second quarter of 2009). According to I-Cube 2008 report (IMRB and Internet and Mobile Association of India 2008), there were an estimated 57 million claimed urban Internet users in the country in September 2008 and an estimated 42 million active urban Internet users. Corresponding figures for Internet users in rural areas in March 2008 were 5.5 million and 3.3 million respectively. Almost 88 million Indians were believed to be computer-literate at the time. Clearly, then, online activists are a tiny section of an already fairly small, privileged group, and at least in a direct sense, the availability of new tools is thus indeed unlikely to affect all activists or activism in the country.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Some of my own starting points while embarking on this study may seem to further give fuel to arguments against the value of this research. The idea of investigating online activism in India as it emerges followed from my observation – and a troubling one at that for me – that so far, and despite all the hype internationally, more traditional grassroots movements in India seem to have been slow to embrace the Internet as an integral part of their awareness raising and mobilisation strategies. Although they may attract the largest numbers of activists offline, the many so-called 'new' social movements that have emerged since the 1970s and that remain important actors pushing for social change seem most conspicuous by their relative absence online. This is especially true of those critical of current development paradigms and practices: movements fighting against dams, special economic zones or land acquisitions for “development” purposes seem visible only in relatively fragmented and generally marginal ways. Instead, middle-class actors addressing middle class audiences on middle class issues seem to be the flag bearers of Internet activism in India – the Pink Chaddi campaign or VoteReport India, a “collaborative citizen-driven election monitoring platform for the 2009 Indian general elections” (see votereport.in/blog/about) perhaps among the most well-known illustrations of this argument.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Both points are valid, and yet, while inquilab it may not be, to conclude from this that the study of online activism automatically is of only very limited value would be short-sighted. Indeed, even if the hypothesis that Internet activism is dominated by middle class actors who address middle class concerns is validated (note that in any case considerable segments of the leadership and cadre of grassroots movements, too, tend to come from middle class backgrounds), this is likely to affect all those interested in affecting social change, even if perhaps in varying degrees. For one thing, it would mean that as the public sphere is reshaped, important new quarters of its landscape are inhabited only be the elite, contradicting the still widely popular and even cherished belief (at least among those who are familiar with the Internet) that the Internet is a democratising force. Instead, the proportional visibility in the public sphere of dissenting viewpoints on development, science, neo-liberalism, progress, the state will only decrease. In addition, then, it may also indicate a further refracting of the activism landscape and its master narratives and methods, where different segments of activists increasingly need to vie with each other for recognition and validation of their respective understandings of political processes and of appropriate forms of engaging with these. As such battles intensify it is not too risky to make a prognosis on who will be the main losers. If, in an era in which the old activist master narrative of justice for all remains under strident attack, civil society has come to occupy at the expense of political society (a useful distinction first made by Parth Chatterjee in Chatterjee 2004) a whole arena of activism, this would indeed need to be a cause of concern for all. In order to gauge its ramifications, it is however, crucial to first of all understand in which ways and to what extent this statement rings true.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The current study may well not be able to fully develop all the above and other theoretical strands as they emerge in the course of this research. But what it does promise to do is to outline the breaks and continuities that mark the make-up, strategies, audiences and goals of those who embrace the new possibilities that the Internet provides at the same time as the information age so fundamentally reconstitutes our society. As a starting point for the analysis, this research will therefore, attempt to map the online activism that has taken place in India so far, focusing more specifically on the forms of activism that leave a public record on the Internet (a more extensive debate of various definitional issues is in order – I will take this up in a separate blog post, to follow later, however). At the core of the research will be the construction of a database pertaining to online activism in India with links to email lists, blogs, Facebook groups, popular hash tags and the like. Although much of the activism I will be looking at will be centred around what has come to be known as 'social media', my focus is thus broader than that, as older tools such as e-petitions, discussion boards and list servs, too, will be included in this study. The aim is to be as comprehensive as possible, although for the database to ever be complete will, of course, be an impossibility. Moreover, since only data available in the English language will be collected, the database will automatically have its limitations. The database will be further complemented by interviews with activists who have been involved in key online campaigns and, where appropriate, case studies. It is the data thus gathered that will form the basis of our analysis.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>While the scope of the study is thus admittedly ambitious, the fact that online activism in India is a fairly recent affair – little happened before 2002, and it has only really taken off in the past three years or so – makes this venture not an impossible one. The contribution I hope to make through this research is not simply to work on the Indian context, however. Despite the media hype surrounding the possibilities of the Internet for social change, research on the Internet and activism more generally remains limited so far. The paucity is perhaps particularly acute where activism and social media are concerned (Postill 2009). Moreover, the work that does exist, I argue, tends to look mostly at activists' use of one particular tool, for example YouTube, or Facebook. Sight is thus generally lost of the larger cyberecology of communication in which this use must be located, preventing an opportunity for genuine insight into the ways in which activism is reconfigured from materialising. By using a much wider lens, this research hopes to make a beginning to correcting this lacuna. It is in this way that the importance of the changes that are underway in the Indian activist landscape as elsewhere can be appropriately assessed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"><em><strong>*
Inquilab means revolution</strong></em></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"><strong>References</strong></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">Achuthan, Asha (2009).
Re-Wiring Bodies. Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore.
<a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/rewiring/review">http://www.cis-india.org/research/cis-raw/histories/rewiring/review</a>,
last accessed on 15 January 2010.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">Chatterjee, Partha
(2004). <em>The Politics of the Governed: Reflections on Popular
Politics in Most of the World</em>. Delhi: Permanent Black.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">Hennessy, Rosemary
(2000). <em>Profit and Pleasure: Sexual Identities in Late Capitalism</em>.
London: Routledge.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">IMRB and Internet and
Mobile Association of India (2008). I-Cube 2008: Facilitating Citins,
Altins, Fortins (Faster, Higher, Stronger) Internet in India. IMRB
and Internet and Mobile Association of India, Mumbai. <a href="http://www.iamai.in/">www.iamai.in/</a>,
last accessed on 15 January 2010.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">Kumar, Radha (1997). <em>The
History of Doing: An Illustrated Account of Movements for Women's
Rights and Feminism in India 1800-1990</em>. New Delhi: Zubaan.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">Postill, John (2009).
Thoughts on Anthropology and Social Media Activism.
<em>Media/Anthropology</em>,
<a href="http://johnpostill.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/thoughts-on-anthropology-and-social-media-activism/">http://johnpostill.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/thoughts-on-anthropology-and-social-media-activism/</a><a href="http://johnpostill.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/thoughts-on-anthropology-and-social-media-activism/">,
</a>last accessed on 15 January 2010.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">Ray, Raka and Mary
Fainsod Katzenstein (2006). Introduction: In the Beginning, There Was
the Nehruvian State. In Raka Ray and Mary Fainsod Katzenstein
(eds.). <em>Social Movements in India: Poverty, Power, and Politics.</em>
New Delhi: Oxford University Press.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (2009). The Indian Telecom Services Performance
Indicators, April-June 2009. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India,
New Delhi. <a href="http://www.trai.gov.in/">www.trai.gov.in</a><a href="http://www.trai.gov.in/">,
</a>last accessed on 15 January 2010.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">Upadhya, Carol (2004). A
New Transnational Capitalist Class: Capital Flows, Business Networks
and Entrepreneurs in the Indian Software Industry. <em>Economic and
Political Weekly</em>, 39(48): 5141-5151.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">Zubaan (2006). <em>Poster
Women: A Visual History of the Women's Movement in India</em>. New
Delhi: Zubaan.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/revolution-2.0/digiactivprop'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/revolution-2.0/digiactivprop</a>
</p>
No publishernishanthistories of internet in IndiaSocial mediaDigital ActivismCyberspaceAccess to Medicineinternet and societyResearchCybercultures2011-08-02T09:25:30ZBlog EntryImpaired Social Mobility
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/impaired-social-mobility
<b>Leading e-mail providers like Gmail and Yahoo Mail have introduced open protocols for copying e-mails offline through Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird but popular social networking websites like Facebook, Myspace, etc generally do not allow the user to backup their own data. Sunil Abraham through this article points out that if competition and technological development does not rectify the situation then the government needs to intervene for the sake of its citizens.</b>
<p>A good number of netizens spend hours on social networking websites – lovingly building a circle of friends, or alternatively a social or commercial marketing campaign. God forbid –if something goes wrong then we start again from square one. There are several serious threats right there on the horizon, of which I will name only two. One, the owner of the social networking services could go bust – if it could happen to the Lehman Brothers it can happen to Web entrepreneurs still dreaming about their business model. Two, a security slip from either side could result in a bot or hacker gaining control of your account and also corrupting your data. Last year, Myspace was breached and 17 GB of private photographs was leaked onto The Pirate Bay. Earlier this year, Microsoft almost lost data for nearly 800,000 sidekick smart phone users in the US. Today, compromised twitter accounts can be noticed by the increased frequency spam messages. As these systems become increasingly complex and ownership shifts, these mishaps are only going to get more frequent. And in most cases you just can't backup your own data.</p>
<p>In the days of offline software – vendor lock-in was achieved using proprietary formats thus preventing users from migrating to the competition. As a result, very few of us have files from the Word Star and Word Perfect days. Proprietary formats force the user to keep renewing the license for the associated software or worse, pirating it. Fortunately, the copyright law in many countries including India allows for reverse engineering and free software developers were able to provide us alternatives such as OpenOffice.org. This combined with anti-trust investigation in Europe and US has resulted in Microsoft embracing an open format as native storage for the latest version of the Office suite. </p>
<p align="left">Today it is déjà vu in the world of social networking in particular and cloud computing more generally. Facebook, Myspace, Orkut and their ilk all provide file storage, contact management, messaging and calendaring functionality. However, very few of them actually allow the user to backup their data – for example on Facebook and Myspace it is not possible for a user to backup their contact database. Some exceptions like Orkut allows for export of contact database, etc., but that is more because it is not the primary monopoly that Google wants to protect. Fortunately, email providers like Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo Mail have all finally embraced open protocols and are using POP3 or IMAP protocol and we can copy our mail offline using Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird. In the future, social networking sites may congregate around a couple of open standards and offer their users true digital social mobility. There are already some initial signs of hope here – for example, the Data Portability Project is supported by individuals from Plaxo, Facebook and Google.</p>
<p align="left">However, if competition and technological development does not rectify the situation then there might be a case for government intervention. Especially, because citizens wishing to engage in e-governance have no choice but to embrace the choice of the politicians and bureaucrats whether it is Twitter, Facebook or YouTube. In Canada, the Privacy Commissioner forced Facebook to change its policies on retaining user data after they had deleted their accounts. In US, the Attorney Generals of 49 states gave a laundry list of modifications to Myspace in order to keep children safe from paedophiles. In India too, the government and civil society should collaborate on policy reform to ensure that citizens’ rights are protected on social networking websites. Think of it as a phone number portability equivalent for Web 2.0.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/impaired-social-mobility'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/impaired-social-mobility</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpennessDigital Activism2011-08-18T05:07:22ZBlog EntryI Believe that .......... should be a Right in the Digital Age
http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/i-believe-that-______-should-be-a-right-in-the-digital-age
<b>On Monday March 21, 2011, people from three continents blogged about what they believe will/should/are rights in the digital age, as part of the "Digital Natives with a Cause?" project. From "free music" to "many identities", people have a varied and rich set of beliefs of what should constitute a right. </b>
<p></p>
<p>What do you think should be a right in the digital age?</p>
<p>This is the question which community members, facilitators and
organizers of the “Digital Natives with a Cause?” project asked themselves on
Monday, 21 March 2011.</p>
<p>Juan-Manuel Casanueva, a facilitator at the
workshop in Chile, talks about the <a class="external-link" href="http://digitalnatives.in/jmcasanueva/blogs/right-be-read-and-heard-anyone">right to be heard and read by anyone</a>. Juan
Manuel sets up a historical picture, explaining that the quest for global
dialogue advanced tremendously with the implementation of the Internet.
Early proponents of the Internet spoke of a world where people, enabled by the
technology, would communicate with each other seamlessly. Casanueva explains that this
is not the case; roughly 30 years after the Internet began people are still
using the Internet as an extension of their community-based communication
model. Now that the hardware is there, it is time to start questioning the
other and possibly more subtle aspects of global communication like the
linguistics and social attitudes…</p>
<p> But of
course, how could we all communicate if not all of us have access yet? This is an issue that Nilofar, a participant of
the workshop in Taipei, and <a class="external-link" href="http://digitalnatives.in/fernandatusa/blogs/i-believe-come-you-inside-you-0">Fernanda</a> another participant from Ecuador explores more in depth in their
post. <a class="external-link" href="http://digitalnatives.in/nilofar/blogs/rights-digital-age-freedom-access">The right to access information freely and universally</a> is one which Nilofar advocates be expanded beyond those with disability to include “your friend,
neighbour or the needy nerd?” This way, access will not only be provided to
those below the poverty line, but for those who already enjoy access, it won’t
continue to be politicized, corrupted, commoditized and in general
under-utilized.</p>
<p>Paidamoyo also talks about access,
specifically <a class="external-link" href="http://digitalnatives.in/paida/blogs/women-access-new-ict-should-be-right">access by women</a>. He describes the emergence of digital
technologies as being crucial to the enlargement of the gap between men and
women, simply because men enjoyed more access. Today, women have been left
outside of the technology revolution, which is a huge problem since 52 per cent of the
world’s population consists of women.</p>
<p>To properly access all of the wonders that the world of Internet offers we need to know how to physically operate a computer,
but there are a series of more intangible skills needed. Simeon, a participant
from the workshop in Johannesburg proposes that <a class="external-link" href="http://digitalnatives.in/mtotowajirani/blogs/theres-more-digital-literacy-just-mere-skills-right-digital-literacy">being digitally literate</a> should
be a right in the information age. What does he mean by being literate? Well, Simeon
explains that “digital” is more of a mindset than a condition: it is an
approach to life and not a method. “A
number of people may have access to digital tools and technology but very few
will get the opportunity to learn the techniques needed to maximize their
investment on digital tools” he says, and it is as useful or sometimes more to
teach people about the value and the potential uses of digital technologies
than the mere skill.</p>
<p>Now, what do we
do with all the information once we have accessed it? Jenny from Costa Rica
believes <a class="external-link" href="http://digitalnatives.in/jencg/blogs/sharing-caring-right-share">we should share it</a>. Spreading the digital love should be a right
according to her, because sharing is analogous to growing: a process which
makes us better. “we are entitled to share. We like to share our opinions, our
work, to share questions and even complaints. It is a natural response,
an impulse, you may think” She mentions platforms like bandcamp where
musicians can upload their music and share it for free, and Creative Commons
licenses which allow for legal ways of collaborating while maintaining
authorship rights. But what happens when the information online is restricted
and modifying it or sharing it is illegal? Adolfo from Nicaragua believes we
all have <a class="external-link" href="http://digitalnatives.in/fitoria/blogs/i-believe-we-have-right-hack">the right to hack!</a> Adolfo explains that nowadays “hacking” has
negative overtones, but that the origins of the word simply refer to someone
who modified trains for better performance or appeal. Adolfo believes that if
he pays for something, he has the right to modify it, change it, tweak it, add
to it, remove from it, and deface it in any way he wants. Adolfo and Shehla
from India would get along very well, because Shehla believes <a class="external-link" href="http://digitalnatives.in/shehla/blogs/i-believe-free-music-should-be-right-digital-age">free music</a> should
be a right in the digital age. What is stealing? Are we reaching a point where
illegally downloading music is not morally incorrect? “(most
people) would never think of stealing a CD from a store (or at least not that
easily). So what exactly is stealing? And more so, in the online world? It’s as
easy as the click of a button… can’t be that bad”.</p>
<p>Still, not everyone advocated for increasing
access, Fieke from Hivos in the Netherlands believes that <a class="external-link" href="http://digitalnatives.in/fieke/blogs/right-unplug">being able to unplug</a>
is a right. Fieke tells of how she lives a technologically savvy life, having a
presence on Facebook, Twitter and other social media, answering emails for the better
part of the day, but she does enjoy being able to turn off her cellphone and
enjoy the sun on a clear day. Are we losing our ability to do that? When you
send an sms message, do you expect the person to answer immediately? What kind
of pressure does this put us under? It might not be as easy as we think to
disconnect ourselves: The discourse of accessibility as a right plays an
important role in development, so institutionalizing the right to disconnect might
prove counter-productive if it is abused as an excuse to purposely alienate or
marginalize certain groups. We also have
to think that there are financial interests at play, as the more connected one
is the more can be sold to one and the more that can be commoditized. Angela
from the Philippines has a similar concern:
<a class="external-link" href="http://digitalnatives.in/angela-minas/blogs/maybe-we-have-lost-right-not-know">Are we losing the right to not know?</a>
With the increasing arrival of web 3, the amount of information we
constantly access, manipulate, assimilate and re-transmit is vast. In an age of
ubiquitous information bombardment, can we choose to be ignorant? Are there any
situations where actually not knowing is a valid alternative?</p>
<p>Some people focused on how we access (or
choose to not access) information and what we do with it, some others focused
on how said access affects our personalities, our identities and who we
perceive we are. Nishant from CIS in India thinks that <a class="external-link" href="http://digitalnatives.in/nishant/blogs/right-be-many">having multiple
identities</a> should be a right in the digital age. Nishant explains that even
though we all have different aspects of our personalities which constitute different
identities, because of the nature of social interactions and the spaces where
these occurred, we were forced to choose one identity at a time. “The analogue
individual was subjected to the laws of linear physics and time, where s/he was
allowed to be only one person at one time and mapped to the one body”. Now,
with the arrival of the digital individual, we can be many in many ways, in
many spaces, simultaneously.</p>
<p>Because we can express our different
identities freely and without needing to be consolidated into “one”, this frees
up the possibility of having multiple and often contradictory opinions. The
Internet has the potential of being a place where one can explore the varying
meanings and impacts of each of his/her identities. Yet, experiences online get
“fixed” into one of these identities,
for example, if I am the person who usually posts news on my Facebook page, the
community around me tends to expect this kind of behaviour from me, to the point
where if I want to change my mind I need to withdraw completely from the
community. This is why Josine from HIVOS in the Netherlands thinks that there
should be more online spaces where one is allowed to <a class="external-link" href="http://digitalnatives.in/josine/blogs/right-change-your-mind">change one’s mind</a>. A
related idea to that one of being able to change one’s mind according to the
particular identity is the ability to <a class="external-link" href="http://digitalnatives.in/tettner/blogs/i-believe-being-able-choose-ones-identity-right">choose one’s identity</a>. Samuel Tettner expresses that the analogue person’s personality was directly
tied to his/her environment and surroundings. This way, the identity was
determined by the place where one was born, the surrounding community and its
language, customs and traditions. In the digital age, people have access to a
much more culture, and the global quality of the Internet is helping to break the continuity between physical space and identity.</p>
<p>So, what do you think of cross-section of what
people think should be rights in the digital age? Write down your comments
please. Of course, if you don’t, you’d still be within your rights as a digital
being, at least according to Prabhas who lives in Kosovo. Prabhas believes that
the <a class="external-link" href="http://digitalnatives.in/prabhas/blogs/right-lurk#new">right to lurk</a> should be a right in the digital age. “In an age of
increasing digital participation, silent participation must be considered
participation, and left be. Not everyone needs to comment, vote, whatever else.
Some may just read/watch/listen, and perhaps, appreciate. It is okay if no
thumb is clicked up, no quick reply sent back. No blog written."</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/i-believe-that-______-should-be-a-right-in-the-digital-age'>http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/i-believe-that-______-should-be-a-right-in-the-digital-age</a>
</p>
No publishertettnerDigital ActivismWeb PoliticsResearchers at WorkDigital Natives2015-05-14T12:20:12ZBlog EntryFirst Thing First
http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/first-thing-first
<b>Studies often focus on how digital natives do their activism in identifying the characteristics of youth digital activism and dedicate little attention to what the activism is about. The second blog post in the Beyond the Digital series reverses this trend and explores how the Blank Noise Project articulates the issue it addresses: street sexual harassment. </b>
<p></p>
<p>To
try to understand youth digital activism is to first understand what the issue
it deals with is all about. This point is made clear by the 13 people involved
in Blank Noise, who all started our conversation with a discussion on eve
teasing, the issue that Blank Noise deals with and the reason for its existence.
Taking the hint from them, I start sharing my research journey by sharing how
Blank Noise thinks of the issue it takes. As I recall our conversations, I am
still amazed by how everyone, regardless of whether they have been involved as
an initiator of a 15-day Facebook campaign or as a coordinator for five years,
share the following articulation </p>
<p>‘Eve
teasing’ is a euphemism in English that refers to the various forms of sexual
harassment experienced by women in public places, be it parks, streets, or
buses. It takes different forms, ranging from staring, verbal lampooning,
accidental jostling, or outright groping. While public sexual harassments also
occur in almost every place in the globe, the term ‘eve teasing’ itself is
particular to South Asia, especially India. The term plays on the biblical Eve
that is considered as a temptress, playing on the dichotomy of ‘good and bad’
women and placing the blame on women for enticing men to tease them. The word
‘tease’ itself downplays the severity of the action and making it a trivial,
funny, non-issue - so much that it is regarded as a rite of passage into
womanhood and ignored by the authorities unless it leads to violent deaths. This
term is what Blank Noise seeks to address; it aims to denounce the word ‘eve
teasing’ and call it by its appropriate name: street sexual harassment.</p>
<p>While
in the popular perception street sexual harassment happen only to young women
who dress in Western fashion, actually all women irrespective of age, class, or
dress have experienced it. In a much lesser degree, men also experienced street
sexual harassment. However, the norms of masculinity deny their victimhood and
a typical reaction would be ‘yes, I got felt up but I pity the bugger because
he’s gay’ (Blank Noise, 2005).</p>
<p>The
root of the problem is how eve teasing is internalized by all members of the
society, including women. Laura Neuhaus, a 27 year old American woman who
became active in Blank Noise when she worked in Bangalore for a few years, was
shocked to find that the senior women in her department, who had PhD degrees
and were at the top of their career, turned a blind eye to the harassment they
experience and advised her to do the same. Tanvee Nabar, a 19 year old student
who was one of the initiators of Blank Noise’s ‘I Never Ask for It’ Facebook
campaign, stated that victims may also perpetuate the problem by thinking that
accusing themselves of being responsible for the harassment because of the way
they dress or behave. She said, “Even by thinking that way I am validating eve
teasing, so this needs to stop.”<em> </em></p>
<p>The
problem thrives on the silence of victims, who are further deterred from
speaking up by negative reactions ranging from agreeing that it’s a problem but
it should be ignored because nothing can be done about it, increased
restrictions from protective parents, or even offers to beat up the perpetrator
to get even by men relatives or spouses.</p>
<p>However,
Blank Noise recognizes that the issue is not as straightforward as it may seem.
While some actions like groping are clearly a form of harassment, other forms
such as looking or verbal taunting are not as obvious. Therefore, rather than
offering a rigid guideline to what is or is not street sexual harassment, Blank
Noise attempts to build a definition of ‘eve teasing’ through public polls,
both online on its blog and on the streets.</p>
<p>Blank
Noise does not advocate for any specific, tangible solution either. It is not proposing for a new legislation or service
provision. Many youth experts would say that it is a sign of youth’s decreasing
trust to the state, but actually this is an extension of Blank Noise’s
acknowledgement of the ambiguity of street sexual harassment. Hemangini Gupta, a
29 years old Blank Noise coordinator, asked, “Should we be allowing the state to legislate an issue like street
sexual harassment where there is so much grey even with how it is understood
and defined - from ‘looking’ to physical violence?” Instead, Blank Noise aims
at creating public dialogue to break the ignorance on street sexual harassment and change the
mindset of both men and women, young and old. Blank Noise does not promote a specific course of action for women
affected by the harassment either; it promotes the confidence to choose how to
react to harassment.</p>
<p>What
is unique about Blank Noise from this articulation? Some would argue that Blank
Noise is unique for being the first collective that addresses eve teasing, but
a closer inquiry into the history of the Indian women movements show that it is
widely acknowledged as a form of violence against women. However, perhaps due
to the limited resources of the movement, efforts to address eve teasing have
been taken up very systematically (Gandhi and Shah, 2002). In this sense, when
it was born in 2003, Blank Noise was unique for being the only group whose
existence is solely dedicated to address this issue.</p>
<p>Blank
Noise is not unique in problematizing the issue of violence against women. The
women’s movements in India and elsewhere have been refusing to prescribe any
solutions to the victims and identifying patriarchal mindset of both men and
women as the root cause either. Yet, it is exceptional in not identifying an
opponent or an entity where concrete demands are proposed to push for a
tangible progress towards a change of mindset.</p>
<p>Intangible
changes are as good as tangible ones. This might be a new characteristic of how
digital natives think about their causes, but it could also be more related to
their reading of the specific issue they are dealing with. Perhaps, if the
issue at hand is climate change, the same people will advocate for specific
solutions to the state or promote concrete behavior change. Either way, the
message is clear: we need to always take into account <em>what </em>a digital natives activism is about and not just <em>how </em>they do it!</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>This is the second post in the <strong><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/the-beyond-the-digital-directory" class="external-link">Beyond the Digital</a> </strong>series, a research
project that aims to explore new insights to understand youth digital activism
conducted by Maesy Angelina with The Blank Noise Project under the Hivos-CIS
Digital Natives Knowledge Programme. <br /></em></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><em><u>Reference:</u></em><u></u></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Blank Noise
(2005) ‘Frequently Asked Questions’. Accessed 21 September 2010. <a href="http://blog.blanknoise.org/2005/03/frequently-asked-questions.html">http://blog.blanknoise.org/2005/03/frequently-asked-questions.html</a></p>
<p><u><br /></u></p>
<p>Gandhi, N. and
Shah, N. (1992) <em>The Issues at Stake:
Theory and Practice in the Contemporary Women’s Movement in India. </em>New
Delhi: Kali for Women</p>
<p>Source for the picture: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=2703755288">http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=2703755288</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/first-thing-first'>http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/first-thing-first</a>
</p>
No publishermaesyCyberspaceDigital ActivismEve teasingDigital NativesStreet sexual harassmentYouthBeyond the Digitalmovements2011-08-04T10:31:48ZBlog EntryFill The Gap: Global Discussion on Digital Natives
http://editors.cis-india.org/research/grants/digital-natives-with-a-cause/dntweet
<b>More often than not people don't understand the new practices inspired by Internet and digital technologies. As such a series of accusations have been leveled against the Digital Natives. Educators, policy makers, scholars, and parents have all raised their worries without hearing out from the people they are concerned about. Hivos has initiated an online global discussion about Digital Natives. So, to voice your opinion, start tweeting with us now #DigitalNatives.</b>
<div class="content-view-full">
<div class="class-event">
<div class="pagecontent">
<h2>If you cannot attend Fill The Gap, you can also join us in a global discussion on some of the issues being discussed at #DigitalNatives<br /></h2>
<br />
<p>1.
Are
you an apolitical consumer, or do you have ambitions?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tweetworks.com/groups/view/DigitalNatives" target="_blank">http://www.tweetworks.com/groups/view/DigitalNatives</a></p>
<p>2.
Are
you a little prince or princess, who only wants to talk to like minded people
or are you different?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tweetworks.com/groups/view/DigitalNativesPrincess" target="_blank">http://www.tweetworks.com/groups/view/DigitalNativesPrincess</a></p>
<p>3.
Is
Wikipedia your bible or do you really know something?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tweetworks.com/groups/view/DigitalNativesWiki" target="_blank">http://www.tweetworks.com/groups/view/DigitalNativesWiki</a></p>
<p>4.
Are
you a digital dinosaur? They say you don’t know anything about ICT!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tweetworks.com/groups/view/DigitalDinosaur" target="_blank">http://www.tweetworks.com/groups/view/DigitalDinosaur</a></p>
<p>5.
Why
use the Internet, why don’t you march the streets?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tweetworks.com/groups/view/DigitalNativesProtest" target="_blank">http://www.tweetworks.com/groups/view/DigitalNativesProtest</a></p>
<p>6.
Plans
to change the world? What do you need?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tweetworks.com/groups/view/DigitalNativesChanceTheWorld" target="_blank">http://www.tweetworks.com/groups/view/DigitalNativesChanceTheWorld</a></p>
<br />If you are in Amsterdam, here is the information you will need to attend the event:<br />
<h2>Fill the Gap! - 7</h2>
<h3>
R U Online?</h3>
<div class="date">Date: 15 January 2010 </div>
<div class="date">Time: 12.30 until
17.00 hour</div>
<div class="date">Location: Het Sieraad, Postjesweg 1, Amsterdam</div>
<br />
<strong></strong>The seventh edition of Fill the Gap! is all about the power of youth
and IT in developing countries. How can their skills be strengthened
and put to use for a better world? Hivos, apart from cohosting the
event, will be involving digital natives to hear their stories about
ICT and engagement.
<br />
<p>
An Open Space event on the potential of new (mobile) media and youth in
developing countries. For everyone in politics, the profit and the
non-profit sectors who is interested in ICT and international
development cooperation.</p>
<p>
The use of new (mobile) technology is the most natural thing in the world for the youth of today.</p>
<p>
Shaped by the digital era and at ease with creativeity, these
innovators use new media to change the world. Just think of the Twitter
revolution in Iran. What can the international development sector learn
from this? How could international development cooperation use the
potential power of youth to tackle development problems?</p>
<p> The seventh edition of Fill the Gap! is all about the power of
youth and IT in developing countries. How can their skills be
strengthened and put to use for a better world? The kick-off will be
hosted by Jennifer Corriero, co-founder of Taking IT Global: the
international platform for youth and the use of new media for a better
world. Then the floor is open to discuss your own ideas with people
from new media, the business world and the international development
sector during the Open Space sessions. Join in: come to Amsterdam on
Friday January 15th and be inspired during Fill the Gap!<br />
<br /> Registration is free. The programme is in English.</p>
<br /><a href="http://www.fill-the-gap.nl/Fill_the_gap_7?" target="_blank">» Fill the Gap</a></div>
</div>
</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/research/grants/digital-natives-with-a-cause/dntweet'>http://editors.cis-india.org/research/grants/digital-natives-with-a-cause/dntweet</a>
</p>
No publishernishantSocial mediaDigital ActivismDigital GovernanceDigital NativesAgencyYouthFeaturedCyberculturesNew PedagogiesDigital subjectivitiesICT2010-01-22T10:54:13ZBlog EntryExposing the Invisible - Tactical Tech films screening at CIS
http://editors.cis-india.org/events/exposing-the-invisible-tactical-tech-films-screening-at-cis
<b>Exposing the Invisible is Tactical Tech's series of short films examining some inspiring and provocative investigative cases, those that go beyond traditional journalistic investigations. CIS is pleased to invite you to a special screening of two of the films on 9th December, 6pm, at the CIS venue. </b>
<p align="LEFT"><strong><em>Exposing the Invisible</em> </strong>is Tactical Tech's series of short films examining some inspiring and provocative investigative cases, those that go beyond traditional journalistic investigations.</p>
<p align="LEFT">In the past decade, the work of investigators has undergone a significant transformation due to the rapid development of new technologies, the ubiquity of the Internet, and new possibilities in working with evidence, data and visualisation. The stories in the film illustrate this evolution as activists take advantage of this new wave of opportunities, while remaining aware of the dangers they expose themselves to. </p>
<p align="LEFT">Episode one,<strong> Our Currency is Information</strong>, introduces the work of a team of investigators led by Romanian reporter Paul Radu, investigating organised crime. The film takes you to the heart of Radu’s investigations, where the power of criminals, corporations and governments overlap in chilling cases. </p>
<p align="LEFT">Episode two,<strong> From Our Point of View</strong>, profiles three individuals from the UK, Lebanon and Israel, non-specialists who have taken it upon themselves to use information in innovative and varies ways to shed light on Syria's 'YouTube conflict', the theft of Lebanon's seashore, and house demolitions in East Jerusalem.</p>
<p align="LEFT">Episode three,<strong> Unseen War</strong>, touches on the issues of US drone strikes in Pakistan. </p>
<p align="LEFT">More about the project here:</p>
<p align="LEFT"><a href="https://exposingtheinvisible.org/">https://exposingtheinvisible.org/</a></p>
<p align="LEFT">CIS is very excited to participate in the week-long global films festival and will be organizing screenings of Episode one and Episode three on December 9, 2013. The screening of the films will be followed by an interactive discussion on the cases shown in the film, how activism is transforming in India, and how it effects us. </p>
<p align="LEFT"> We look forward to your participation in making this event a success!</p>
<p align="LEFT"> Venue: http://osm.org/go/yy4fIjrQL?m=</p>
<p align="LEFT">Tactical Tech Hompage: <a href="https://www.tacticaltech.org/">https://www.tacticaltech.org/</a></p>
<div> </div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/events/exposing-the-invisible-tactical-tech-films-screening-at-cis'>http://editors.cis-india.org/events/exposing-the-invisible-tactical-tech-films-screening-at-cis</a>
</p>
No publisherpurbaDigital ActivismEvent2013-12-02T07:37:21ZEventEffective Activism: The Internet, Social Media, and Hierarchical Activism in New Delhi
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/blog_effective-activism
<b>This post by Sarah McKeever is part of the 'Studying Internets in India' series. Sarah is a PhD candidate at the India Institute, King’s College London, and her work focuses on the impact of social media on contemporary political
movements. In this essay, she explores the increasingly hierarchical system of activism on the Internet, based on Western corporate desire for data, and how it is shaping who is seen and heard on the Internet in India.</b>
<p> </p>
<h2>Background</h2>
<p>I will preface this post by stating that as an American, my personal experience of the Internet has been shaped by nearly 18 years as an active user. My experience with digital interfaces, websites, and social media has been formed through my experiences during the Internet revolution in the United States. Academic and personal training have shaped what I determine to be trustworthy, useful, and credible when searching for information. This post is based on field research I am conducting in New Delhi from January through June 2015.</p>
<p>With these preconceptions and standards in mind, I began to research organisations that I felt were credible enough to approach for interviews in January 2015. My current research project investigates the impact that social media has had on the issues of corruption and violence against women in New Delhi, following the social movements on these issues in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 respectively. I started at an organisational level in order to research the impact that social media and the movements themselves had on organisations working on these issues. Areas of interest include any changes in issue engagement and discourse around gender violence and corruption. I focused exclusively on organisations that have an office in New Delhi and engage in activism in an urban context. Many of these organisations also have a presence in other states and include rural as well as urban projects. I conducted semi-structured interviews in order to engage with the changes wrought by the digital on a qualitative rather than quantitative basis.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2>Activism and Digital Hierarchy: A Divided Internet?</h2>
<p>While conducting initial research, I began to investigate two separate but related areas of inquiry. The first was relatively straightforward: what type of differences were there between groups which actively engaging with the affordances of the Internet and Web 2.0? In my research I examined online awareness groups and campaigns as well as more traditional advocacy and awareness groups that were struggling to translate their work onto the Internet and on social media.</p>
<p>While engaging with the first question, I quickly discovered that the divide between how organisations leveraged the affordances of the Internet - and social media in particular - was stark. Earl and Kimport (2011) write that organisations that directly translate previous advocacy on the ground onto the Internet fail to fully leverage the affordances of the Internet. Organisations that effectively utilise the strengths of the Internet - including flash tactics, crowd-sourcing, and networked leadership - have in fact transformed the world of activism. They have created a new type of “digital activism” through the use of an increasingly digital networked society (Castells 2010, Rainie and Wellman 2012). While this is a simplification of the overall argument – and I personally would argue that in actuality organisations work on a range of digital capabilities and the idea of a spectrum rather than a binary division would be more appropriate at this point – it was clear that both sides were struggling to reach some sort of equilibrium between each other’s capabilities when I conducted interviews with them.</p>
<p>The second inquiry stemmed from my engagement with the first: how was the “active” use of the Internet and social media by an organization translating into an interpretation of their effectiveness? In other words, was an “active” social media presence and a slick website contributing to an impression that they were somehow more impactful than the organisations which lacked these features and is this phenomenon creating a new hierarchy of activism in Delhi?</p>
<p>Many of the organisations that I spoke with who used the Internet and social media “well,” attracted foreign attention and funding. It is clear there is a monetary incentive for organisations to be present and easily accessible via search engines and social media platforms. And while social media has become a huge selling point in India - including in last year’s Parliamentary elections - much of the funding and attention appears to come from outside of India in these particular cases. While social media has become a popular tool for outreach in New Delhi, the emphasis placed on it is possibly being driven by forces outside of India in the activist sphere.</p>
<p>Organisations that had been involved in advocacy and grassroots activism before the Internet boom in India discussed the struggle to make effective use of the affordances of the Internet. My participants unilaterally expressed a desire to engage with the digital audience in India – an audience of approximately 310 million users according to Internet Live Stats (2015) – but were often ill equipped to do so. Stated difficulties included a lack of a dedicated communications and media strategist, lack of experience with social media and web design, and difficulty translating nuanced discussion onto social media sites which are not necessarily designed to facilitate complex and controversial discussions. Some participants directly stated that an online presence, whether it was effective or not, had become essential to obtaining foreign funding and attention, as a digital presence represents a tangible deliverable when applying for foreign grants.</p>
<p>It is clear from any cursory examination of social media sites that the mediums demand an increasing amount of content from its users. Simply put, the more you post, the more you are seen and heard above the increasing noise and chaos of social media. And if being seen and heard represents success, the message itself can get lost in translation. Click bait, sponsored posts, and buzzy headlines attract far more attention and gain more traction than any post attempting to create nuance and demand deeper engagement, at least in the cases I have personally observed and in my experience with activist groups.</p>
<p>The growing popularity of social awareness campaigns and organisations designed for the online world were quite obviously far more successful in utilising social media and web pages to draw attention to a specific issue. These campaigns especially were extremely popular with Delhi youth in particular and effectively used visual displays - such as crowd-sourced images and provocative posters - to highlight issues of gender violence and corruption. Occasionally some participants were outwardly dismissive of older advocacy groups, which they felt were out of step with the times and content to stay in their comfort zones.</p>
<p>In spite of the success of many online campaigns on the issues I researched, few were able to translate the momentum generated by the campaign into a broader discussion and deeper engagement on their chosen issue. While some participants stated this was not necessarily what they desired to do - some chose to remain purely as an awareness campaign without moving into advocacy - other participants stated a desire to do more and engage with the complex cultural, societal, and political constructs surrounding gender and corruption in India. When they attempted to engage in this more nuanced conversation, they often lost momentum on social media and occasionally stopped their campaign efforts altogether.</p>
<p>The rift was clear, and the struggle to merge worlds and effectively translate a variety of skill sets into effective advocacy was fairly well delineated. What troubled me was the implicit assumption that was being made around “effective” and “good” use of the Internet and social media. Why did a glossy website and an “active” social media presence appear to translate into organisational effectiveness? What was driving that assumption? It was an assumption I occasionally found myself making when researching organisations and even in some of my earliest interviews. Why did daily Facebook posts, likes, multiple Tweets, and followers translate into an interpretation of success and impact?</p>
<p>As Western, and in the case of Facebook and Twitter, American publically traded companies, there is a clear business prerogative in encouraging ever-increasing usage of their sites. More posts and tweet equals more data, which can then be analyzed or sold to a variety of different entities that want to utilise this data to create wealth. Facebook and Twitter also happen to be sites that can be used to generate conversation around key issues and act as an easy way to aggregate thousands, if not millions, of users behind a cause. The Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, and the Delhi Rape case mobilisations are only some of the hundreds of cases where social media sites have played a key role in mobilizing political, social, and cultural change.</p>
<p>However there is a corporate prerogative at work that is often ignored in these narratives. It is in a social media companies’ best interest to encourage frequent usage, as this is how free services generate revenue. Those who post the most win the race to be seen and heard. Those who do not - or do not have the funds to pay for sponsored posts or tweets - get lost in the shuffle, viewed as out of step and struggling to adapt to modern urban India, regardless of the quality work they may be doing offline. The “good” user is the most active user, regardless of what the content actually is. It can easily be termed as a binary between quantity versus quality, but this diminishes the extremely effective and thoughtful work of some digital media campaigns, which demands a different type of quality to actually become an impactful movement. It is therefore a more complex phenomenon than blindly generating massive amounts of content, but this is certainly a critical piece to digital success.</p>
<p>My conclusion, and one which was discussed and inspired by an early participant, was that it was the social media platforms – including key sites like Facebook, Twitter, and to a lesser extent YouTube - were partially generating and multiplying the aura of effectiveness around organisations and groups which had heavily emphasized social media as a core part of their outreach strategy. This is not to deny the very real success that several of these campaigns have had in generating conversation and change around critical issues in India. It instead questions why our notion of success and effectiveness has been altered so quickly, especially in an urban and digital context.</p>
<p>Based on my fieldwork, I encountered a digital hierarchy in three different aspects in activist groups. These divisions emerge at the level of search engines and ranking, web page aesthetics, and finally social media usage and statistical data. I will briefly examine these levels in the following sections.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2>Level I: Search Engines and Page Rankings</h2>
<p>The first was generated at the level of the search engine. Higher ranked and frequently visited websites appear higher on any search engine page, based on the search algorithm. In the first searches I conducted, several organisations with well-developed and easily navigable websites always appeared high on the search page, and were the first organisations I made contact with. As I began to dig deeper into partner organisations and get recommendations from my participants, I discovered new organisations that had never appeared in any search I had conducted, in spite of their clear links to the issues I was researching. These organisations have less of an audience and less of a digital voice from the very beginning. This is not even engaging with the issue of language on the Internet, as all of my searches were in English and not in Hindi or any other language spoken in India and were focussed initially only on organisations with an office in Delhi.</p>
<p>A second issue at the level of the search engine was that the organisations that appeared highest on the list had links to larger partner organisations in Europe and the United States, and occasionally had head offices in New York or London. The larger global presence may have had an impact on page ranking, as they were more likely to be searched for and recognised globally. The dominance of English on the Internet may also play a role, limiting the potential set of results, though again I made this decision consciously. Language choice has had a demonstrable impact on what a person sees on the Internet and what appears using the same search term. The burden of visibility influencing potential digital impact is clear, and practically forces some organisations to invest in a digital presence without a clear digital strategy. This can prove extremely detrimental – especially if the web page proves difficult to navigate and use, which I discuss in the following section - and move investment away from advocacy and programmes on the ground. Visibility is also a key concern for groups that exist purely as a digital campaign, as their potential success is based almost solely on how easy they are to find. Failure leads to diminished searches and lower rankings outside of the first results page from a search engine, which few people click beyond, thus dramatically limiting the impact an organisational webpage can have from the very beginning.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2>Level II: Webpage Aesthetics</h2>
<p>The second area consisted of the content and ease of use of the website. As a researcher, I was compelled to look into every recommended organisation that engaged with the issues I was researching. That being said the organisations with more developed websites caught my attention and implicitly created the impression that it was a more desirable contact. This is quite obviously not the case in reality, and often the organisations that had less advanced websites and appeared technologically less capable proved to be highly credible sources doing commendable work. However the difficulty of navigating some of the websites, which included issues such as broken hyperlinks, difficult interfaces, and offered very little information on the activities of the organisations would prove deeply unappealing to an observer with less motivation than myself. Going against my own training and experience and trusting the power of the network of recommendations on the ground proved to be just as useful as fairly random web searches. In terms of first impressions, it is difficult to move beyond these issues of navigation for an outside observer which expects a quality organisation to have a quality website.</p>
<p>Again, organisations with head offices based in the United States or Europe often were easily navigable and had high quality webpage design, representing a clear trend and highlighting the emphasis placed on the digital aboard. It was also very clearly which organisations had started on the Internet, based purely on design and functionality, though there was a certain bias as the Internet campaigners I spoke too had all had had great success as an online campaign. Finding failed campaigns would have added a key counterpoint to my work, but the difficulty of doing so proved insurmountable for this particular project. Design and navigability are key indicators of skill and investment in digital presence from an outsider’s perspective. It is less than representative of the story on the ground and the success of an organisation, especially if it is not a purely digital entity.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2>Level III: Social Media Use and Statistics</h2>
<p>The third and final level I encountered was determined by social media use. For every organization or participant I met I did cursory research on the various social media platforms they used, how many likes or followers they had near the day of my interview, and roughly how often the organization posted and tweeted. About 90% of my participant organisations had a least a Facebook page and a Twitter account. The number of followers varied widely, from about 200 to nearly 200,000 on Facebook and Twitter. Daily posts and variety of content was a key component to the success of the more widely followed groups online. It was immediately clear that groups that posted sporadically and without immediately stimulating content did not generate or gain nearly as much digital attention.</p>
<p>Many organisations discussed the struggle to move beyond a closed and familiar network, to reach out to the audience they know is there. But without a clear strategy, and even more importantly without a dedicated communications position, their digital engagement often mirrored their offline audience; a closed network of individuals already dedicated to change in the area the organisation was working in. They often failed to meet the incessant demands of the medium for easy content and had difficulties expanding their reach or message beyond their previously established networks of influence.</p>
<p>Those organisations which were able to attract digital attention on social media, while feeling it was an important tool for outreach – especially for youth in Delhi – and places where conversations on key issues could take place, also discussed the importance of social media statistics as a measurable deliverable. Donors, especially foreign funders, placed an emphasis on growth on social media sites as an indicator of success and growing influence. Whether social media growth can actually be an indicator of influence is still up for debate, but it is indicative of the notion that success means quantity, rather than quality, similar to the Western corporate prerogative of growth. That this is the new measure and standard of success for an activist organization is a troubling trend, and one unlikely to change in the near future.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>I have argued that corporate strategies and imperatives are creating this new class system of activism in India. I labelled it a “Western” corporate strategy, based on the American origins of the main players Facebook and Twitter, which are the predominate mediums my participants engaged with and have some of the largest audiences in India. Facebook had 108 million users of May 2014 Twitter has around 19 million users (Statista 2015) in India, though these are estimates and in all likelihood there has been an increase in users. The new hierarchy masks the reality that impact and results cannot be measured by likes and retweets. While there is indeed power in these particular sites, the difficulty in documenting what influence actually translates into in the offline world is a well-documented debate. I do not doubt that the Internet and social media, in urban and increasingly in rural India, have great affordances. But these advances do not have to come at the expense of equally important organisations whose ability to translate these messages digitally is more limited than others, especially when this hierarchy is partially generated by corporate sensibilities whose sole aim is profit generation.</p>
<p>While this hierarchy has been explored as an issue of second-level digital divide- where the issue is not lack of access but lack of training and knowledge of the digital world – I do not believe this is the only issue at stake. The increasing power of large companies to determine the way we interact and the rules of effective communication and transmission are deeply troubling, and leaves little room for alternatives. Collaboration can be an effective way of mitigating some of the differences, but this option is not always available to every group.</p>
<p>While these are questions that require further examination, it is clear that there is a divide between organisation’s digital strategies and whether they are able to leverage the affordances of the Internet and social media applications. I have argued that the operational aspects of social media sites increase this divide in particular, as they demand increasing amounts of data to generate profit. A strong digital presence is increasingly linked to an idea of effectiveness and impact, without investigating offline realities. This in turn can lead to a new hierarchy of activism, which limits the voices of some and magnifies the digital voices of others who are clearly better at manipulating the advantages of the Internet. I do not wish to say that offline activism is more effective than online activism and that we should not engage with digital mediums to promote. I only seek to question how this increasingly digital reality is creating a hierarchal system that is not reflective of offline reality, question what knowledge might be left behind in the process, and critically examine the underlying structures and platforms underlying the growing field of digital activism in India.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2>References</h2>
<p>Castells, M. (2010) Networks of Outrage and Networks of Hope: Social Movements in the Internet Age, Cambridge, MA: Polity Press</p>
<p>Earl, J. and Kimport, K. (2011) Digitally Enabled Social Change: Activism in the Internet Age Cambridge, MA: MIT Press</p>
<p>Internet Live Stats (2015) www.internetlivestats.com Accessed 23 May 2015</p>
<p>Rainie, L. and Wellman, B. (2012) Networked: The New Social Operating System, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Statista (2015) www.statista.com Accessed 25 May 2015</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>The post is published under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International</a> license, and copyright is retained by the author.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/blog_effective-activism'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/blog_effective-activism</a>
</p>
No publisherSarah McKeeverSocial MediaDigital ActivismResearchers at WorkRAW Blog2015-07-16T08:22:13ZBlog EntryDigital Natives Workshop in Taipei: Only a Few Seats Left!!!
http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/open-call
<b>The Centre for Internet and Society in collaboration with the Frontier Foundation is holding a three day Digital Natives workshop in Taipei from 16 to 18 August, 2010. The three day workshop will serve as an ideal platform for the young users of technology to share their knowledge and experience of the digital and Internet world and help them learn from each other’s individual experiences.</b>
<p>Everybody has a story to tell, and with the Internet, it is possible to tell the story and be heard. Young people around the world use digital technologies to find a voice, an expression, a creative output and a space for dialogue. Gone are the days when the young were only to be seen and not heard. In the Web 2.0 world, the young are seen, heard and are making a dramatic change in the world that we live in.</p>
<p>As Internet and digital technologies become more widespread, the world is shrinking, time is replaced by Internet time, we are constantly connected and intricately linked to our contexts, our people, our cultures and our networks. And you, yes YOU are a part of this change. In fact, as <a class="external-link" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz4KoL3jzi0">Digital Natives</a> – people who have found technologies as central to their lives – you are directly affecting the lives of many, sometimes even without knowing about it.</p>
<h3>An Open Call for Participation<br /></h3>
<p>The Centre for Internet and Society (Bangalore, India) in collaboration with the Frontier Foundation (Taipei, Taiwan) are calling out to young technology users to share stories about how they have tried to change things around them with the use of digital and Internet technologies. Conversely, if you feel that the presence of these technologies has significantly changed you in some way, we want to hear about that too! These can be stories where you have made a significant impact by initiating campaigns or movements for a particular cause, stories where you have used technologies to cope with problems in your personal and social life through your online persona in the virtual World Wide Web or stories where a small blog you started, or a facebook group you created, or a plurk network that you started, or a discussion group that you participated in, led to a change that has a story to tell. </p>
<p>The three day workshop will select 20 participants from all around Asia and in the Middle East to come and share these stories, to interact with facilitators and scholars who have worked in different countries and areas, and to form a network of collaboration and support. We will give your stories a face, a voice and a platform where they can be heard in your own voice, in your own style and in your own formats. Participants can fill in an application form (as given below) and forward it to digitalnatives@cis-india.org by 15th July 2010.</p>
<p>Simultaneously a website will also be hosted online where the Digital Natives will contribute to the content. Selected participants will be encouraged to document in it. Expenses relevant to the project will be granted to the selected participants.</p>
<h3>Application Form<br /></h3>
<ul><li>Name:</li><li>Gender:</li><li>Age:</li><li>Primary language of communication:</li><li>Other languages you can read and write:</li><li>Email:</li><li>Postal address:</li><li>Describe your Internet related experience / initiative(s) in 300 words. Furnish with URLs where necessary. Optionally, if images and videos are part of the description, then upload them in a high resolution version to a secure website and provide the URL.</li><li>Write in a few sentences about your expectation from the workshop.</li><li>I declare that the above information is true to the best of my knowledge.</li><li>I agree that Digital Natives will use the material I have provided for public use.</li></ul>
<p>
Please note that the information you provide will be kept for purposes
of the Digital Natives project. Materials which you submit will be used
for reporting to sponsors and for public use relevant to the project.</p>
<p>Dates: 16, 17 and 18 August, 2010<br />Venue: Taipei (Taiwan)</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/open-call'>http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/open-call</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaDigital ActivismCyberculturesFeaturedDigital Natives2011-08-04T10:29:26ZBlog EntryDigital Natives Workshop in South Africa - Call for Participation
http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/workshop-in-south-africa
<b>The African Commons Project, Hivos and the Centre for Internet and Society have joined hands for organising the second international workshop "My Bubble, My Space, My Voice" in Johannesburg from 07 to 09 November 2010. Send in your applications now! </b>
<h2>An Open Call for Participation</h2>
<p>As the Internet and
digital technologies become more widespread, the world is shrinking: we are
constantly connected to our contexts, our people, our cultures and our
networks. And you, yes YOU are a part of this change. In fact, as a Digital
Native – someone to whom digital technology is central to life – you are
directly affecting the lives of many, sometimes even without knowing about it.</p>
<p>The organisers are calling out to young users of technology to join this global conversation. The three-day workshop will focus on how the young people use the tools and
platforms at their disposal to create social change in their
environments. We want to hear from you: If you have used digital technologies
to respond to problems, crises, or needs in your community or social
circles, we want to hear your story. These can be stories where you have made a
significant impact by initiating campaigns or
movements for a particular cause, stories where you have used technologies for
learning, sharing, exchanging and disseminating information, stories where you
have either organized or been part of a digitally organized event (online or
offline) such as a petition or campaign, or stories where you used social
media like blogs, social networks, discussion group, etc., which led to an
interesting social outcome. </p>
<p>We invite you to share your perspectives in an
informal conversation with people having a similar approach from the neighbouring
community. The workshop will involve participants from around Africa, who
will be guided by facilitators in an interactive and engaging dialogue. Results
from the workshop will be used to establish a network of collaboration and
support for Digital Natives.</p>
<p>Participants
can register by filling in an online <a class="external-link" href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KLNMXGW">application</a> form by 12 October 2010.</p>
<p>Expenses relevant to the project will be granted to
the selected participants. For any questions, concerns or comments please
contact <a href="mailto:digitalnatives@cis-india.org">digitalnatives@cis-india.org</a>.<br />
<br /><strong>
Dates</strong>: November 07 to 09, 2010<br /><strong>
Venue</strong>: Johannesburg, South Africa</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/workshop-in-south-africa'>http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/workshop-in-south-africa</a>
</p>
No publishertettnerDigital ActivismFeaturedDigital Natives2011-08-04T10:31:05ZBlog EntryDigital Natives with a Cause? Thinkathon: Position Papers
http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/position-papers
<b>The Digital Natives with a Cause? Thinkathon conference co-organised by Hivos and the Centre for Internet and Society is being held from 6 to 8 December at the Hague Museum for Communication. The position papers are now available online.</b>
<p>The emergence of digital and Internet technologies have changed the world as we know it. Processes of interpersonal relationships, social communication, economic expansion, political protocols and governmental mediation are all undergoing a significant translation, across the world, in developed and emerging Information and Knowledge societies. These processes also affect the ways in which social transformation, political participation and interventions for development take place.</p>
<p>The Digital Natives with a Cause? research inquiry seeks to look at the potentials of social change and political participation through technology practices of people in emerging ICT contexts. It particularly aims to address knowledge gaps that exist in the scholarship, practice and popular discourse around an increasing usage, adoption and integration of digital and Internet technologies in social transformation processes.</p>
<p>The programme has three main components. The first is to incorporate the users (often young, but not always so) as stakeholders in the construction of policies and discourse which affect their lives in very material ways. The second is to capture, with a special emphasis on change, different relationships with and deployment of technologies in different parts of the world. The third is to further extend the network of knowledge stakeholders where scholars,practitioners, policy makers and the Digital Natives themselves, come together in dialogue to identify the needs and interventions in this field.</p>
<p>In the late summer of 2010 two workshops, in Taiwan and South Africa, brought together 50 Digital Natives from Asia and Africa to place their practice in larger social and political legacies and frameworks. The ‘<a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/talkingback/?searchterm=talking%20back" class="external-link">Talking Back</a>’ workshop in Taiwan looked at the politics, implications and processes of talking back and being political and the ‘<a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/my-bubble-my-space-my-voice-workshop-perspective-and-future" class="external-link">My Bubble, My Voice and My Space</a>’ workshop in Johannesburg looked at change, change processes and the role of Digital Natives in it.</p>
<p>For the Digital Natives with a Cause? Thinkathon that will be held in The Hague, The Netherlands from 6 to 8 December 2010, Digital Natives from the workshops in Taipei and Johannesburg have provided us with their take on social change and political participation in the following position papers. They look at issues of: what does it mean to be a Digital Native? What is the relationship of people growing up with new technologies and change? What are the processes by which change is produced? Can you institutionalize Digital Natives with a Cause Activities? How do you make it sustainable in each context?</p>
<p>We hope you will find the Digital Natives with a Cause? position papers inspiring, thought-provoking and challenging.</p>
<p><img alt="" /> Download the position papers <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/position-papers.pdf" class="internal-link" title="Thinkathon Position Papers">here </a>[PDF, 1173 KB] <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/position-papers.pdf" class="internal-link" title="Thinkathon Position Papers"><br /></a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/position-papers'>http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/position-papers</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaDigital ActivismRAW PublicationsDigital NativesFeaturedPublicationsResearchers at Work2015-05-15T11:34:35ZBlog EntryDigital Natives at Republica 2010
http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/dnrepub
<b>Nishant Shah from the Centre for Internet and Society, made a presentation at the Re:Publica 2010, in Berlin, about its collaborative project (with Hivos, Netherlands) "Digital Natives with a Cause?" The video for the presentation, along with an extensive abstract is now available here.</b>
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<p> </p>
<p><strong>Abstract:</strong></p>
<p>As a growing population in
emerging Information Societies, particularly in Asia, experience a
lifestyle mediated by digital technologies, there is also a correlated
concern about the young digital natives constructing their identities
and expressions through a world of incessant consumption, while
remaining apathetic to the immediate political and social needs of
their times. Governments, educators, civil society theorists and
practitioners, have all expressed alarm at how the digital natives
across the globe are so entrenched in practices of incessant
consumption that they have a disconnect with the larger external
reality and contained within digital deliriums.<img title="Weiterlesen..." src="http://re-publica.de/10/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif" alt="" /> They discard the emergent communication and expression trends,
mobilisation and participation platforms, and processes of cultural
production as trivial or unimportant. Such a perspective is embedded in
a non-changing view of the political landscape and do not take into
account that the Digital Natives are engaging in practices which might
not necessarily subscribe to the earlier notions of political
revolution, but offer possibilities for great social transformation and
participation.</p>
<p>The oldest Digital Native in the world – if popular definitions of
Digital Natives are accepted – turned 30 this year, whereas the youngest
is not yet born. In the last three decades, a population has been
growing up born in technologies, and mediated their sense of self and
their interactions with external reality through digital and internet
technologies. These interactions lead to significant transitions in the
landscape of the social and political movements as the Digital Natives
engage and innovate with new technologies to respond to crises in their
local and immediate environments. However, more often than not, these
experiments remain invisible to the mainstream discourses. The
mechanics, aesthetics and manifestation of these localised and
contextual practices hold the potentials for social transformation and
political participation for the future. This presentation looks at three
different case studies to look at how, through processes and
productions which have largely been neglected as self indulgent or
frivolous, Digital Natives around the world are actively participating
in the politics of their times, and also changing the way in which we
understand the political processes of mobilisation, participation and
transformation.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/dnrepub'>http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/dnrepub</a>
</p>
No publishernishantConferenceDigital ActivismDigital NativesCyberculturesDigital subjectivitiesResearchers at Work2015-05-15T11:35:48ZBlog EntryDigital Natives : Talking Back
http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/talkingback
<b>One of the most significant transitions in the landscape of social and political movements, is how younger users of technology, in their interaction with new and innovative technologised platforms have taken up responsibility to respond to crises in their local and immediate environments, relying upon their digital networks, virtual communities and platforms. In the last decade or so, the digital natives, in universities as well as in work spaces, as they experimented with the potentials of internet technologies, have launched successful socio-political campaigns which have worked unexpectedly and often without precedent, in the way they mobilised local contexts and global outreach to address issues of deep political and social concern. But what do we really know about this Digital Natives revolution? </b>
<p><strong>Press Release</strong></p>
<p> Youth are often seen as potential agents of change for reshaping
their own societies. By 2010, the global youth population is expected
reach almost 1.2 billion of which 85% reside in developing countries.
Unleashing the potential of even a part of this group in developing
countries promises a substantially impact on societies. Especially now
when youths thriving on digital technologies flood universities, work
forces, and governments and could facilitate radical restructuring of
the world we live in. So, it’s time we start listening to them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> Because of the age bias and the dependence of a large section of
Digital Natives around the world, on structures of authority, there has
always been a problem of power that has restricted or reduced the scope
of their practice and intervention. For younger Digital Natives,
Parental authority and the regulation from schools often becomes a
hindrance that thwarts their ambitions or ideas. Even when they take the
initiative towards change, they are often stopped and at other times
their practices are dismissed as insignificant. In other contexts,
because of existing laws and policies around Internet usage and freedom
of expression, the voices of Digital Natives get obliterated or
chastised by government authorities and legal apparatuses which monitor
and regulate their practices. The workshop organised at the Academia
Sinica brings in 28 participants from contested contexts – be it the
micro level of the family or the paradigmatic level of governance – to
discuss the politics, implications and processes of ‘Talking Back’.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> What does it mean to Talk Back? Who do we Talk Back against? Are we
alone in our attempts or a part of a larger community? How do we use
digital technologies to find other peers and stake-holders? What is the
language and vocabulary we use to successfully articulate our problems?
How do we negotiate with structures of power to fight for our rights?
These are the kind of questions that the workshop poses. The workshop
focuses on uncovering the circuitous routes and ways by which Digital
Natives have managed to circumvent authorities in order to make
themselves heard. The workshop also dwells on what kind of support
structures need to be developed at global levels for Digital Natives to
engage more fruitfully, with their heads held high and minds without
fear, with their immediate environments.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The proceedings of the first workshop in Taipei, 16-18th August, 2010 are available at <a class="external-link" href="http://digitalnatives.in/">http://digitalnatives.in/</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/talkingback'>http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/talkingback</a>
</p>
No publishernishantDigital ActivismDigital NativesYouthFeaturedWorkshopDigital subjectivitiesResearchers at Work2015-05-15T11:50:19ZBlog Entry