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?

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/