[Air-L] CFP New W(h)ines in New Bottles? Voicing Protest in the Digital Age, ECPR General Conference Reykjavik 2011
Dan Mercea
dan.mercea at york.ac.uk
Wed Jan 19 02:14:22 PST 2011
Dear All,
Please see the call for papers for the above ECPR panel. If of interest,
make sure you submit your paper proposal by 1 February.
Best regards,
Dan
###
Section ID: *65*
Section Title: *Contentious politics in times of crisis*
<http://www.ecprnet.eu/conferences/general_conference/Reykjavik/section_details.asp?sectionid=65>
*New W(h)ines in New Bottles? Voicing Protest in the Digital Age*
* Panel Abstract*
This panel is jointly coordinated with the section in "Internet and
Politics: Bridging Current Research and Outlining Future Directions.
Civil society is cited as a prerequisite for traditional, stable and
durable democratic systems. It has gained momentum and influence at
local, national and global levels, holding governments accountable,
advocating democratic values as well as implementing programmes and
policies traditionally located within the realm of government. The
increasing importance of networked protest and collective action as a
facet of political contestation is a feature of the modern landscape.
Such collective action engenders new forms of "networked" action and
collaboration that both enhance and to some extent shape offline
contestation. The notion of civil society has been challenged by the
networking possibilities of ICTs (e.g. transnational neo-fascist
movements). ICT's can also have a darker side. With the increasing
impact of ICTs the internal and external structures and functions of
civil society and its relations vis-à-vis government/state are evolving
and changing. Cyberactivism, plays a growing role in influencing
governments. Cyberactivism is often a subject of contestation with
internet use being cajoled by government for some activities but
demonised as vaguely threatening and undemocratic in others. Social
Networking is increasing connectivity not just of social engagements but
also of political concerns and provides springboards for political
campaigns/manifestations. The plethora of social network sites with
their differing formats, contents and memberships provide a major
challenge to governments' hopes of controlling or spinning their
activities. The governments´ responses to this re-personalisation of
collective protest activities range from attempts to contain, restrain
or even demonise cyberactivism, through to utilising ICTs themselves, in
order to influence cyber debates. This panel examines differing forms of
cyberactivism, the rise of globalised virtual netizens as essential
building blocks of civil society in a digitally enabled world, the
formation of a globalised virtual civil society and its meaning for
national governments, the positive/negative impacts of cyberactivism on
policy-making, and governmental reactions.
* Panel Chair(s)*
*Name:* Paul Nixon (P.G.Nixon at hhs.nl) - /Panel Chair/
*Institution:* Hague University of Applied Sciences
*Name:* Rajash Rawal (R.Rawal at hhs.nl) - /Panel Co-Chair/
*Institution:* Hague University of Applied Sciences
--
Dan Mercea, PhD
Teachin Fellow
Department of Sociology
University of York
E:dmm505 at york.ac.uk
T: +44(0)1904 433578
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