"Dans ces quatre pays africains (Bénin, Kenya, Sénégal, Tunisie) où l’étude a été réalisée, il apparaît qu’à l’origine des civic tech se trouvent le plus souvent des citoyens et des citoyennes engagés, désireux de traduire leur frustration, et parfois leur colère, devant le déca
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lage observé entre l’affirmation officielle de principes démocratiques et une réalité de terrain assez éloignée des discours. Pour la grande majorité d’entre eux, les initiateurs de ces actions ont suivi des parcours universitaires exigeants et connu des expériences à l’étranger. Les hommes sont très largement majoritaires, à l’exception du Kenya où les femmes sont presque aussi nombreuses que les hommes. Elles considèrent toutefois qu’elles ne se trouvent pas sur un pied d’égalité, notamment lorsqu’il s’agit pour elles de prendre la parole publiquement ou de se lancer dans l’entrepreneuriat. Les difficultés d’une mobilisation à grande échelle Les jeunes adultes (20-25 ans) qui s’investissent dans les civic tech s’engagent généralement pour exprimer une forme d’irritation face aux dérives liées à la corruption ou au manque de prise en compte de l’avis des citoyens dans les décisions politiques. De l’avis général des « doyens » (activistes des civic tech ayant plus de 6 ou 7 ans d’expérience) que nous avons interrogés, la jeune génération est très prometteuse, car mieux formée sur les nouvelles technologies et très mobilisée sur les objectifs de bonne gouvernance et de participation citoyenne. En termes d’audience et de développement, l’étude montre que, dans les quatre pays concernés, les acteurs des civic tech rencontrent le plus souvent des difficultés à mobiliser de larges communautés de citoyens. Ils peinent à faire entendre leur message dans des pays où l’illettrisme au sens littéral et au sens numérique sont importants. Il en résulte des actions qui mobilisent essentiellement un petit nombre de citoyens, à la fois très engagés et très motivés. En général, le système d’organisation des initiatives civic tech varie selon les projets : le degré de structuration est plus ou moins formel et dépend surtout de l’ancienneté des initiatives, de l’ampleur des financements collectés et, in fine, du nombre de participants actifs impliqués à temps plein. Lorsqu’une forme de professionnalisation de l’action est évoquée, beaucoup de nos interlocuteurs mentionnent la difficulté à recruter et à fidéliser des profils combinant sensibilité aux questions de redevabilité et de transparence, savoir-faire en matière de gestion de projet, capacités technologiques et maîtrise des techniques de communication, notamment sur les réseaux sociaux." (Résumé analytique)
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"This review looks back over 11 years of civil society advocacy in the information society – a total of 510 country reports published in Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) from 2007 to 2017. It covers a period of important global shifts, from the exponential growth and influence of social
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media, to the turbulence and hope of the Arab Spring, to revelations of widespread state surveillance. It offers a summary of what internet rights activists wrote about, what they found important, the challenges they faced, and what they felt needed to be done to strengthen a people-centred information society." (Back cover)
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"Ciudadanía digital y democracia participativa trata de describir experiencias concretas y procesos de apropiación y rebelión frente al actual statu quo tecnocrático a través de dos ejes conceptuales claramente definidos:--Propuestas teóricas y analíticas para el estudio de la Ciudadanía Dig
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ital manifestada a través de prácticas de Democracia Participativa.--Estudios de caso que abarcan desde la apropiación y transformación de las tecnologías digitales por parte de comunidades indígenes; pasando por las prácticas de ingeniería social comunicativa como Comunitlán (Puebla, México); hasta los usos tecnopolíticos que entran en juego en la arena de la disputa política a lo largo de la región, desde Bolivia a México o Venezuela." (Cubierta del libro)
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"As individuals incorporate new forms of media into their daily routines, these media transform individuals’ engagement with networks of heterogeneous actors. Using the concept of media practices, this volume looks at processes of social and political transformation in diverse regions of the world
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to argue that media change and social change converge on a redefinition of the relations of individuals to larger collective bodies. To this end, contributors examine new collective actors emerging in the public arena through digital media or established actors adjusting to a diversified communication environment. The book offers an important contribution to a vibrant, transdisciplinary, and international field of research emerging at the intersections of communication, performance and social movement studies." (Publisher description)
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"Ereignisse wie die ägyptische Revolution von/seit 2011 lassen sich als komplexe Medienereignisse beschreiben, in denen Medien weniger eine Dokumentationsfunktion übernehmen, sondern das Ereignis selbst zu einem wesentlichen Teil konstituieren und seinen Verlauf prägen, und die sich damit sowohl
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im sogenannten Realraum als auch zu großen Teilen im virtuellen Raum des Internets ereignen. Die vorliegende Arbeit schaut zurück auf dieses Ereignis, und versucht—in Theorie und Praxis—die ihm zugrundeliegende Medialität aus medienwissenschaftlicher Perspektive zu erforschen und seine Konsequenzen für eben diese Rückschau, also für eine zeitgemäße Geschichts- und Archivpraxis zu ergründen. In diesem Sinne verfolgt SEEING HISTORY – The Augmented Archive die sich verändernden Medialitäten des Archivs in Zeiten des Übergangs vom Speichermedium hin zum Modus des Übertragens. Hier liegt die wahre Herausforderung für eine zeitgemäße Geschichtsschreibung: "Von den Speichermedien aus kommen die Übertragungsmedien selten in den Blick denn sie hinterlassen kaum Spuren. Weil es von ihnen kein klassisches Archiv, sondern nur Momente der Zwischenspeicherung gibt, fokussiert sie kaum eine Historiographie." (Einleitung, Seite 13)
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"Jasmin Fitzpatrick widmet sich aus politikwissenschaftlicher Perspektive zivilgesellschaftlichen Organisationen und untersucht, wie diese das Potenzial der neuen Kommunikationskanäle des Web 2.0 nutzen. Im Fokus stehen zum einen ihre Mobilisierung von Unterstützern und zum anderen ihre Absicht, d
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urch soziale Medien die Agenda zu besetzen. Im Zentrum der Analyse stehen zivilgesellschaftliche Organisationen, die sich mit Menschenrechten und humanitärer Hilfe befassen. Methodisch werden quantitative und qualitative Verfahren kombiniert. Die Autorin zeigt, dass gerade kleinere Organisationen das Potenzial der neuen Kommunikationsmöglichkeiten noch nicht ausschöpfen." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"Based on over 40 interviews with practitioners, this report identifies “civic media practice” as media and technology used to facilitate democratic process. It focuses specifically on those practitioners using media tools to form relationships and build trust - a practice that sometimes runs co
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unter to the apparent needs of organizations to enhance efficiency through technology. This report identifies civic media practice as a direct response to the crisis of distrust and describes the negotiation of values that takes place as media is designed and deployed in organizations.
The process of identification and evaluation of civic media practice is described in detail. The report presents a method of process evaluation that allows practitioners to measure their progress along two central axes: social infrastructure and objective. Civic media practice is always striving towards strong social infrastructure and longevity. As a means of measuring progress along these axes, we identify four activities that can be tracked. They include: 1) Network Building; 2) Holding Space for Discussion; 3) Distributing Ownership; 4) Persistent Input. We present reflective questions that can be asked throughout a civic media project to track progress in these areas.
Finally, we provide recommendations for practitioners and funders as they create and support civic media practice. The institution of civic media is nascent. This report is meant to solidify common principles and provide direction for those invested in transforming civic life through media practice." (Executive summary, page 5)
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"This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores how different theoretical paradigms speak of activism in relation to public relations. It focuses on the tactics employed in Turkey during the second-wave feminism. The bo
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ok analyzes how activist groups utilized public relations strategies and tactics during Gezi Demonstrations from 2013. It also focuses on the social movements and contentious politics aspect of protest and their progression to a global stage through diffusion, domestication and externalization. The book considers questions about protest, dissent and activist public relations: their definition, their description and their application. It shows that media continues to be an important element in activist communication. The book demonstrates how the activists' use of tactics, such as consciousness raising groups, demonstrations, festivals, petitions, magazines, periodicals and books influenced both policy and cultural changes." (Publisher description)
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"This chapter investigates the relationship between civic networking coalitions and public interest communication, and an opportunity to explore how the coalitions produce 'public interest-forming practices'. It examines the ability of civic networking coalitions to act and, next, to investigate whi
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ch elements need to be in place in order for them to succeed. The chapter provides a theoretical foundation for our analytical framework. It examines the safety of journalists within the Mexican context and presents an examination of two civic networking coalitions, developed in response to the position of journalists in Mexico. The chapter draws some conclusions about the relationship between these civic forming coalitions, journalism and public interest-forming practices. It shows how media movements in the form of civic networking coalitions can successfully use public interest-forming practices, such as campaigning, community-advocacy journalism and media activism, both off- and online in order to disrupt the public space, set the agenda and enhance civic collaborative efforts." (Abstract)
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"In times of increasing mediatization and digitalization media play an important role in political and societal transformation processes. The authors of this volume take an actor-centered perspective to shed light on current cases in Arab and Asian countries. They inquire into the ways processes of
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networking and mobilization evolve in the context of restricted media systems and state-dominated public spheres." (Publisher description)
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"Many factors seem to be coming together in Kenya that can pave the way towards a free, dynamic internet as a space for social and democratic freedoms. On the other hand, the newly re-elected government already exhibited authoritarian tendencies in the last legislative period and indicated – immed
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iately after the (subsequently annulled) elections in August with its crackdown on several NGOs and on several television stations in January 2018 – that these tendencies can be expected to intensify further [...] It therefore remains unclear who will prevail in the medium term. Will the old generation hang on to the resources while the young people occasionally engage in short pinprick campaigns? Or will the internet activists and young politicians succeed in changing the social and political awareness of the younger generation, achieving better political participation opportunities in the long term and thus a chance to gain fairer access to state resources and high-quality government services?" (Conclusions)
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"[This book] reflects on the extent to which films can play an active role in denouncing human rights abuses and exposing the struggle for visibility of different social movements and minorities. This collection explores Latin American cinema’s representations of human rights violators and oppress
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ed subjects and groups. In so doing, it aims to assess the long overdue relation between cinema and human rights in the region, thus opening new avenues to understanding cinema’s role in social transformation. In effect, the chapters relate to at least one of these three main themes: human rights, social movements and activism. They seek to demonstrate the various ways they have been depicted in contemporary Latin American films, especially in the twenty-first century. Together, the chapters reinforce the importance of examining the ways in which contemporary Latin American cinema has explored human rights issues, while offering new perspectives to the study of (trans)national and world cinemas. Moreover, they explore the main themes and concepts covered in the volume in order to reveal the different aesthetic, political, social and historical representations of human rights in cinema." (Introduction, page 2)
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"The results of the questionnaire showed that most Palestinian organizations do think about and deal with media work in general. Since ninety-three percent of the organizations surveyed were already dealing with media, while 58% employed at least one person in a specialist position. Only 32% had a s
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pecialized department dedicated to media work. In terms of a specific strategic approach to media, 61% of the organizations who took part in the questionnaire had a strategic plan for dealing with media; 51% had an annual work plan. However, only 42% stated that they allocated an annual budget for media. In other words, they used funds which are not deducted from project grants. Turning to social media usage, we found that 70% of the organizations tried to finance content through their networks at least once, whereas fifty-four percent of the organizations launched digital awareness campaigns on social media platforms; forty-nine percent of these digital campaigns were part of a media plan. Looking at the prevalence of social media platforms and how they are most widely used, we found that all organizations, even the ones with no website, usually had a Facebook account. In fact, 100% of the organizations surveyed had a Facebook account, hence this was not subject to testing in relation to the other influencing factors. YouTube followed with 75% of the organizations having an account. Fifty-one percent of the organizations had a Twitter account, while 27% had an Instagram account and 18% had a LinkedIn account. Two of the organizations used Soundcloud and two others used Flickr. Vimeo and Google+ were only used by a single organization for each one." (Results and conclsions, page 56-7)
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"This book offers fresh insights on digital activism and cyberconflicts through a comparison of sociopolitical and ethnoreligious movements in Nigeria. Occupy Nigeria, Boko Haram and The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) highlight the digital and organizational aspects of confl
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ict mobilization in contemporary Nigeria." (Publisher description)
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"This Is Not an Atlas gathers more than 40 counter-cartographies from all over the world. This collection shows how maps are created and transformed as a part of political struggle, for critical research or in art and education: from indigenous territories in the Amazon to the anti-eviction movement
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in San Francisco; from defending commons in Mexico to mapping refugee camps with balloons in Lebanon; from slums in Nairobi to squats in Berlin; from supporting communities in the Philippines to reporting sexual harassment in Cairo. This Is Not an Atlas seeks to inspire, to document the underrepresented, and to be a useful companion when becoming a counter-cartographer yourself." (Publisher description)
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