The Centre for Internet and Society
http://editors.cis-india.org
These are the search results for the query, showing results 31 to 45.
What's in a Name? Or Why Clicktivism May Not Be Ruining Left Activism in India, At Least For Now
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/revolution-2.0/whats-in-a-name-or-why-clicktivism-may-not-be-ruining-left-activism-in-india-at-least-for-now
<b>In a recent piece in the Guardian titled “Clicktivism Is Ruining Leftist Activism”, Micah White expressed severe concern that, in drawing on tactics of advertising and marketing research, digital activism is undermining “the passionate, ideological and total critique of consumer society”. His concerns are certainly shared by some in India: White's piece has been circulating on activist email lists where people noted with concern that e-activism may be replacing “the real thing” even in this country. But is the situation in India really this dire?</b>
<p align="JUSTIFY">Among those
who consider themselves activists in a more traditional fashion,
critical debates on what it means to be an activist certainly remain
alive and well. Among India's social movements, perhaps most
prominent, over the past decade, have been those that protest against
large-scale “development” projects and the displacement they tend
to cause – projects of which especially India's tribal people, or
<em>adivasis</em>,
often are the victims. In these circles, arguments against the use
of the Internet for activism often focus on the elitist character of
this tool: in a country where Internet penetration rates continue to
hover around a meagre five percent, frequently neither the people
affected nor the wider groups that need to be mobilised have access
to this resource. Clearly then, organising online is never
sufficient and, perhaps not surprisingly, debates about what is
called “armchair activism” consequently are both common and
intense. In a recent <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTnncO8kc-Y">video</a>
posted on YouTube, for example, the respected Himanshu Kumar – who
everyone will recognise as a grassroots activist –
called on the nation to support the <em>adivasis</em>
and their causes. In the same video, he also explicitly requested
people to get off the Internet: </p>
<blockquote>
<p align="JUSTIFY">
<em>Is
me jo shehero me rehne wale log hai, mujhe unse khas tor se kehna hai
ki aap sheher me baithe rahenge, net par thoda sa likh denge – usse
sarkar ko koi farak padne wala nahi hai. Na janta Internet padthi
hai na sarkar Internet padthi hai. Hum jo activist hai wohi aapas
mein Internet par pad lethe hai. Usse sarkar ki koi policiyan nahi
badal payenge, sarkar par pressure nahi create kar payenge. Jab tak
ham aam janta ke beech mein nahi jayenge, na to hame desh ki problems
pata challenge, na ham desh ke logon ko jaga payenge. </em></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">
[To
the people in the cities, I want to especially say that, you keep
sitting in the cities, you write something on the Internet - it
doesn't make any difference to the government. Neither do people read
the Internet, nor does the government read the Internet. Only
activists like you and me read on the Internet. Through that, we
cannot change the policies of the government, we cannot create
pressure on the government. As long as we don't go among/approach
the common people, neither will we come to know the country's
problems, nor will we be able to awaken the people]. </p>
</blockquote>
<p align="JUSTIFY">Not
everybody I spoke to would have agreed with Kumar's argument. The
importance of mass mobilisation and the need to be in touch with
grassroots realities are recognised by all movement activists, as is
consequently the requirement to get active offline as much as online.
But whether mass mobilisation at the grassroots is the <em>only</em>
way forward is not something that everyone is convinced of. In the
context of the <a href="http://www.binayaksen.net/">Free Binayak Sen
campaign</a>, for example, there is considerable recognition that the
website was a vital complement to a well-organised offline campaign
to free Dr. Binayak Sen from jail, which kicked off in the spring of
2008. Sen is a community health doctor and civil liberties activist
who had worked for more than twenty five years among the <em>adivasis</em>
of Chhattisgarh, the heart of the current Maoist conflict, when he
was arrested on the basis of what many considered completely
baseless, yet non-bailable charges of being a Maoist himself, and
left to languish in jail for two years. A regularly updated website,
and related Facebook group and email list, soon became the focal
point for a massive outpouring of support for Sen from different
parts of the world, including in the form of a letter from twenty
Nobel Prize winners, as well as an important source of information on
the campaign for activists within the country. In May 2009, the
Indian Supreme Court finally released granted bail to Dr. Binayak
Sen. The Doctor's trial is currently ongoing.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">In
this context of critical debates, how do those who do see themselves
as activists, yet draw on the Internet as a significant tool to
publicise struggles, justify themselves? If the Internet can play a
role in changing matters at the grassroots, and has proven to do so
in the past, does it become possible to intensely use this tool and
still be recognised as an activist in a more traditional reading of
this word? The fact that most middle-class English speaking cadres
of movements are online, despite their protestations against online
activism for being elitist, may well play in the favour of advocates
of online protest: it does open up a space to argue for the relevance
of this medium, even if for a limited group, and for the importance
of its responsible use. Indeed, it may well be for this reason that
it is possible to watch on YouTube a number of videos in which
Himanshu Kumar shares his experiences at the grassroots, his own
discomfort with the medium notwithstanding. But it is not this
ambiguity that is at the heart of the claims to credibility of
advocates of online activism. Rather, as has always been the case,
it is their continued connectedness to the grassroots. How much you
are in the know of what happens at the grassroots; whether you have
physically joined struggles; to what extent you get your hands dirty
offline and show up for meetings, rallies, poster pasting, rather
than limiting your engagement to the online route – these are the
kind of elements that determine whether you are an online <em>activist</em>.
What you do offline remains as important as ever. To only
work online is not sufficient. </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">Importantly,
such readings are frequently mirrored by those who do not have such
connections to the grassroots. In my research, I have more than once
come across “online activists” who started their conversation
with me by stating that they were not, in fact, activists at all.
Interestingly, Maesy Angelina has observed a similar reluctance to
identify as an activist among participants in the <a href="http://www.blanknoise.org/">Blank
Noise</a> project (personal communication and Angelina, forthcoming),
a campaign to combat street sexual harassment and, with its extensive
use of online tools over the seven years of its existence, one of the
paragons of online activism in India. While Maesy herself will blog
more about how Blank Noise participants understand activism later on
<a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/research/dn">here,</a> (earlier
posts are available as well) at least in my research, the reason why
people refused the “activist” label was generally not because
they disapproved of what it might stand for. Rather, they saw a
clear difference between their own contribution and that of the
full-time activists who ceaselessly mobilise and organise people on
the ground, those who in many cases draw on a distinct and
easily-recognisable language of protest that infuses everything from
the shape protests take to activists' dressing sense in the process –
the “jholawallahs”, as
one person I follow on Twitter calls them, after the trademark cotton
bag that they often carry around. Those who refused the namecard of
an “activist” were clear that they would never have chosen such a
full-time activist's life; what new technology allowed them to do,
however, was to nevertheless make a contribution, even if often on a
smaller scale, of their own. As one person put it quite movingly:</p>
<blockquote>
<p align="JUSTIFY">
I believe that, I think that ordinary people, and I am <em>convinced</em>,
that they can do, can use this medium to actually make a difference,
you know or bring about change, to change the world. You know, these
dreams that you have sometimes, “I want to change the world in some
way” [laughs]. You know? I do believe that... it's possible. And
you don't have to be an activist or working in an NGO. You can be
working anywhere, you can be doing anything as your day job, you
know, or your regular job. But, you can contribute.</p>
</blockquote>
<p align="JUSTIFY">Clearly,
then, critical readings of what it means to be an activist are common
not only among those who are activists in a more traditional sense,
but among those who focus on exploring the use of new tools for
social change as well: the kind of credibility, based on offline
experience, that attaches to more traditional activists is not
something they claim for themselves. But what they understand is
that new technologies have facilitated a qualitatively new kind of
engagement with movements, with activism, with social change. And
what such “not-activists” do claim is that this has made it
possible for ordinary people to now also make a difference, even
though small that difference often may be. </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">In
many ways this type of involvement is actually not new, as
contributions of non-activists have always played an important role
in the survival and evolutions of movements, especially at times of
great urgency: doctors who are ready to treat patients for free;
lawyers who supply legal advice without expecting anything in return;
people with comfortable jobs in the private sector who one knows one
can rely on for donations when required (most movements in India
survive financially by relying solely or mostly on donations by
private persons). What is new with the introduction of the Internet
is that the possibility of contributions by people who are not
activists are now extended into new areas, as it has become much
easier to contribute to publicising and building community around
issues that are close to movements' heart as well.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">So
how to evaluate White's claim that clicktivism is ruining Left
activism in the Indian context then? For one thing, it is important
to remember that we simply do not – or not yet at least – have
platforms such as <a href="http://moveon.org/">MoveOn</a> or <a href="http://avaaz.org/">Avaaz</a>,
that draw, as White explains, on market ideology to conveniently
break down a seemingly endless number of political campaigns into
little bites for easy individual consumption with the click of a
mouse button. Left activism in India, even online, remains firmly
embedded in <em>communities</em>
of engagement. Surely e-petitions, for example, are popular here as
much as elsewhere. But the point to remember is that they rarely
circulate in isolation. Instead, they emerge from the email lists,
from the postings and repostings as well as conversations on
Facebook, from the blogs around which much Left activism online
revolves. And crucial to these uses of the Internet as a tool for
social change is not clicking, but engagement and conversation.
Perhaps it is for this reason that even a landmark campaign such as
Free Binayak Sen has hardly received any attention in the
international online activists' arena: campaigns such as this do not
revolve around the number of clicks they get, nor around flash-points
or events shaped to satisfy the hunger of the international media,
valuable as some may argue these can be; rather, they are intended
for the long haul, as they attempt to build on existing collectives
to extend the communities of solidarity around issues that move and
drive the Left in this neoliberal age. Even online, the politics can
and does infuse the method, at least for now. </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">This,
then, gives something to ponder over. It is true that working among
people, offline, remains of crucial importance if Left movements in
the country are to achieve their goals. But perhaps it is worth
considering more seriously the value and role of this pool of people
willing and available to help building such communities in a more or
less sustained fashion online (I am not talking about the accidental
activist here), without necessarily wanting to take on a core
“activist”'s role. Yes, perhaps their work does not amount to
activism as we know it. But nevertheless, it may well be that in
many cases the efforts of these committed individuals do not amount
to distractions, but to gravy: extras that help ensuring that more
and more people start to care as the message of social movements is
amplified to a much larger audience than might have otherwise been
the case, perhaps even getting many more people involved, while also
acutely aware of their own limitations when it comes to achieving
fundamental, lasting social change. In fact, perhaps the Left would
also do well to wonder whether it can afford to lose this valuable
support: as I will document in a future blog post, with the rise of
the Internet in India, online initiatives have also emerged that take
neither of the stances described above, but that instead explicitly,
and at times aggressively, seek to present themselves as a
forward-looking <em>alternative</em> to the existing progressive
politics in this country. A lack of engagement on the part of the
Left with supporters online would effectively entail a ceding of the
space to such challengers. </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">The
point to remember for now, however, is that many of those active in
online campaigns are acutely aware themselves not only of the
potential of their work, but also of its limitations. What we do
need to do, however, is to keep firmly alive this tension and debate
surrounding what it means to be an activist, as well as to remain
vigilant that the dazzling charms of the tools do not, in the long
term, blind us to our politics. At the moment, it seems to be the
continuing vibrancy of the Left in India that makes it difficult for
anyone who wants to get seriously involved with movement politics to
consider online activism a sufficient replacement. It is the
endurance of these attitudes of continuous critical inquiry that will
ensure that, clicktivism or not, Left activism will remain firmly
alive in this country in the future as well – in the hearts and
minds of activists and non-activists alike. <br /></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"><br /></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"><em>With
thanks to Prasad Krishna for assistance with the translation.</em></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"><strong>References</strong></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">Angelina,
M. (forthcoming). 'Beyond the Digital: Understanding Contemporary
Youth Activism in Urban India' (working title). MA thesis. The Hague,
International Institute of Social Studies – Erasmus University of
Rotterdam.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </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/whats-in-a-name-or-why-clicktivism-may-not-be-ruining-left-activism-in-india-at-least-for-now'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/revolution-2.0/whats-in-a-name-or-why-clicktivism-may-not-be-ruining-left-activism-in-india-at-least-for-now</a>
</p>
No publisheranjahistories of internet in IndiaDigital ActivismmovementsResearch2011-08-02T09:25:39ZBlog EntryPolitical is as Political does
http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/political
<b>The Talking Back workshop has been an extraordinary experience for me. The questions that I posed for others attending the workshop have hounded me as they went through the course of discussion, analysis and dissection. Strange nuances have emerged, certain presumptions have been questioned, new legacies have been discovered, novel ideas are still playing ping-pong in my mind, and a strange restless excitement – the kind that keeps me awake till dawning morn – has taken over me, as I try and figure out the wherefore and howfore of things. I began the research project on Digital Natives in a condition of not knowing, almost two years ago. Since then, I have taken many detours, rambled on strange paths, discovered unknown territories and reached a mile-stone where I still don’t know, but don’t know what I don’t know, and that is a good beginning.</b>
<p> <strong>The researcher in his heaven, all well with the world</strong></p>
<p> This first workshop is not merely a training lab. For me, it was the
extension of the research inquiry, and collaboratively producing some
frames of reference, some conditions of knowing, and some ways of
thinking about this strange, ambiguous and ambivalent category of
Digital Natives. The people who have assembled at this workshop have
identified themselves as Digital Natives as a response to the open call.
They all have practices which are startlingly unique and simultaneously
surprisingly similar. Despite the great dissonance in their
geo-political contexts and socio-cultural orientations, they seem to be
bound together by things beyond the technological.</p>
<p> Each one chose a definition for him/herself that straddles so many
different ideas of how technologies interact with us; there are writers
who offer a subjective position and affective relation to technologies
and the world around them; there are artists who seek to change the
world, one barcode at a time; there are optimist warriors who have waged
battles against injustice and discrimination in the worlds they occupy;
there are explorers who have made meaning out of socio-cultural
terrains that they live in; there are leaders who have mobilized
communities; there are adventurers who have taken on responsibilities
way beyond their young years; there are researchers who have sought
higher grounds and epistemes in the quest of knowledge. The varied
practice is further informed by their own positions as well as their
relationship with the different realities they engage with.</p>
<p> How, then, does one make sense of this babble of diversity? How does
one even begin to articulate a collective identity for people who are
so unique that sometimes they are the only ones in their contexts to
initiate these interventions? Where do I find a legacy or a context that
makes sense of these diversities without conflating or coercing their
uniqueness? This is not an easy task for a researcher, and I have
struggled over the two days to figure out a way in which I can start
develop a knowledge framework through which I can not only bring
coherence to this group but also do it without imposing my questions,
suggestions or agendas on you. And it is only now, at a quarter to dawn,
as I think and interact more with the different digital natives that
things get shapes for me – shapes that are not yet clear, probably
obscured by the blurriness of sleep and the rushed time that we have
been living in the last few days – and I now attempt to trace the
contours if not the details of these shapes.</p>
<p> <strong>Questioning the Question</strong></p>
<p> The first insight for me came from the fact that the Digital Natives
in the workshop talked back – not only to the structures that their
practice engages with, but also the questions that I posed to them.
“What does it mean to be Political?” I has asked on the first day,
knowing well that this wasn’t going to be an easy dialogue. Even after
years of thinking about the Political as necessarily the Personal (and
vice versa), it still is sometimes difficult to actually articulate the
process or the imagination of the Political. It is no wonder that so
many people take the easy recourse of talking about governments,
judiciaries, democracies and the related paraphernalia to talk about
Politics.</p>
<p> I knew, even before I posed the question, that this was going to
lead to confusion, to conditions of being lost, to processes of
destabilising comfort zones. However, what I was not ready for was a
schizophrenic moment of epiphany where I tried to ask myself what I
understood as the Political. And as I tried to explain it to myself, to
explain it to others, to push my own knowledge of it, to understand
others’ ideas and imaginations, I came up with a formulation which goes
beyond my own earlier knowledges. There are five different articulations
of the legacies and processes of the Political that I take with me from
the discussions (some were suggested by other people, some are my
flights of fancy based on our conversations), and it is time to reflect
on them:</p>
<p> <em><strong>Political as dialogue</strong></em></p>
<p> This was perhaps, the easiest to digest because it sounds like a
familiar formulation. To be political is to be in a condition of
dialogue. Which means that Talking Back was suddenly not about Talking
Against or Being Talked To. It was about Talking With. It was a
conversation. Sometimes with strangers. Sometimes with people made
familiar with time. Sometimes with people who we know but have not
realised we know. Sometimes with the self. The power of names, the
strength of being in a conversation – to talk and also to listen is a
condition of the Political. In dialogue (as opposed to a babble) is the
genesis of being political. Because when we enter a dialogue, we are no
longer just us. We are able to detach ourselves from US and offer a
point of engagement to the person who was, till now, only outside of us.</p>
<p> <em><strong>Political as concern</strong></em></p>
<p> This particular idea of the political as being concerned was a
surprise to me. I have, through discourses and practice within gender
and sexuality fields, understood affective relationships as sustaining
political concerns and subjectivities. However, I had overlooked the
fact that the very act of being concerned, what a young digital native
called ‘being burned’ about something that we notice in our immediate
(or extended) environments is already a political subjectivity
formation. To be concerned, to develop an empathetic link to the
problems that we identify, is a political act. It doesn’t always have to
take on the mantle of public action or intervention. Sometimes, just to
care enough, is enough.</p>
<p> <em><strong>Political as change</strong></em></p>
<p> This is a debate that needs more conversations for me. Politics,
Knowledge, Change, Transformation – these are the four keywords (further
complicated by self-society binaries) that have strange permutations
and combination. To Know is to be political because it produces a
subjectivity that has now found a new way of thinking about itself and
how it relates to the external reality. This act of Knowing, thus
produces a change in our self. However, this change is not always a
change that leads to transformation. Knowledge for knowledge’s sake can
often be indulgent. Even when the knowledge produces a significant and
dramatic change, often this change is restricted to the self.</p>
<p> When does this knowing self, which is in a condition of change,
become a catalyst for transformation? When does this knowing-changing
translate into a transformation for the world outside of us? Just to be
in a condition of knowing does not grant the agency required for the
social transformation that we are trying to understand. Where does this
agency come from? How do we understand the genesis and dissemination of
this agency? And what are the processes of change that embody and foster
the Political?</p>
<p> <em><strong>Political as Freedom</strong></em></p>
<p> On the first thought, the imagination of Political as Freedom seemed
to obvious; commonsense and perhaps commonplace. However, I decided put
the two in an epistemological dialogue and realised that there are many
prismatic relationships I had not talked about before I was privy to
these conversations. Here is a non-exhaustive list: Political Freedom,
Politics of Freedom, Free to be Political, Political as Freedom, Freedom
as Political... is it possible to be political without the quest of
freedom? Is the freedom we achieve, at the expense of somebody else’s
Political stance? How does the business of being Political come to be?
Not Why? But How? If Digital Natives are changing the state of being
political what are they replacing? What are they inventing? Where, in
all these possibilities lies Freedom?</p>
<p> <a href="http://northeastwestsouth.net/brief-treatise-despair-meaning-or-pointlessness-everything#comment-2131"><em><strong>Political as Reticence</strong></em></a></p>
<p> We all talked about voice – whose, where, for whom, etc. It was a
given that to give voice, to have voice, to speak, to talk, to talk back
were conditions of political dialogue and subversion, of intervention
and exchange. So many of us – participants or facilitators – talked
about how to speak, what technologies of speech, how to build conditions
of interaction... and then, like the noise in an otherwise seamless
fabric of empowerment came the idea of reticence. Is it possible to be
silent and still be political? If I do not speak, is it always only
because I cannot? What about my agency to choose not to speak? As
technologies – of governance, of self, and of the social constantly
force us to produce data and information, through ledgers and censuses
and identification cards – make speech a normative way of engagement,
isn’t the right of Refusal to Speak, political?</p>
<p> Sometimes, it is necessary to exercise silence as a tool or a weapon
of political resistance. The non-speaking subject holds back and
refuses to succumb to pressures and expectations of a dominant
erstwhile, and in his/her silence, produces such a cacophony of meaning
that it asks questions that the loudest voices would not have managed to
ask.</p>
<p> <strong>The Beginning of a Start; Perhaps also the other way round</strong></p>
<p> These are my first reflections on the conversations we have had over
the two days. I feel excited, inspired, moved and exhilarated as I
carry myself on these flights of ideation, thought and
conceptualisation. It is important for me that these are questions that I
did not think of in a vacuum but in conversation and dialogue with this
varied pool of people who have spent so much of their time and effort
to not only make their work intelligible but also to reflect on the
processes by which we paint ourselves political. I have learned to
sharpen questions of the political that I came with and I have learned
to ask new questions of Digital Natives practice. I don’t have a
definition that explains the work that these Digital Natives do. But I
now have a framework of what is their understanding of the political and
what are the various points of engagement and investment.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/political'>http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/political</a>
</p>
No publishernishantDigital ActivismDigital NativesPoliticalYouthFeaturedCyberculturesDigital subjectivitiesWorkshop2011-08-04T10:30:51ZBlog 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 EntryBeyond the Digital: Understanding Digital Natives with a Cause
http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/beyond-the-digital-understanding-digital-natives-with-a-cause
<b>Digital natives with a cause: the future of activism or slacktivism? Maesy Angelina argues that the debate is premature given the obscured understanding on youth digital activism and contends that an effort to understand this from the contextualized perspectives of the digital natives themselves is a crucial first step to make. This is the first out of a series of posts on her journey to explore new insights to understand youth digital activism through a research with The Blank Noise Project under the Hivos-CIS Digital Natives Knowledge Programme. </b>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">The last decade
has witnessed an escalating interest among academics, policy makers, and other
practitioners on the intersection between youth, activism, and the new media
technologies, which resulted in two narratives: one of doubt and the other of
hope. The ‘hope’ narrative hinges on the new plethora of avenues for activism
at the young people’s disposal and the bulge of the population, stating that
the contemporary forms of youth activism represent new ways of conceiving and
doing activism in the present and the future (see, for example, UN DESA, 2005).
The ‘doubt’ narrative, on the other hand, questions to what extent the digital
activism can contribute to broader social change (Collin, 2008) and some
proponents of this view even call it ‘slacktivism’, stating that online
activism is only effective if accompanied with real life activism (Morozov, 2009).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">Before assessing
the potentials of youth’s digital activism to contribute to social change, it
is imperative to first gain a comprehensive understanding about this emerging
form of activism. A brief review of existing literature on the topic found that
most of the analyses are centered on three perspectives, each with its own
approach, strengths, and weaknesses: the technology centered, the new social
movements centered, and the youth centered perspectives.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">The technology centered
perspective places a great emphasis on the instrumental role of the internet
and new media (see, for instance, Kassimir, 2005; Shirkey, 2007; Brooks and
Hodkinson, 2008). It discusses how internet savvy young people are able to
exercise their activism differently, because the technology can remove
obstacles to organizing, provide a new platform for visibility and make
transnational networking easier. In this perspective, the Internet and new media technologies are seen as enabling tool sand the web is viewed as a new space to promote
activism. However, this perspective mainly stipulates that there is already a
formulaic form of activism that can be transferred from the actual, physical
sphere to the virtual arena; it does not consider that the changes caused by
the way the youth are using technologies in their daily lives may also create
new meanings and forms of activism. This perspective is the most dominant in
literature on the topic, being the lens used by the pioneering studies on
youth, Internet, and activism.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">The new social
movements centered perspective goes beyond that and looks at how new meanings
and forms of politics and activism are created as the result of the way people
are using new media technologies and the Internet. This perspective is leading
the recently emerging literature on the topic and emphasizes on the trend of
being concerned on issues related to everyday democracy and the favour towards
self organized, autonomous, horizontal networks (for examples, see Bennett,
2003; Martin, 2004; Collin, 2008). However, this perspective treats young
people merely as ‘vessels’ of the new activism and neglect to examine how their
lives have been shaped by the use of new media technologies and the Internet.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">The youth
centered perspective, represented for example by Juris and Pleyers (2009),
acknowledges that ICTs have always been part of young people’s lives and that
it intersects with other factors in shaping how they conceive politics and
activism. Most of the studies in this perspective were done with youth
activists in existing transnational social justice movements, such as the
global anti-capitalism or environmental movements. Nevertheless, this
perspective mainly views youth activists as ‘becomings’ by defining them as the
younger layer of actors in a multi-generational group that will be future
leaders of the movement. There are very few researches on autonomous youth
movements that are created and consist of young people themselves and look at
the youth as political actors in its own right. In addition, the majority of
studies also focused on the youth as individuals but not as a collective force.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">In addition to
the shortcomings of each perspective, there are also common gaps in the current
broader body of knowledge on the intersection of youth, new media technologies,
and activism.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">Firstly, existing
researches tend to define activism as concrete actions, such as protests and
campaigns, and the values represented by such actions. It neglects other
elements that constitute activism together with the actions and values, such as
the issue taken up by the action, the ideologies underlying the formulation of
action, and the actors behind the activism (Sherrod, 2005; Kassimir, 2005). Divorcing
these elements from the analysis gave only a partial view of what youth digital
activism is.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">Secondly, the
majority of studies zoomed into the novelty of new media technologies and how
they are being used as a point of departure to investigate the topic. This
arguably stems from an adult-centric, pre-digital point of view, which overlooks
the fact that internet and new media has always been ‘technology’ for most
young people just as how the radio and television have always been ‘technology’
for the previous generation (Shah and Abraham, 2009). This way of thinking
divorces the ‘digital’ from the ‘activism’ in digital activism; consequently,
it ignores all the other factors that are causing and shaping youth activism and
fails to capture how youth actors themselves are viewing or giving meaning to
this digital activism.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">Finally, researches
on the issue skew excessively on developed countries. It must be acknowledged
that the ‘digital divide’, or the unequal access to and familiarity with
technology based on gender, class, caste, education, economic status or
geographical location, in developing countries is deeper and that the digitally
active youth are a privileged minority. Yet, a neglect to understand their
activism also means a failure to understand why and how the elite who are often
perceived to be politically apathetic are engaging with their community to
create social change.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">The weaknesses
identified above demonstrate that our understanding on this particular form of
contemporary youth activism is currently obscured. Hence, the two narratives of
‘hope’ and ‘doubt’ lose their relevance given that the subject of assessment,
the digital youth activism, is not even clearly understood.</p>
<p>Based
on the above overview of the limitations, it is imperative to find a new way to
approach to understand the phenomenon of digital youth activism. I will explore
the possibilities of such an approach with the following arguments as the
starting point.</p>
<p>Firstly,
I argue that the key limitation lies on the adult-centric perspective in
viewing youth’s engagement with new media technologies, thus what is essential
is to go beyond the ‘digital’ and focus on the ‘activism’ part of youth digital
activism. Secondly, I argue that exploration of the
issue from the standpoint of the youth political actors themselves is crucial
to counter the adult-centric perspective dominating the literature on this
topic. Thirdly, since so many researches divorce the youth from the context of
their activism, it is crucial to focus on a particular case study to a tease
out the nuances of youth digital activism.</p>
<p>I
have the opportunity to explore the approach through a study with <a class="external-link" href="http://blog.blanknoise.org/">The Blank Noise
Project</a>, an initiative to address the problem of street sexual harassment in
public spaces that originated in 2003 in Bangalore. It has since expanded into
nine cities in India with over 2,000 volunteers, all young people between 17-30
years of age. Known for their unique public art street interventions as well as
their savvy online presence, The Blank Noise Project was also chosen because
its growth and sustainability over the past seven years are a testament to its
legitimacy and relevance for youth in India. </p>
<p>The
research does not aim to assess the contribution of The Blank Noise Project to
social change nor does it claim to represent all forms of youth digital
activism in India. Rather, it aims to offer insights on one of the forms of
digital natives joining forces for a cause. The research is interested in the
following questions: how do young people involved in the Blank Noise articulate
their politics? Who are their audience? What are their strategies? What is
their conception of the public sphere? How do they organize themselves? How do
they represent themselves to others? How do they see and give meaning to their
involvement with the Blank Noise? How can we make sense of their initiative? While
‘activism’ is the popular term that is also used in this research, is their
initiative a form of activism or is it something else altogether? More importantly,
how do these young people define it by themselves? For the next few months, I
will share stories, questions, and reflections that emerge along my journey of
exploring those questions with The Blank Noise Project on the CIS blog. </p>
<p> </p>
<p></p>
<p><em>This is the first post in the <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/the-beyond-the-digital-directory" class="external-link"><strong>Beyond the Digital </strong>series</a>, 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. </em><span class="description"> </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>References:</strong></p>
<p>Bennett,
W.L. (2007) ‘Changing Citizenship in the Digital Age’, paper presented at</p>
<p>the OECD/ INDIRE Conference on Millenial
Learners, Florence, Italy (5-6 March).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Brooks,
R. and Hodkinson, P. (2008) ‘Introduction’, <em>Journal
of Youth Studies</em> Vol. 11:5,</p>
<p>p. 473 – 479</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Collin,
P. (2008) ‘The internet, youth participation policies, and the development of</p>
<p>young people’s political identities in
Australia’, <em>Journal of Youth Studies </em>Vol.
11:5, p. 527 - 542</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>Juris,
J.S. and Pleyers, G.H. (2009) ‘Alter-activism: Emerging cultures of
participation</p>
<p>among young global justice activists’, <em>Journal of Youth Studies </em>Vol. 12 (1): p.
57-</p>
<p>75.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>Kassimir,
R. (2006) ‘Youth Activism: International and Transnational’, in Sherrod,</p>
<p>L.R., Flanagan, C.A. and Kassimir, R.
(eds.) <em>Youth Activism: An International </em></p>
<p><em>Encyclopedia,
</em>p.
20-28. London: Greenwood Press.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>Martin,
G. (2004) ‘New Social Movements and Democracy’, in Todd, M.J. and Taylor,</p>
<p>G. (eds.) <em>Democracy and Participation: Popular protests and new social movements</em>,
p. 29-54. London: Merlin Press.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>Morozov,
E. (2009) ‘The brave new world of slacktivism’. Accessed 19 May 2010 <</p>
<p>http://neteffect.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/05/19/the_brave_new_world_of_slacktivism></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shah,
N. and Abraham, S. (2009) ‘Digital Natives with a Cause? A Knowledge</p>
<p>Survey and Framework’. Accessed 7 April
2010 < <a href="http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Themes/Digital-Natives-with-a-Cause/News/New-Publication-Digital-Natives-with-a-Cause">http://www.hivos.net/Hivos-Knowledge-Programme/Themes/Digital-Natives-with-a-Cause/News/New-Publication-Digital-Natives-with-a-Cause</a>></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>Sherrod,
L.R. (2006) ‘Youth Activism and Civic Engagement’, in Sherrod, L.R.,</p>
<p>Flanagan, C.A. and Kassimir, R. (eds.) <em>Youth Activism: An International </em></p>
<p><em>Encyclopedia,
</em>p.
2-10. London: Greenwood Press.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shirkey,
C. (2008) <em>Here Comes Everybody: How
Change Happens and People Come </em></p>
<p><em>Together</em>. New York:
Penguin Books</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>United
Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs / UN DESA (2005)</p>
<p>‘World Youth Report 2005: Young People
Today and in 2015’. Accessed 7 April 2010 <http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/documents/wyr05book.pdf></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/beyond-the-digital-understanding-digital-natives-with-a-cause'>http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/beyond-the-digital-understanding-digital-natives-with-a-cause</a>
</p>
No publishermaesyYouthDigital ActivismDigital NativesBlank Noise ProjectBeyond the Digital2012-03-13T10:43:37ZBlog 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 EntryThe power of the next click...
http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/chatroulette
<b>P2P cameras and microphones hooked up to form a network of people who don't know each other, and probably don't care; a series of people in different states of undress, peering at the each other, hands poised on the 'Next' button to search for something more. Chatroulette, the next big fad on the internet, is here in a grand way, making vouyers out of us all. This post examines the aesthetics, politics and potentials of this wonderful platform beyond the surface hype of penises and pornography that surrounds this platform.</b>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In his
futuristic novel <em>1984</em>,
George Orwell conceived of a Big Brother who watches us all the time, tracking
every move we make, every step we take, and reminding us that we are being
watched. The Internet has often been seen as the embodiment of this fiction.
There are many who unplug computers, look over surreptitious shoulders and wear
tin-foil hats so that their movements cannot be traced. While this caricatured
picture might seem absurd to funny, there is no denying the fact that we are
being stalked by technologies. As our world gets more connected and our
dependence on digital and internet objects grow, we are giving out more and
more of our private and personal information for an easy trade-off with
convenience and practicality.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As a reply to
the question “Who watches the watchman?” several Internet theorists had
suggested as a reply, a model where everybody looking at everybody else so that
there is no one person who has exclusive powers of seeing without being seen.
In this utopian state, people would be looking at each other (thus keeping a
check on actions), looking after each other (forming virtual care networks) and
looking for each other (building social networks with familiar strangers).
After about 20 years of the first emergence of this discussion vis-à-vis the
World Wide Web , comes an internet platform that produces a strange universe of
people looking at.for.after each other in a condition of extreme vouyerism,
performance, exhibitionism, surveillance and playfulness. It is a website that
the Digital Natives are flocking to because it changes the way they look at
each other. Literally.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Chatroulette! is
a new MMORPG (Massively Multiple Online
Role Playing Game) that uses a Peer-2-Peer network to constantly pair random
people using their web cams, to look at each other. You start a Game and you
begin a series of ‘lookings’ as people look back at you. Connect, cruise,
watch, interact, boot – that is the anatomy of a Chatroullete! game. If you
like what you see, you can linger a while or begin a conversation, or just
‘boot’ your ‘partner’ and get connected to somebody else in the almost infinite
network. In the process you come across the unexpected, unpredictable and the
uncanny. In the last one month of betting my time on Chatroullete!, I have seen
it all and then some more – masturbating teenagers, strip teasing men and
women, animals (including a very handsome tortoise) staring back at me, groups
of friends eating dehydrated noodles and giggling, partners in sexual
intercourse, graphic images of human gentilia, clever advertisements, pictures,
art, musicians performing, dancers dancing, conference delegates staring
bemusedly at a screen, ... the list is endless and probably exhausting. A growing community of
users now dwell on Chatroulette! to connect in this new way that is part speed
dating, part networking, part performance, part voyeurism.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The verdict on
the blogosphere is still not in whether this is a new fad or something more
long-lasting. Irrespective of its
longevity, what Chatroullete! has done is show us a new universe of social
interaction that Digital Natives around the world find appealing. The possibilities of cultural exchange,
collaborative working, love, longing and learning that emerge around
Chatroullete! are astounding. For Digital Natives the appeal of
Chatroullete! is in forging viral and temporary networks which defy the
Facebook way of creating sustained communities of interaction. This is the
defining moment of virtual interaction and online networking –A model that is
no longer trying to simulate ‘Real Life’ conditions online by forming permanent
networks of ‘people like us’. Chatroulette!
marks the beginning of a new way of spreading the message to completely random
strangers, enticing them into thought, exchange and mobilisation through the
world of gaming. The potentials for drawing in thousands of unexpected people
into your own political cause are astounding. It might be all cute cats and
sexual performance now, but it is only a matter of time when Digital Natives
start exploring the possibility of using Chatroulette! to mobilise resources
for dealing with crises in their personal and public environments. The wheel
has been spun. We now wait to see where the ball lands.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/chatroulette'>http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/chatroulette</a>
</p>
No publishernishantCyberspaceDigital ActivismGamingDigital NativesCybercultures2012-03-13T10:43:41ZBlog 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>
<p align="center"><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="about:blank"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed height="364" width="445" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Cz4KoL3jzi0&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<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 EntryColour Me Political
http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/dn2
<b>What are the tools that Digital Natives use to mobilise groups towards a particular cause? How do they engage with crises in their immediate environments? Are they using their popular social networking sites and web 2.0 applications for merely entertainment? Or are these tools actually helping them to re-articulate the realm of the political? Nishant Shah looks at the recent Facebook Colour Meme to see how new forms of political participation and engagement are being initiated by young people across the world.</b>
<p></p>
<p>On Facebook, now acclaimed as one of the most popular social
networking sites in the world, the one thing that almost all the users engage
is, in updating their status updates. These updates can be varied – capturing
personal moods and emotions, reporting on things that strike one in the course
of a normal day, offering political opinions, suggesting movies and books to
friends, and often making public announcements of important events in life. The
updates appear as a live feed, updates in almost-real time, letting people in
networks connect, know, discuss and share information about their personal
lives. Often, to outsiders, these updates would appear pointless; I remember
somebody asking me, “But why would I want to know what you had for breakfast?”
Many status updates indeed border on the everyday and ordinary, of no interest
to anybody but the immediate networks.</p>
<p>However, in the first half of January in 2010, Facebook
users across the world started observing a strange pattern. Many people in
their networks were making one word status updates with the name of a colour.
Just that. A colour. Facebook users woke up to find “Green!”, “Red!”, “White!” “Black!”
in their live feed. No explanations and a cryptic silence. It was a viral
phenomenon, with the colours appearing across the board, in different parts of
the world, spanning all languages, cultures, and contexts. Also, it was
observed, almost all of the users putting this update, were women. It created a
lot of discussion, speculation, curiosity and conspiracy theories. Blog posts
discussing this phenomenon started appearing. People were twitting about it.
There was an element of surprise, and perhaps of frustration, because the
people making those colour updates were refusing to offer any explanations.</p>
<p>Eventually, after a few internet years (about 3 days, I
think!) the word got out. It was a meme. A meme is an internet gene (because it
replicates) which spreads virally, through different social communication and
networking sites. It invites people to participate in a series of actions,
either to answer a question or perform a certain act, and pass it along. The
colour updates were a part of the meme which was doing the rounds on the
internet:</p>
<p> "Some fun is
going on.... just write the color of your bra in your status. Just the color,
nothing else. And send this on to ONLY girls, no men .... It will be neat to
see if this will spread the wings of cancer awareness. It will be fun to see
how long it takes before the men will wonder why all the girls have a color in
their status."</p>
<p>
What the message managed to do was take an
important cause and through fun, and play, and a little bit of excitement, got
young women around the world to ponder on the possibility, cure and prevention
of breast cancer. What was just a personal update capturing space suddenly
became a place of political mobilisation and participation. Both, men and
women, reading those colours, took a moment to think about breast cancer and
spread the word among their friends. Discussions, which started with curiosity,
ended with a sombre note. While there are speculative theories about how some
women in Detroit started this particular meme, there is no credible source of
information.</p>
<p> What is particularly of interest, is how, without any apparent
funding, or organisation, or the infrastructure that generally accompanies such
behemoth projects, this viral meme captured more attention and had more people
participating than most campaigns started by traditional activists or
governments. What Facebook, and other spaces like it offer, is the
infrastructure and the potential for such massive movements. As the Digital
Natives grow up with new technologies, they change the landscape of political
and social transformation. And the cryptic colour updates is telling us the
story of how things will change in the future.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/dn2'>http://editors.cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/dn2</a>
</p>
No publishernishantCyberspaceDigital ActivismDigital NativesYouthSocial Networking2011-08-04T10:34:27ZBlog EntryCPOV : Wikipedia Research Initiative
http://editors.cis-india.org/research/conferences/conference-blogs/cpov
<b>The Second event, towards building the Critical Point of View Reader on Wikipedia, brings a range of scholars, practitioners, theorists and activists to critically reflect on the state of Wikipedia in our contemporary Information Societies. Organised in Amsterdam, Netherlands, by the Institute of Network Cultures, in collaboration with the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, the event builds on the debates and discussions initiated at the WikiWars that launched off the knowledge network in Bangalore in January 2010. Follow the Live Tweets at #CPOV</b>
<p>Second international conference of the <em>CPOV Wikipedia Research
Initiative</em> :: March 26-27, 2010 :: OBA (Public Library Amsterdam,
next to Amsterdam central station), Oosterdokskade 143, Amsterdam.</p>
<p>Wikipedia is at the brink of becoming the de facto global reference
of dynamic knowledge. The heated debates over its accuracy, anonymity,
trust, vandalism and expertise only seem to fuel further growth of
Wikipedia and its user base. Apart from leaving its modern counterparts
Britannica and Encarta in the dust, such scale and breadth places
Wikipedia on par with such historical milestones as Pliny the Elder’s
Naturalis Historia, the Ming Dynasty’s Wen-hsien ta- ch’ eng, and the
key work of French Enlightenment, the Encyclopedie. <span id="more-10604"></span>The multilingual Wikipedia as digital
collaborative and fluid knowledge production platform might be said to
be the most visible and successful example of the migration of FLOSS
(Free/ Libre/ Open Source Software) principles into mainstream culture.
However, such celebration should contain critical insights, informed by
the changing realities of the Internet at large and the Wikipedia
project in particular.</p>
<p>The CPOV Research Initiative was founded from the urge to stimulate
critical Wikipedia research: quantitative and qualitative research that
could benefit both the wide user-base and the active Wikipedia community
itself. On top of this, Wikipedia offers critical insights into the
contemporary status of knowledge, its organizing principles, function,
and impact; its production styles, mechanisms for conflict resolution
and power (re-)constitution. The overarching research agenda is at once a
philosophical, epistemological and theoretical investigation of
knowledge artifacts, cultural production and social relations, and an
empirical investigation of the specific phenomenon of the Wikipedia.</p>
<p>Conference Themes: Wiki Theory, Encyclopedia Histories, Wiki Art,
Wikipedia Analytics, Designing Debate and Global Issues and Outlooks.</p>
<p>Follow the live tweets on http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23CPOV</p>
<p>Confirmed speakers: Florian Cramer (DE/NL), Andrew Famiglietti (UK),
Stuart Geiger (USA), Hendrik-Jan Grievink (NL), Charles van den Heuvel
(NL), Jeanette Hofmann (DE), Athina Karatzogianni (UK), Scott Kildall
(USA), Patrick Lichty (USA), Hans Varghese Mathews (IN), Teemu Mikkonen
(FI), Mayo Fuster Morell (IT), Mathieu O’Neil (AU), Felipe Ortega (ES),
Dan O’Sullivan (UK), Joseph Reagle (USA), Ramón Reichert (AU), Richard
Rogers (USA/NL), Alan Shapiro (USA/DE), Maja van der Velden (NL/NO),
Gérard Wormser (FR).</p>
<p>Editorial team: Sabine Niederer and Geert Lovink (Amsterdam), Nishant
Shah and Sunil Abraham (Bangalore), Johanna Niesyto (Siegen), Nathaniel
Tkacz (Melbourne). Project manager CPOV Amsterdam: Margreet Riphagen.
Research intern: Juliana Brunello. Production intern: Serena Westra.</p>
<p>The CPOV conference in Amsterdam will be the second conference of the
CPOV Wikipedia Research Initiative. The launch of the initiative took
place in Bangalore India, with the conference WikiWars in January 2010.
After the first two events, the CPOV organization will work on
producing a reader, to be launched early 2011. For more information or
submitting a <a href="http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/cpov/reader">reader</a>
contribution.</p>
<p>Buy your ticket <a href="http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/cpov/practical-info/tickets/">online</a>
(with iDeal), or register by sending an email to: info (at)
networkcultures.org. One day ticket: €25, students and OBA members:
€12,50. Full conference pass (2 days): €40, students and OBA members:
25.</p>
<p>Organized by the Institute of Network Cultures Amsterdam, in
cooperation with the Centre for Internet and Society in Bangalore,
India.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/research/conferences/conference-blogs/cpov'>http://editors.cis-india.org/research/conferences/conference-blogs/cpov</a>
</p>
No publishernishantConferenceOpen StandardsDigital ActivismDigital GovernanceDigital AccessPublic AccountabilityResearchFeatured2011-08-23T02:52:25ZBlog 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 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 EntryWhen Whistle Blowers Unite
http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/whistle-blowers-unite
<b>Leaking corporate or government information in public interest through popular Web service providers is risky but Wikileaks.org is one option that you could try out.</b>
<p>Leaking corporate or government information in public interest in the age of Satyam has new challenges. You couldn't just upload it to a blog, social networking website or even a document management system like <a class="external-link" href="http://www.google.co.in/">Google</a> documents. <a class="external-link" href="http://www.google.co.in/">Google</a>, <a class="external-link" href="http://m.in.yahoo.com/?p=us">Yahoo</a> and most other Web service providers nearly always comply with the national law and cooperate with enforcement agencies. In India there have been several arrests in connection with alleged illegal email messages and content on social networking websites. It did not take court order – just a request from the local police station. Furthermore, you would have to undertake additional risky activity online to draw media attention to your documents. Also those who stand to lose from the leak can send a couple of copyright take down notices which will lead to deletion. So your only real option is <a class="external-link" href="http://www.wikileaks.org/">Wikileaks.org</a>, where they boast: Every source protected. No documents censored. All legal attacks defeated.</p>
<p>Launched in December 2006, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.wikileaks.org/">Wikileaks.org</a> stands alone on the Internet as the last refuge for the truth. Even though the promoters are European and US academic organisations, journalists and NGOs – a near neutral point of view is realised by sparing no one across the political and ideological spectrum. It is the archive of the whistle-blowers of the world and it is ugly: login information and private emails of a holocaust denier, secret documents from the Church of Scientology, Internet block-lists from Thailand and standard operating procedures for US guards at Guantanamo Bay, et cetera. One could safely assume that these guys have very few friends. Unlike Wikipedia.org whose technology it employs, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.wikileaks.org/">Wikileaks</a> does not have an open and participatory editorial policy. It accepts documents through a trusted journalist–source system. </p>
<p>Leaking controversial documents can result in loss of job, limb and life, so extreme caution is always advised. Remember that India still does not have laws protecting whistle blowers, in spite of a bill being introduced in 2006. What follows is only a very rough guide to digital whistle blowing, so please get expert advice before you try these at home:</p>
<ul><li>Download and install military grade encryption software like Pretty Good Privacy. Generate a pair of keys – a public and a private one. Use your private key in combination to a journalist's public key to send him or her, a 'for your eyes only message' email. Only the journalist will be able to decrypt the message using your public key and his private key. Note however, that an Indian court under the 2008 amendment of the IT Act can ask you to disclose your key-pair. </li><li>Step outside. Working from home is a bad idea since DOT mandates that all ISPs retain logs for all users and for all services utilized for an indeterminate time-period. Office is still worse as your network administrator might be also logging your activities. </li><li>Find an anonymous public access point. Cyber-cafes, especially in New Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are asking users to provide identity cards and record contact details and in some cases web-cam photographs as well. Using your laptop in a coffee shop may work but DOT is considering cracking down on open wifi networks. </li><li>Use an anonymizing service so that the chain of digital evidence leading up to <a class="external-link" href="http://www.wikileaks.org/">Wikileaks</a> is obliterated. TOR is the anonymizing solution of choice. Several TOR servers that provide private tunnels across the Internet work in unison, to form a cloud of anonymity. </li></ul>
<p>If you were leaking large amounts of data, uploading it may be too risky. Burn the data on DVDs and mail them to <a class="external-link" href="http://www.wikileaks.org/">Wikileaks</a>. However, do ensure that all digital files have been purged of personal information. For word files this can be done by converting to PDF. Also you may not want to leave any finger-prints on the package. India will soon have a database of finger prints thanks to the National Unique Identity (NUID) project. We know this thanks to the leaked NUID project document on <a class="external-link" href="http://www.wikileaks.org/">Wikileaks.org</a>, days before the consultation.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/whistle-blowers-unite'>http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/whistle-blowers-unite</a>
</p>
No publishersunilDigital ActivismInternet Governance2012-03-21T10:17:48ZBlog 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 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 EntryCall for Applications: 'Maps for Making Change' - Using Geographical Mapping Techniques to Support Struggles for Social Justice in India
http://editors.cis-india.org/advocacy/other-advocacy/maps-for-making-change
<b>Deadline: 20 November 2009.
Maps for Making Change is a two-month project specifically designed for activists and supporters of social movements and campaigns in India. It provides participants with an exciting opportunity to explore how a range of digital mapping techniques can be used to support struggles for social justice. It also allows you to immediately develop and implement in practice a concrete mapping project relevant to your campaign or movement, with full technical support. Interested in joining us? Send in your application by 20 November 2009. </b>
<p align="justify"><em><strong>Background</strong> </em></p>
<p align="justify">Most of us think of maps as representations of territory. But have you ever wondered why <em>bastis</em>, slums, unauthorised colonies and monuments of minorities and poor people rarely are given prominence on maps – or at times are even absent altogether? All too often only seats of power, such as big hospitals, the colonies of the rich and diplomatic missions, receive detailed mention. This is because maps simultaneously also function as representations of relations of power and control: which places, communities, historical monuments, townships, colonies and roads are highlighted on a map reflects the power and control that various communities and classes possess or lack. In modern times, this is particularly obvious in planning processes, which incorporate maps as crucial tools in villages and cities alike. To challenge the practice of privileging the powerful on maps, and to create maps from the margins and of margins, therefore has emerged as an important aspect as well as a tool of our fights against injustice in society.</p>
<p align="justify"><em><strong>Maps for Making Change</strong></em></p>
<p align="justify">Today, with the emergence of new technologies such as GPS and the Internet, mapping techniques have advanced beyond the confines of professional cartographers and can be mobilised and used to fight for social justice by anyone with an interest in maps. Are you someone concerned with the state of social justice in the country today? Are you working closely, as an activist or a supporter, with a campaign or social movement? Are you interested in exploring how digital geographical mapping techniques might help facilitate or support your advocacy and awareness raising campaigns and understanding of the power relations in society? Perhaps you already have some ideas on how maps can fit into your work, but you require technical support to put these into practice? Then this is for you.</p>
<p align="justify">Maps for Making Change is a two-month project that will provide you with the opportunity to explore how mapping can be used to support your campaigns, struggles and movements to fight against injustice. It is jointly organised by the Centre for Internet and Society (Bangalore) and the Tactical Technology Collective (Bangalore and London), and brings together activists and technologists. Over the course of the project, participants will:</p>
<ul><li>
<p align="justify">explore and share ideas about the possible uses of geographical maps within the context of campaigns and movements in India;</p>
</li><li>
<p align="justify">try out a range of mapping tools and get training and support in the creation and use of maps;</p>
</li></ul>
<ul><li>
<p align="justify">develop and implement your own mapping project, involving the creation and use as well as dissemination of maps, relevant to your campaign's or movement's advocacy and goals.</p>
</li></ul>
<p align="justify"><em><strong>Format</strong></em></p>
<p align="justify">Maps for Making Change will take the form of three workshops, with time in between each for participants to work on a mapping project of their choice. The first workshop will take place in Delhi on 3 December, and will be an introductory event, where tools and tactics will be explored and discussed and participants can determine the nature of the information they need to collect to implement their own mapping project. The second workshop will take place over 3 days during the first week of January (exact dates and location to be decided), and will involve actual work on mapping projects, using data and other resources collected by participants in the intervening time. The third workshop will be a two-day event during the first week of February (exact dates and location to be decided), and will be the time for participants to provide overall feedback, as well as to do the final touches on the projects and launch them. Not only during the workshops, but throughout the two-month project period, and at every stage of the development of your project plan, technical support will be available to help participants make your ideas a reality.</p>
<p align="justify">The organisers will cover travel and accommodation expenses of those who are selected to participate in the project. There is no participation fee. By applying, applicants commit themselves, however, to devoting the necessary time to this project. Where relevant, an organisational commitment to allow you to do this would also be required.</p>
<p align="justify"><em><strong>Who should apply?</strong></em></p>
<p align="justify">This is an event for activists and supporters of movements and campaigns based in India. Preference will be given to applicants that intend to use the project directly for their work within a campaign or movement. Applications are welcomed from individuals, but also from groups of people who are working within the same campaign or movement and who would like to develop and implement a mapping project together. Those who have been centrally involved in designing and implementing communication strategies of campaigns and movements are particularly encouraged to apply, but such a role is not at all a prerequisite to be part of Maps for Making Change. Participants from appropriate backgrounds who simply want to explore the technology and its uses without immediately implementing it will be welcome in so far as space allows.</p>
<p align="justify">We would like to also encourage applications from students who are involved with campaigns or movements and who would like to learn these skills so as to use them in their advocacy efforts. Students will be provided with special assistance during the programme.</p>
<p align="justify">All participants should have some familiarity with computer use. While more advanced technology skills are useful, they are not essential: technology support will be provided as required for all participants to ensure that everyone completes their own mapping project.</p>
<p align="justify">Regretfully, we will be able to accommodate translation only from Hindi to English and vice versa, so applicants will need to be comfortable with either of these languages.</p>
<p align="justify"><em><strong>How to apply</strong></em></p>
<p align="justify">Please answer the questions below in Hindi or in English. You do not need to write long responses (up to 300 words max), but please provide us with enough information to understand your involvement in and commitment to campaigns or movements for social justice, as well as your skills and interest. We also would like to know why you want to be part of the Maps for Making Change project and what are some of the contributions (of whatever kind) you could make to it.</p>
<p align="justify">You can send your answers by email to <a href="mailto:mapsforchange@cis-india.org">maps4change@cis-india.org</a>, or by post to:</p>
<div align="justify" class="visualClear">Maps for Making Change</div>
<div align="justify" class="visualClear">c/o Centre for Internet and Society</div>
<div align="justify" class="visualClear">No. D2, 3rd Floor, Sheriff Chambers</div>
<div align="justify" class="visualClear">14, Cunningham Road</div>
<div align="justify" class="visualClear">Bangalore 560052</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;" class="visualClear"> </div>
The last day for applications is 20 November 2009. Early applications will make us very happy though! :)<em><strong><br /><br />Application Questions:</strong></em>
<p> </p>
Please provide answers to all the following questions.
<p align="left">1) Basic personal information:</p>
<ul><li>
<p align="left">Name:</p>
</li><li>
<p align="left">Gender:</p>
</li><li>
<p align="left">Date of birth:</p>
</li><li>
<p align="left">Nationality:</p>
</li><li>
<p align="left">Affiliation/organisation:</p>
</li><li>
<p align="left">E-mail address (if available):</p>
</li><li>
<p align="left">Telephone and emergency contact number(s):</p>
</li><li>
<p align="left">Preferred language of communication:</p>
</li><li>
<p align="left">Veg/non veg:</p>
</li><li>
<p align="left">Anything else we should know about you (allergies, medical condition, special needs):</p>
</li></ul>
<p align="left">Are you applying individually or as part of a team? If as part of a team, please provide the names of the other team members here;</p>
<p align="left">2) Where are you from, where do you live now, and what is your current movement/organisational affiliation (movement/organisation you work with, its mission, position you have within it, is your organisation a non-profit, etc.)?</p>
<p align="justify">3) What is your wider experience of working with campaigns or movements for social justice? What kinds of initiatives have you been involved in? What kind of responsibilities have you taken up within these?</p>
<p align="justify">4) Have you been involved with any technology projects for non-profit organisations or campaigns or movements for social change? If so please briefly explain your experience (what worked, what didn't, what did you like, what not, etc?) and your role within the project. If you haven't been involved with such a project, please explain why you are interested in exploring the use of technology for social change.</p>
<p align="justify">5) Why are you interested in joining Maps for Making Change in particular? How can you and your movement/organisation benefit from your participation?</p>
<p align="justify">6) Do you already have an idea in mind that involves using maps for social change and that you would like to develop into a project that can support the work of the campaign or movement that you are involved with? If so, please explain.</p>
<p align="justify">7) To help us better understand the kind of technical support we will need to provide during Maps for Making Change, please describe your current technical expertise and ability.</p>
<p align="justify">8) All participants are encouraged to teach as well as to learn. What kind of contribution to the group's learning do you think you could make?</p>
<p align="justify"><strong>If you require more information about the project or about the application process, please email us at <a href="mailto:mapsforchange@cis-india.org">maps4change@cis-india.org</a>, or call us at 080 4092 6283.</strong></p>
<p align="justify">Looking forward to hearing from you!</p>
<p align="justify">The Maps for Making Change Team</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/advocacy/other-advocacy/maps-for-making-change'>http://editors.cis-india.org/advocacy/other-advocacy/maps-for-making-change</a>
</p>
No publisheranjaDigital ActivismPracticeWorkshopResearchers at WorkMaps for Making Change2015-10-05T15:04:12ZBlog Entry