Beyond broadcast. From participatory culture to participatory democracy

In case you missed the MIT event, Beyond Broadcast 2007. Most video presentations , a few of the papers and notes from the working groups are online, with a wealth of additional material.

But what was it all about?

For 50 years broadcast media have played a powerful role in shaping political culture and mediating citizen engagement in the democratic process. Now a participatory culture is putting the tools of media creation and critique in the hands of citizens themselves. We invite you to MIT—to explore the means, the message, and the meaning of the post-midterm, pre-presidential YouTube moment.

That, is, if you believe that the internet and web2.0 support participatory culture, rather than self-expression. What if new media in fact support self-representation? What consequensces for democracy?

Myspace impact

This is MySpace portal for US presidential elections. Not only that, however; it purports to showcase the use of the site for non-profit, civic and political aims, broadly defined. Very worthy, I hear.

But is there a dark site? Is this a nod to politicians? Does MySpace need protection? Why Presidential politics, at the end of the day? Giving a voice to disenchanted youth? Or capitalising on it? Said youth alreaady have a voice, sometimes strident, often abrasive. Take a look at Myspace, the undomesticated variety. Ot at Notapathetic.com. So why of why.

But that's orwellian me, I am sure.

–
Hat tip to Andy Chadwick for the link!

oppositional politics and the internet

In the process of tidying up the cyber-desk, I stumbled across these two PDFs, defintely oldies but goodies.
Well worth a read if you are interested in protest, activism, oppositional politics and new media.

The first is
Oppositional Politics and the Internet: A Critical/Reconstructive Approach
by Richard Kahn and Douglas Kellner

The published version is:

Oppositional Politics and the Internet: a Critical/ Reconstructive Approach
Kahn, Richard; Kellner, Douglas
Cultural Politics: an International Journal, Volume 1, Number 1, March 2005, pp. 75-100(26)

The second is
Oppositional and Activist New Media: Remediation, Reconfiguration, Participation
by Leah A. Lievrouw

Found in
Participatory Design archive - Proceedings of the ninth conference on Participatory design: Expanding boundaries in design - Volume 1
Trento, Italy
Pages: 115 - 124

Year of Publication: 2006

Enjoy!

Call for papers: Changing politics through digital networks

Pencil this in your diaries, the deadline for receipt of the abstracts [500-1000 words] is 17 April 2007

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Changing politics through digital networks: The role of ICTs in the formation of new social and political actors and actions.

5-6 October 2007
Political Science Faculty, University of Florence, Italy

Organized by:
Department of Political Science and Sociology (DISPO), University of Florence in collaboration with the Social Informatics Research Unit (SIRU) based in the Department of Sociology, University of York

Sponsored by: Information, Communication and Society (iCS)

Key note speakers include:

• Lance Bennett (University of Washington, USA)


• Donatella della Porta (European University Institute, Florence, Italy)


• Tim Jordan (Open University UK)


• Michele Micheletti (Karlstad University, Sweden)

It will address such questions as:

How can ICTs be best used to facilitate the formation of social and political identities?
Do the ways ICTs are embedded in new social and political movements contribute to change the sociological content of the relationships between them, their members and their constituency?
How can ICTs be best used to influence political processes and outcomes at local, national and transnational
levels? Theoretical and empirical works focusing on political and sociological aspects of such analytical dimensions as power structures, organization, technologies, communication, individual and collective
behaviors are welcomed.

The full cfp and submission details are available on the symposium website at:

http://www.york.ac.uk/res/siru/dispo/