Internet: re-connection, hybridity and poiesis

You may as well ask how on earth these three go together. Well.

I was at the PSA conference in Leeds yesterday. There was a panel on 'Internet and politics' broadly defined. Very broadly defined.

First paper by Steve Ward, on UK citizens' uses of the Internet to re-connect with legislators. Very interesting (and I know because I co-authored it ;). I won't say any more than that.

Second paper by Andrew Chadwick, about changing organisational forms, political mobilisation, hybridity and the Internet. He looks at recent case study evidence from the US (including Moveon.org and Deanspace) to see how new media repertoires bring 'old' and 'new' together, in terms of people, resourcing and tactics. But not only: how innovation and adaptation must co-exist, and, crucially, the coming of the a new (political) information age. Highly recommended, read for yourself.

Third paper by Paul Taylor, about, well, this is a tough cookie. About the dominant panglossian view of technology, over the last century or so. And about the (suspect) use of poiesis to rescue the humanism of technology, save radicalism and find solutions to the 'doom and gloom'. But we _are_ doomed, don't you think otherwise. The reading list was impressive, and I ordered a copy of the forthcoming book already, examining the matrix.

Questions were asked as well, but I better go now, will post later.