About
About Netfluence.org
We are delighted to announce our new co-authored blog Netfluence.org, which is an investigation into whether and how networked technologies influence political power structures.
The debate on whether internet and mobile technologies are transforming traditional power structures is dominated by three divergent narratives.
According to the first, utopian, narrative, internet and mobile technologies enable individuals to publish and distribute content, self-organize into communities of interest and participate in collective action. As a result, they can create new types of media outlets, build new types of civil society organizations, and monitor, protest against and even bring down governments. Even though these new degrees of freedom are far from universal, they are fundamentally changing political power structures. The future has already arrived, this narrative insists, it’s just not evenly distributed yet.
According to the second, status quo, narrative, power structures are ingrained into our society’s institutions, and internet and mobile technologies don’t really change these institutions, or create new ones. The case studies compiled by the utopians constitute anecdotal evidence, at best, and the influence of networked technologies will always be limited because of issues related to access or ability. So, internet and mobile technologies are a minor influence on political power structures, at best.
According to the third, dystopian, narrative, internet and mobile technologies are, in fact, enabling traditional institutions to further consolidate their power through censorship, surveillance and propaganda. So, even though they give us the illusion of greater power, they have, indeed, compromised our ability to protect our privacy, have access to diverse views, and build real institutions.
Both of us have roots in the digital activism community, so our natural bias is towards the first narrative. However, we have seen enough evidence for and against all three narratives that we felt the need to objectively investigate their relative merits.
We will look at the interplay between networked technologies and political power structure through different lenses. We will explore if the power dynamics between individuals and institutions is changing. We will ask if power is shifting from states to non-state actors. We will also investigate if these technologies are leading to the formation of new types of (non-commercial) (non-)institutions.
By delving into books, academic papers, and news articles, by engaging in formal and informal conversations with thinkers and practitioners, and through first hand involvement in projects that seek to subvert political power through the use of internet and mobile technologies, we will compile a collage of perspectives that will hopefully result in a book worthy of your attention.
About the Authors
Gaurav Mishra is the co-founder of Vote Report India, a collaborative platform to enable Indian citizens to track election irregularities and monitor the performance of elected officials. Gaurav has led research on social media and mobile use in emerging countries as the 2008-09 Yahoo! Fellow at Georgetown University and a 2009 Fellow at the Society for New Communications Research. Gaurav is frequently quoted in in Indian and international media on topics related to social media, digital activism and citizen journalism and is a regular speaker at conferences. Gaurav has contributed chapters to two books on social media and is writing chapters for three forthcoming books on online journalism, digital activism and government 2.0. Gaurav writes a popular blog on social media and social change at Gauravonomics Blog. Contact Gaurav at: gaurav AT netfluence DOT org.
Mary Joyce is the co-founder DigiActive, an all-volunteer organization dedicated to helping grassroots activists around the world use digital tools to increase their impact. She is also a writer, researcher, consultant, and trainer, interested in empowering activists around the world to use technology effectively and strategically. She is the author of “Blog for a Cause!: The Global Voices Guide to Blog Advocacy,” “The Election Blogging Guide,” and “Prospects for e-Advocacy in the Global South,” among others. In 2008 Mary was chosen to be the New Media Operations Manager for President Obama’s election campaign, where she ran day-to-day logistics for the new media department at the Chicago headquarters. Previously, Mary was a master’s student at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a Research Assistant for the Internet and Democracy Project at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, also at Harvard. Contact Mary at: mary AT netfluence DOT org.
For questions and queries, write to: editor AT netfluence DOT org.
