Democracy Upgrade

I found this interesting video that discusses digital activism and citizen participation in politics.

Living in this post-modern society, we are constantly connected to the Internet. These virtual connections have the potential to act as a powerful impetus for social change. Yet, we haven't taken full advantage of all of the opportunities to have our voices heard by governmental institutions.

In this TED Talk Pia Mancini questions, "What is democracy in the Internet era?" Mancini argues that citizens should have more access and opportunity to participate in political discourse. Participating and voting online, many citizens would feel more encouraged to become involved with politics because they know their voices can and will be heard by governmental institutions. Countries such as Argentina have already implemented this strategy, which proves their willingness to adapt to this technological era. I feel that it’s only a matter of time until America follows suite.

Turbulent by Shirin Neshat

I was lucky to view this audio-visual installation in person a few years ago. Shirin Neshat's piece literally 'moved' me (as we talked about in class). In any case, I think Neshat's work really examines the rhetorical role of place (and even audience) in protest. For the record, in the actual art installation, the man and women are set on huge screens on opposing walls of a small room. It's as if the man and woman are speaking with each other in a very intimate setting. Sussan Deyhim provides the song and vocals for this work--she's a true genius and her voice is transcendent :)

This latest research on censorship in China informs our discussion about digital activism. In this case, a country actively controls protestors ability to organize via social media. However, China does not target political dissidence specifically.
Mining the Internet for Clues to Chinese Censorship

Pew Research study on "Political Polarization & Media Habits"

This is cool stuff:

http://www.journalism.org/2014/10/21/political-polarization-media-habits/

The Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments

I think many of you might enjoy perusing this little book.

of many levels of interest in our class

I came upon this in my reading this morning: "She Tweeted Against the Mexican Cartels. They Tweeted Her Murder".

The title is sensationalist, but the article describes well the possibilities of social media for local community action when other sources are — for whatever reasons — denied.

The article also describes the risks and consequences of using social media in such contexts, so different  from what you and I experience when we tweet, I assume.

digital activism and my internal compass + a posting from the familiar youtube

Thinking more about researching social activism sites and what exactly I want from an activist site, I soon found something that was sort of like a newspaper website and sort of like a resource for historical/philosophical information (like marxism). This link will direct you to a piece of writing about the disturbing problem in Detroit of policymakers deciding that their people will no longer receive free water.

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/10/01/pers-o01.html

After our class discussion last week, I thought of this video my friend/former roommate had posted on their Facebook page a while back. It is half of an interview with Laverne Cox and Carmen Carrera on the Katie Couric show. I consider myself a white ally and I support the empowerment and efforts of those within the trans community. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx-pMd7Ypm8