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New Tactics, Tactical Tech, and our featured resource practitioners participated in an online dialogue from July 8 - 14 on Information Activism: Turning Information into Action. This on-line dialogue is a space for practitioners to share the innovative ways in which they have turned information into action with their advocacy campaigns. Topics discussed included: collecting data, creative ways of visualizing data, digital ways of sharing this information, and the security risks one should evaluate before implementing these activities. This dialogue is a collection of tools and tactics that can help you move your information into action!
As part of these dialogues Tactical Tech premiered video footage from the Info-Activism multi-media handbook which will be launched later this year. This video footage features interviews with info-activists from around the world.
Featured Resource Practitioners
Our featured resource practitioners, leading this dialogue, include (click here for more biographical information):
- Tanya Notley, Bobby Soriano and others from Tactical Tech
- Fredrick Noronha, writer, journalist, blogger and photographer, India
- Noha Atef, editor of Tortureinegypt.net, Egypt
- WITNESS team: Chris Michael, Priscila Neri, and others
- Melissa Gira Grant, writer and sex-worker activist, USA
- Patrick Meier, scholar, activist and writer for DigiActive, USA
- Sally-Jean Shackleton and Lebogang Marishane of Women'sNet, South Africa
- Dr. Dan McQuillan, blogs about open source activism and social innovation at internetartizans.co.uk
Main themes
Please add your comments beneath the following themes:
- What is Info-Activism? How do you define Information Activism?
- Examples of Info-Activism tactics - share the ways that you have used mobiles phones, data visualization, art, video, digital media, etc.
- Incorporating Info-Activism tactics into your strategy - what risks need to be assessed? how do you identify your target audience? what security measures must be put into place?
- Resources - share guides, video, websites, etc helpful to anyone interested in learning more about Info-Activism tactics
A Brief Summary of the Dialogue
The New Tactics Featured Dialogue “Information Activism: Turning Information into Action,” tackled issues of what constitutes ‘information activism,’ where do we see examples of it being used by human rights practitioners, and how can groups successfully incorporate information activism into their own advocacy?
Definitions of information activism were first discussed, starting with a brilliant example of an Indonesian activist who turns woks into wireless devices to extend information throughout society. A striking trend, from the beginning, was the focus on digital information activism, even leading to a discussion on what the difference is between digital activism and information activism. Along with the importance of digital information came the rising problems of censorship, igniting what one discussant termed an information race. Concerns towards the safety and security of activists using digital tools were also raised, along with ways of remaining secure. Finally, a participant from Tactical Tech proposed a neutral definition of information activism, which was silently agreed on, as “the strategic and deliberate use of information within a campaign,” and includes being savvy and engaging with the audience.
After establishing a framework of what informational activism consists of, the dialogue focused on providing examples of info activism to help further conceptualize it. This brainstorm resulted in the following topics:
- Maps (Appalachian Mountaintop Removal, Snow’s charting of Cholera, an in-class mapping of violence, sexual assaults, and alcohol use, Unsung Peace Hero’s use of the Ushaihidi program in Kenya, and tactical mapping at New Tactics)
- Cell Phones & SMS (following the Iranian elections violence, Kenyan elections, East Timor, FrontlineSMS program, Egyptian torture, and Cambodian police violence)
- Internet and Cell Phone Games (A Force More Powerful, Egyptian torture, HIV/AIDS awareness in India, and more)
- Humor (1,2)
The focus on mapping and cell phones brought another aspect into the dialogue concerning the need to reflect upon pre-digital examples of information activism. Coming from this dialogue was the conclusion that new technologies make information activism easier, broader, and quicker, but is not a solve-all solution. While the digital age has brought new tools, the same argumentation, data collection, and engagement that happened in the pre-digital age must be incorporated into activism for the efforts to be successful.
After looking at examples of information activism, the dialogue turned briefly to discussing how organizations can begin to incorporate information activism into their own advocacy. The main theme of this portion of the dialogue was being well-informed. Multiple discussants mentioned the importance of knowing your target, understanding the dynamics of your tactics, having a strategy that accounts for contingencies, and preparing for turning set-backs into potential advantages. A specific problem frequently encountered by human rights advocates is detention, which has been quickly turned into a new protest focus for advocates in Serbia, as one discussant pointed out. This kind of preparation and forethought was the most pressing advice given to organizations interested in incorporating information activism into their own actions. For more detailed suggests see Philippe Duhamel’s interTactica blog.
Finally, the last part of the dialogue consisted of resource sharing, a necessity for information activism itself. Numerous resources were shared, and the following is a list of some of the most comprehensive sources shared, sorted by topic:
- Security Issues from DigiActive, Frontline Defenders, and CommonCraft
- Video Advocacy resources from Witness and New Tactics
- Concerts and local music event resources in Africa and major U.S. cities
- Twitter resources from TortureinEgypt.net and DigiActive
- Plethora of information from Tactical Tech
After sharing these resources of information activism knowledge, a discussant ended the dialogue with an important, and reiterated, point, that 'simple is often better' in advocacy. We should be adept at using new digital and technical tools for our activism, but we must always remain aware of the goal, and be sure that our desire to embrace technology does not interfere with our progress. Overall, a week of discussing information activism proved beneficial in many ways, and participants are encouraged to continue the dialogue and exchange of information regarding their experiences in activism.
---What is 'Info-Activism'?
How do you define:
Hard to define....
Infoactivism can mean so many different things toso many different
people. Here's a friend from Indonesia, with an unusual approach:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_7c_XDmySw&feature=channel_page
Dr Onno Widodo Purbo, who calls himself "an independent ICT writer who dreams to see a knowledge-based society in Indonesia."
In short, what he was doing was to take a wok -- the versatile
round-bottomed cooking vessel originating in China -- added on a wifi
pen drive, and manage to create rough-and-ready and cheap tool to
extend the wireless capacity of your computer. In this way, one could
link up dozens of others while sharing a single fat pipe to the Net.
This
makes Net access a whole new ball game, specially in resource-poor,
talent-rich countries where most can't afford the luxury of the
internet.
Information has power in itself: to transform, to improve lives, to
bring about equity and fairness... but, much also depends on how one
uses it. And that's a political issue...
FN * http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/fn
M +91-9822122436 P +91-832-2409490
http://fredericknoronha.multiply.com/ http://goa1556.goa-india.org
FN * http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/fn
M +91-9822122436 P +91-832-2409490
http://fredericknoronha.multiply.com/ http://goa1556.goa-india.org
One definition of Info-Activism
Thanks for sharing that great example of broadening a community's access to information by using simple resources - and using them creatively! Now that access to the internet is possible - I wonder what they will do with it.
Making information available and accessible is an important part of Info-Activism, and I'm glad that you have introduced this topic, Fredrick. If Info-Activism is defined as the following (I received this definition from Tanya of Tactical Tech a little while ago):
Info-Activism is what happens when rights advocates turn information about their issue into action that will address it. Info-Activism involves the strategic use of tools and tactics for social change.
...I wonder what other ways communities have creatively set up methods of accessing information?
I am also looking forward to reading examples of how practitioners have turned their information into action without the use of internet.
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
info-activism as a political issue and increasing restrictions
Thanks Fred,
I am glad for internet circumvention tools (www.torproject.org/) so I could watch this video you mentioned since YouTube is blocked here in Turkey where I am writing from! It was a really interesting story.
I have been thinking about your comment:
"Information has power in itself: to transform, to improve lives, to bring about equity and fairness... but, much also depends on how one uses it. And that's a political issue..."
Like Kristin says, at Tactical Tech we tend to think of info-activism as the process (strategy, tactics and tools) involved in turning information into action.
I think we would all agree that the way information is accessed, created and distributed has been changing rapidly in recent years. This is I think largely the result of new technologies such as the internet and mobiles phones and the increasing popularity of online services like Blogging platforms, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook which have created greater opportunities for dynamic information sharing, content collaboration and self-publishing. The potential for digital tools and services to contribute to human rights advocacy work has also increased considerably as new ICTs have become cheaper and more accessible to people living in marginalised communities and progressively more interlaced: mobile phones feed into websites, websites become interactive radio stations, and the offline and online world increasingly interconnect.
But just as emerging technologies bring new opportunities, they also present new challenges by introducing new methods for suppression, censorship and breaches of privacy. I would love to know people's thoughts on this. It seems as though censorship in the form of blocking popular online services like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter has been on the rise recently, at times most critical for info-activism work: for example when Twitter was blocked post-elections in Iran (a critical piece on ability of Twitter to help organise: http://bit.ly/mEgvN) and during the violent clashes in northwest China (http://bit.ly/mEgvN).
I don't know what effect this is having now or will continue to have in the future. But I guess it is making us all think about how to prepare better for this kind of state censorship, monitoring and control when we are using digital tools to advocate for human rights? It seems as though dgital tools that protect our privacy and allow us to circumvent restrictions are becoming just as important as the tools that allow us to actually do things like create media and mobilise people.
Any experiences or thoughts?
Cheers
Tanya
Tanya Notley
Tactical Tech
www.tacticaltech.org
Tanya Notley Tactical Tech www.tacticaltech.org
A wider audience learning about insurrectionary tactics
The people who prepare for these things in advance will always be a minority :) What was fascinating for me about #iranelection was seeing a much wider group of people suddenly having to consider issues like disinformation and information warefare. Hence the popularity of posts like cyberwar guide for beginners.
i agree with you that "digital tools that protect our privacy and allow us to circumvent
restrictions are becoming just as important as the tools that allow us
to actually do things like create media and mobilise people". I'd take it a step further and say that anyone who uses these tools for campaigning should also be active in protecting online civil liberties (see also eCampaigning for Internet Freedom)
dan
Dr. Dan McQuillan, blogs about open source activism and social innovation at internetartizans.co.uk
Dr. Dan McQuillan, blogs about open source activism and social innovation at internetartizans.co.uk
Successful civil resistance requires planning
Yes, the people who prepare for civil resistance will always by definition be a minority; this is a tautology. But it is precisely the responsibility of this minority to garner wide-ranging support from multiple pillars of society. This is a fundamental principle of nonviolent civil resistance. Spontaneous resistance is rarely more effective and sustainable than protest actions that are carefully planned.
- Patrick Meier
Patrick Meier, Ushahidi
Distributed networks, censorship, and Twitter
I wanted to speak back to this bit of your reply, Tanya:
...just as emerging technologies bring new opportunities, they also
present new challenges by introducing new methods for suppression,
censorship and breaches of privacy. I would love to know people's
thoughts on this. It seems as though censorship in the form of blocking
popular online services like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter has been on
the rise recently, at times most critical for info-activism work...
In the case of Twitter and YouTube, distributed networks have offered some workarounds for censorship. For example, the website Twitter.com could be shut down, but tweets (I am still not comfortable with that word!) could still get through via SMS, IM, and third-party desktop applications. Watching how a tool like Twitter is becoming even more divorced from its own website, how mobile are what make it so useful, and how difficult it is to shut down every avenue to access --- every port and proxy, all the cell networks -- gives me some optimism for creative ways we can work around forms of government/state censorship that rely on just cutting off access to a series of websites.
Adoption isn't as wide as it would need to be, but for example, if one can use a cell network to upload video online, or to send it from phone to phone using Bluetooth or similar, eventually a video could make it far enough out of the range of censorship to end up online.
So on the one hand, tools like Tor are important, but also working on building these networks where information can flow peer-to-peer directly in the case of censorship seems equally powerful.
As another point, that we don't know very well what we can expect from a service like YouTube or Facebook when it comes to them responding to requests to pull information down -- that concerns me very much, as well. Where is the transparency on the part of these commercial services? It seems to come down to a service-by-service process. I have heard that Wordpress, for example, is very thoughtful in how they evaluate requests to block their site and have pushed back when told to take down blogs. But so long as we have to rely on allies inside of these companies to do our work, I'm wary of advocating them to activists without a lot of caveats.
Melissa Gira Grant, writer and sex-worker activist, USA
Melissa Gira Grant, writer and sex-worker activist, USA
Universal Declaration of Human Rights v. Terms of Service
We can safely say that we can't rely on these companies to stand firm for freedom of expression. A good example is the way youtube suspended the account of Wael Abbas (publisher of the police torture videos).
The problem lies in the radical difference between the ideals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the realities of the Terms of Service agreements we sign up to when using online services. One idea i was proposing was a Freedom of Expression League Table for Web 2.0.
There is a positive side, which is the mobilizing effect that apparent censorship can have within these online spaces. Sometimes there's a community revolt!
Dan
Dr. Dan McQuillan, blogs about open source activism and social innovation at internetartizans.co.uk
Dr. Dan McQuillan, blogs about open source activism and social innovation at internetartizans.co.uk
Open video as a human right
Witness presented on this theme exactly -- where does the universal declaration of human rights extend to open platforms online -- at the Open Video Conference last month at New York University. Here's that presentation:
https://www.miroguide.com/items/2242758
Melissa Gira Grant, writer and sex-worker activist, USA
Melissa Gira Grant, writer and sex-worker activist, USA
Safety, security, ethics in online media...
Thanks Tanya, Melissa, and Dan for bringing up such a critical topic.
As you both mention, the same way new technologies are increasingly used by human rights activists to get the word out, they are also used by repressive governments to track, suppress, and persecute activists. In addition to that, there are also questions about safety, security, context, consent, ethics we ourselves must consider when reposting and sharing media online... Here are a few cases we've come across in recent months:
1) SAFETY/SECURITY- Burma: After the massive 2007 monk-led protests known as the Saffron Revolution, the military government in Burma systematically hunted down more than 1000 people who had filmed, distributed, or appeared in the footage of the protests. (more on that in this post by my colleague Sam Gregory: Burma: Shooting, owning, sharing, watching video, shouting with glee at a TV broadcast...can earn you years in jail
2) SAFETY/SECURITY- Tibet: Two Tibetan filmmakers were arrested and tortured after making a film inside Tibet called Leaving Fear Behind. The people shown in the film, some of which asked to have their identities concealed and others which were adamant about showing their identities, were also at risk after the film started circulating online. Here are some of the risks we considered when deciding whether or not to publish the video on the Hub: Leaving Fear Behind - The Risks We Considered
3) SAFETY/SECURITY: The flood of citizen video from Iran in recent weeks has sparked new concern about what will happen to the people whose faces are shown in the footage... According to the son of an Iranian opposition leader, hundreds of people were arrested and tortured after the protests that happened in Iran in 1999 - simply for appearing on video in the protests..
4) ETHICS/HUMAN RIGHTS VALUES: A recent video from the protests in Iran, which showed a young woman named Neda as she was shot and killed on camera, spread like wildfire on the internet but also presented interesting questions on the ethics of bearing witness and preserving Neda's human dignity... we wrote about that here: Iran Protests: A Woman Dies on Camera - to post or not to post?
So while we want and need to spread the word about these abuses and atrocities, what human rights values and considerations should we think through before doing so?
Looking forward to other people's thoughts and experiences with this, it's always a tricky dilemma to navigate..
Thanks!
Priscila (WITNESS)
Digital Security: technologies and non-tech tactics
Hi All, I’ve already posted DigiActive’s quick guide on how to communicate securely in repressive regimes (http://www.digiactive.org/2009/06/26/secure-comm) but want to emphasize the need to think about digital security in two ways: technologies and non-technology tactics. While the former is critical, I find that the latter is often ignored, which is in part why I wrote the quick guide. We revert to technological solutions quickly because they are often a quick fix, but this makes us less creative about offline tactics.
- Patrick Meier
Patrick Meier, Ushahidi
Important to know the software/technologies of governments
Hi Tanya, thanks for your comments. It is indeed important to understand what tools and technologies repressive regimes have recourse to. As Sun Tzu says in Art of War:
So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a thousand battles without a single loss.
If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.
If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.
In a way, we are in an information race of sorts. While repressive regimes seek to impose information blockades, digital activists seek ways around said blockades. There is thus a learning dynamic involved, and it is important that we learn as much about a regime’s increasing ability to monitor and censor. This often means knowing exactly which software/technologies they purchase from Western private sector companies such as Cisco, Siemens, Nokia, etc.
The Open Net Initiative is a good group to follow on Internet filtering abilities of many governments around the world:
http://opennet.net/
And I recommend their book “Access Denied”:
http://opennet.net/accessdenied
- Patrick Meier
Patrick Meier, Ushahidi
Info Activism
In the scholarly literature info activism is an element of action research (Lewin), and often erroneously referred to as participatory action research (PAR). I've also seen the the concept community or participatory monitoring used to describe the phenomenon.
In academia, we study info activism as a part of social movement theory, community studies, sociology of knowledge, resource mobilization, and so on. I don't feel any need to define info activism either as a scholar or citizen as I think it encompases a much broader complex system of action and motivation.
Back in the 1990s, Cornell Participatory Action Research Network
actually studied "info activism" from a PAR and knowledge
perspective, This leads me to ask why info activism and not "knowledge activism"? Susan
Re: Info-Activism and Participatory Action Research
HI Susan
Thanks for this post. I would love to see specific titles of works on the concept of info-activism because I have never seen the term used before in academia. Can you suggest any?
I think that Participatory Action Research (PAR) could be info-activism but as someone who has used this methodology often I personally do not think it is just the same thing. There are many PAR projects I have worked on that I would not consider to be examples of info-activism.
PAR by its very nature aims to turn information into action...but I believe info-activism has a much more concerted, strong rights focus.
It is interesting to me to think about the link though, so thanks for this.
Cheers!
----
Dr. Tanya Notley
Skills Building Team Leader
www.tacticaltech.org
E: tanya [at] tacticaltech [dot] org
Tanya Notley Tactical Tech www.tacticaltech.org
Yes, PAR is also a tools of info- activism
I totally agreed with Dr. Tanya that PAR also strong tools
of info activism. Personally, I am in PAR projects in Bangladesh and I seem here peoples are very interested of the process. I asked them why are they happy to work with PAR group? They told me through the process they learn where is there rights, who are responsible to provide service to them, what's the way to clime their right, how to ask for safety net facility. So, I feeled now yes, PAR is also info activism and PAR animator is also a activist!
Yes, PAR is also a tool of info- activism
I totally agreed with Dr. Tanya that PRA also strong tools
of info activism. Personally, I am in PRA projects in Bangladesh and
I seem here peoples are very interested of the process. I asked them why are
they happy to work with PRA group? They told me through the process they learn
where is there rights, who are responsible to provide service to them, what's
the way to clime their right, how to ask for safety net facility. So, I feeled
now yes, PRA is also info activism and PRA animator is also a activist!
Masud
masud [at] pran-bd [dot] org
Participatory Resaerch & Action Network- PRAN, Bangladesh
Info Activism
I agree
that Information Activism is hard to define. We come to it from different
perspectives and with different practices. And we conceptualise it in different
ways too. I have been influenced by Alfred Kahn and his view of what
information could achieve in neighbourhood information centers – ideas from
back in the 1960s – and so I could make a case for information activism being
old intentions carried out in new ways. Kahn and his co-workers identified a
range of purposes that information had in the local community development
process: it could increase what people knew, it was the basis for advice in the
hands of experts, it referred people to others sources of information or
expertise, it was a prompt to action, it was the basis for advocacy, it could give
a broader perspective on issues and it could allow trends to emerge.
Community-based research could also be the basis for calling decision-makers
and governments at any level to account. When I first read Keck and Sikkink’s
Activists Beyond Borders, I related to their four types of politics,
information politics, symbolic politics, leverage politics and accountability
politics, as information activism, based as they are on the use of information to achieve positive
social change.
But is this
old wine in new bottles? I’ve come to the conclusion that it isn’t. It’s a new
practice, carried out by people who are working to the limits of their
imagination and the possibilities of the technology available to them. So it's soemthing different. Susan
says that she doesn’t feel the need to define Info Activism – and part of me
agrees with her – it is a practice, something which we do and which we
experience. But insofar as it is also something that we think about, it is
something we conceptualise, and so we need words to convey that
conceptualisation.
Hilary
btw I agree
with Dan that the issues of suppression of information, persecution of those
perceived to disseminate unpopular ideas and censorship in general are not new,
but that new technologies and their impacts bring these issues to a much
broader range of people. And I guess that is one of the key characteristics of
Info Activism, that it is within the reach of a broad range of people.
Definitions: Info-Activism, Tools, Tactics
Alright, so what do we mean by 'Info-Activism,' anyway? Here are a few definitions from Tactical Tech to get us all on the same page for this dialogue.
Info-Activism is what happens when rights advocates turn information about their issue into action that will address it. Info-Activism involves the strategic use of tools and tactics for social change.
In Info-Activism
Tactics are the approaches that are used to strategically address a goal. Each tactic should target a specific and defined audience and it should be used to convey messages that will appeal to that audience's tastes, habits and interests. Tactics may include the use of humour to appeal to a young audience or the use of group mobilisation to bring about a collective action; it may involve visualising complex data to get a message across clearly or broadcasting personal stories to ensure these experiences are heard by those who have the power to change the situation.
Tools are a media vehicle – they are what you use to implement your tactics. Tools may include things like comics strips, mobile phone video or text messages, posters, a public sound installation, a video documentary, a group on a social network site.
Watch a short video made by Tactical Tech by going to http://blip.tv/file/1314353/
Do you have a different understanding of these terms? Do you have more terms to define regarding this kind of activism? Please share these terms and definitions here!
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Definitions: Strategy and Tactics
I think it is important to point out the definitions of, and relationship between strategy and tacitcs.
Here at New Tactics, we often say 'Strategy defines what is important to do, tactics embody how to do it.' A strategy is the long-term plan, where as the tactics are the short-term activites and techniques that are used along the way to move you closer to your goal. Doug Johnson, the director of the Center for Victims of Torture, wrote in the introduction of the New Tactics Book:
The relationship between “the what” and “the how” is an important one
in understanding — and demystifying — the concepts of strategy and
tactics. Tactics — which may be activities, systems, techniques or even
institutions — are one of the key building blocks of strategy.
(For more information from New Tactics on strategy and tactics, visit our collection of resources on Tactics and Tactical Innovation.)
Though our strategies might be very different, and the issues and geographic regions varied - we still have so much to share with each other regarding the tactics being used. I hope that we can use this dialogue as a place to share these tactics, as well as the tools that can be used to implement these tactics.
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Definition: Digital Activism
I want to offer another term and definition from 'DigiActive.org' that might be helpful to refer to during this dialogue:
Digital activism: the methods by which citizens use digital tools to effect social and political change.
Pretty straight forward, right? So what do we mean by 'digital tools'? DigiActive has a list of digital tools on their website, but certainly the list is not exhaustive:
You can find out more about DigiActive and their mission by going to http://www.digiactive.org/about/
You can watch a short video on youtube created by DigiActive titled 'The New Change-Makers: An Introduction to Digital Activism.'
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Activism for digital empowerment
This is another interpretation I guess kantin. I'm describing efforts to leverage access to information rather than activism based on digital tools. Though it is increasingly based on increasing use of digital tools, for us it begins with arguing the case for digital inclusion, as part of social end economic inclusion
http://www.p-ced.com/about/history/
Jeff
Digital Activism & Info-Activism: where do they meet?
Hi Kristin,
Thanks for the definition. In my mind digital activism and info-activism have a lot of overlap. While digital activism looks at the new tactics and strategies made possible by networked technologies, info-activism focuses on the content being disseminated - the information. As I understand it, some info-activism happens offline and has no direct connection to technology, while some info-activism happens online, using the tools and tactics that are part of the realm of digital activism.
Also, digital activism as we write about it on DigiActive.org focuses more on social dynamics than content. We are most interested in how networked individuals can work together for change than on the information flowing through that network.
In the end I think the digital activism and info-activism are complementary. We are often both trying to understand, explain, and improve the same phenomena.
"Info-Activism" is the use of technology for people's campaigns
For us activists, info-activism is arousing, organizing and mobilizing the people for their rights with integration of technology. Info-activism enhances the usual tactics in campaigns.
Activists has used information in their campaigns even before existing technologies. Correct analysis of concrete conditions came from unbiased information. Using info-activism, defining tactics on particular issues becomes a bit easier.
Infoactivism is activism with conscious use of existing digital technology to help grassroots campaigns.
A 40 second video: What is Info-Activism
This short vdeo was made by Tactical Tech a few years ago: http://blip.tv/file/1314353
Tanya Notley
Tactical Tech
www.tacticaltech.org
Tanya Notley Tactical Tech www.tacticaltech.org
Info-Activism Definition
I'd define info-activism as the strategic and deliberate use of Information within a campaign. It's not necessarily digital or internet-based, in fact it often isn't one of those two things at all. It's when advocate's and activists are savvy at getting information out to their audience and also at engaging their targets.
info-activism handbook
Hey everyone!
At TTC we are currently working on a multimedia handbook for Information Activism and aiming to release it in September on DVD and online.
With the handbook we want to provide human rights advocates with tactics, tools and tips for turning information into action and social change. There will be an introductory animation outlining the concept of info-activism, a box filled with printed cards with practical exercises and case studies and ten video's describing ten specific tactics through interviews with over twenty human rights advocates from around the world. All these will be usable for trainings, workshops and meetings like strategic planning sessions.
Here's a link to an outake from the project to just the audio file of the introductory animation (From the voices of info-activists) :
http://blip.tv/file/2337823
I'll post a few more including video very soon. As we are still working on the handbook we'de really love to get any feedback on how you guys feel about what we've got so far :)
Marcin
Not only exposing unknown information & Greenpeace's latest
One of the most pertinent lessons I have learned is that the best place to hide something is on the internet. In the 21st Century, individuals are constantly confronted with information, almost all of which is quickly forgotten or never even acknowledged. Therefore, information activism has a new task: no longer is it sufficient to expose information, now activists must be creative and find ways to get it remembered. This is a substantial change from the activists of the pre-cell phone and internet world. Greenpeace's actions are always focused at creatively displaying their message and information, not to expose information, but to highlight it.
Yesterday, Greenpeace hung an enormous poster at Mt. Rushmore urging the G8 to take measures to stop global warming. A month earlier a giant mock polar bear was left infront of government offices in D.C., creating another media stunt to remind the public that their elected representatives were faced with climate related legislation. None of this is 'new' information. Instead, it is creatively bringing already public and freely exposed information to the front of peoples' minds. This is exactly the kind of strategy that often needs to be taken up by information activists today.
Phillip Paiement
New Tactics Intern
Phillip Paiement New Tactics Intern
Turning information into action
Turning information into action is a very nice dialogue and the same has relevant context with the Human Rights situation in the District of Swat and over all in Pakistan and their so many examples that by visualizing the scenes and sharing the information through digital gate way
The whole world and the entire nation come to know about the whipping of 17 years Swati girls and her humiliation when Taliban publicly whipped a teenage girl in a mediaeval fashion on the charge of her being involved in illicit relations here. According to the video received by the media, the girl wearing red dress was forced upside down on the floor and she was seen whipped on the hip.
Earlier also, Taliban had whipped closed-door several women for flesh trade, but this is for the first time a woman was whipped publicly. The woman was heard hysterically crying with pain, while she was laid upside down by the three brave stout Talibans.
By presenting the information in the digitalized manner the world and the entire nation came to know about the human rights and especially women rights situation in District Swat and Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took a suo motu notice of the media footage in which a 17 year old girl is being whipped out in the broad daylight in Swat. The matter was presented before a large bench on and summoned secretary of interior, chief secretary and other officials
The information has created immense pressure on the government to cease the peace deal with the Taliban and hence the security forces operation was launched to eliminate the extremists and militants. The footage and video of this un human acts creates vigilance in the local people especially women and the entire nation. The same has a positive impact on the local women, being illiterate , as the women were supporting the Taliban and Taliban leader on the basis of religious believes and hence aware the women about the real faces and creates awareness among them about their basic rights
Amjad Ali
Amjad Ali
How do we highlight less dramatic, equally-critical trends?
While not discounting the importance of such issues (and these are indeed important), my question is, how do we highlight less dramatic but equally-critical trends that control our lives in less visible fashion?
For instance, media censorship is often stark and ugly in parts of the so-called 'developing' world. But what happens when we have an unjust situation which is neatly covered up, and barely noticed, in the more affluent parts of the globe?
The media may not be censored in the affluent world, but it is certainly manipulated wholesale. And this is far more difficult to highlight. Or, isn't it? FN
--
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"640K ought to be enough for anybody." - Bill Gates
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Resources.
I have a published paper in Torture journal entitled Human Rights Abuses, Transparency, Impunity and the Web that is avaiable at this URL http://www.ahc.umn.edu/bioethics/facstaff/miles_s/home.html or it can be googled directly. If anyone would like the PowerPoint version, just email me at miles001 [at] umn [dot] edu
Steven Miles
University of Minnesota
miles001 [at] umn [dot] edu
Steven Miles
University of Minnesota
miles001 [at] umn [dot] edu
---Examples of Info-Activism tactics
Share the ways that you have used mobiles phones, data visualization, art, video, digital media, mapping, facebook, twitter, etc etc to turn information into action for your human rights campaign. These info-activism tools can be used to: locate and unpack complex data, mobilize people, let people ask questions, witness and record, investigate and expose, visualize your message, amplify personal stories, use collective intelligence, manage your contacts, and adding humor.
If possible, please include:
Examples of Info-Activism from before the Digital Age
Using the Tactical Technology Collective definition of Info-Activism:
Info-Activism is what happens when rights advocates turn
information about their issue into action that will address it.
Info-Activism involves the strategic use of tools and tactics for
social change.
John Snow and Florence Nightingale are two examples of turning information into social change. Their work predates the internet and reminds us that modern technology is merely a tool and not the strategy.
John Snow mapped Cholera clusters around Broad Street to demonstrate his hypothesis that Cholera is being spread by contaminated well-water.
From Wikipedia: "Snow later used a spot map to illustrate how cases of cholera were centred around the pump. He also made a solid use of statistics to illustrate the connection between the quality of the source of water and cholera cases."
Another practitioner of info-activism was Florence Nightingale . In her article, Florence Nightingale: The passionate statistician, Julie Rehmeyer describes Nightingale as a statistician and as a contributor to graphing through using a Coxcomb graph to show the number of death in military hospitals and the causes of those deaths.
While technology allows us to make work easier and faster, the examples of Snow and Nightingale are instructive. As activists our primary tools will continue to be education and manual work.
--
Samir Nassar
Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow - 2009
New Tactics in Human Rights Project
CVT, Restoring the Dignity of the Human Spirit
Samir Nassar - Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow - 2009
Twitter: http://twitter.com/samirnassar - LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/samirnassar
Using maps in the digital age to communicate impact of abuse
Thanks, Samir, for the great examples of using maps to inform an audience on an issue and to communicate its impact! I'd like to share one examples of how this same idea has been used in the past few years to communicate the impact of mountain top removal for coal mining in the USA.
Interested in using maps for your campaign? Check out Tactical Tech's great guide to using maps for advocacy! This guide includes case studies, descriptions of procedures and methods, and a review of data sources.
How have you used maps in your campaign?
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Using maps in the digital age to communicate impact of abuse
I really like the idea of using maps for digital activism.
I recently taught a class in which I asked students to use Google Earth to track incidents of sexual assaults, other kinds of violence and student drinking around campus. The results were startling: we could really begin to see how these kinds of variables might be connected.
mapping imapct of abuse
Hi Misha
a good idea - i especially like the idea of mapping smaller, more contained spaces like a campus where those connections are clear and the community is contrained enough to make change more manageable.
We are developing a project mapping violence against women in south africa - using the ideas of a british research project called "mapping the gaps" in which gaps in service delivery become so obvious when you map services on incidences of violence.... another example of how maps make those links glaringly obvious! We also plan to create visual profiles of 'hot spots' for violence - for instance in open fields where there is not lighting and long grass - we then advocate for change (cut grass, get lighting working) and then map impact of those changes.....
currently, these are plans in submission to funder! holding thumbs...!
http://womensnet.org.za, Johannesburg South Africa:
Taking a BYte out of Gender Injustice
http://womensnet.org.za, Johannesburg South Africa:
Taking a BYte out of Gender Injustice
Mapping relationships
Thanks Sally-Jean and Misha for raising the issue of mapping and the many ways in mapping can be used.
New Tactics has developed a methodology called Tactical Mapping - this is a method of visualizing relationships, organizations, and institutions involved in sustaining human rights abuses, as well as potential relationships for building support and collaboration to overcome abuses. Then using that information to identify potential tactics for making an impact; tracking the
nature and potency of tactics available to affect these systems; and ultimately serving as a tool to monitor the implementation of a strategy.
Good luck with your currently pending proposal and let us know if you're interested to use our New Tactics tool as well - now or in the future.
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Mapping Relationships
please i am already a member.should i propose topic for discussion or how? how can i take part on the dialogue on line?
Old wine in a new bottle?
Interesting! Does this imply that "information activism" is just old wine in a new bottle then?
While I don't dispute the above reality, I also think that what makes a difference now is:
Just a few random thoughts... FN
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I am not quite sure that I
I am not quite sure that I was making the case for "Old wine in a new bottle" but there is a ring of truth to it.
I was first and foremost making the case that information activism has deep historical roots that activists and human rights practitioners forget at their own peril. The Nightingale and Snow examples are a strong reminder that information activism is primarily human-powered.
While technology makes the dissemination of information easier, faster and available to wider audiences, that very speed and breadth can trick us into thinking that the technology is the strategy and not the tool. Recent reportingon Iran underscores this.Somehow the message that many took away from events in Iran is that a group of individuals with access to information dissemination strategies somehow make a social movement. While tools like Twitter and Facebook were powerful at spreading the information faster than news organizations were able to or allowed themselves to be, they did not create movements. In fact, the echo-chamber effect and the creation of Twitter accounts that spread disinformation as well as Twitter users who are merely too ill-informed quickly spoiled the quality of information coming through those channels.
While I completely understand the pressure for communities, or even whole societies, to push towards the digital, there is a great risk of going forward without understanding what the digital is and how easily it is subverted by those who have better understanding of the technology and more resources to block your message. More importantly, the focus on digital technology at the expense of mastering the most basic of communication skills can be paralyzing when the digital tools go away or are taken away.
Activists everywhere are almost always better served by building core strengths of learning the essentials of written and spoken communication before anything else. If you live in the Third World then having command of English or another language is by far more important than using Twitter or creating a Facebook group. The ability to articulate well-reasoned arguments and anticipate counter-arguments are the primary tools of information activism. The ability to analyze and communicate quantitative data to create information is so essential that the lack of that skill is near deadly.
Once activists have the essential skills of argumentation, communication, writing and data analysis, then digital technologies become powerful tools that allow us to collect, mix and create new information to aid us in bringing about social change.
--
Samir Nassar
- Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow - 2009
Twitter: http://twitter.com/samirnassar - Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/samirnassar - Website: http://samirnassar.com
Samir Nassar - Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow - 2009
Twitter: http://twitter.com/samirnassar - LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/samirnassar
wine and info-activism
Just one comment -- Fred there is not such a thing as new wine in an old
bottle :-) unless you are cheating your friends. Wine is an interesting
metaphor though as it has been made known for centuries and produced pretty much in the same way since. However, even though the winemaking process is the same the grapes taste different every season depending on many factors and in this way they bring various new flavors.
So just imagine this scenario: thanks to the global warming the weather
on the whole planet becomes as friendly to wine grapes as it is in
southern France or California -- and everybody is able to make their own
wine. That is exactly what has happened to information over the last ten
years thanks to new forms of information and communication exchange
(internet, mobiles) as well as access to tools that enable people to represent complex stories in visually effective ways.
As an experienced veteran of digital revolution, even you Fred were probably not able to imagine 10 years ago that there would be a time that the second most popular search website would be a video hosting website (YouTube) whose content is mostly created by ordinary folk. Or that there would be satellite images of the earth available free to all allowing people to create their own interpretation of geo-spacial-political issues (not just google maps either!). And who would have thought that there would be millions of blog reporters and writers covering issues and events right across the globe and so on so on....
Seems like the audience of this discussion is well aware of all of this but it easy to forget that what has happened in terms of access and use of information in the past 10 years has been remarkable and it has changed what we can do and ultimately how power operates and is contested.
I dont think that we at Tactical Tech care much about coining terms - we decided to use Info-Activism as a short way of saying 'information activism'. We used this terms instead of digital activism because this is the area of our work --
the point where digital and analogue (offline) methods of gathering, analysing and distributing information meet. There are as many limits to digital activism
just as there are benefits. I hope someone will post something about the
privacy and security challenges ( i can only refer to our work with
Frontline Defenders here - http://security.ngoinabox.org).
The other reason we dont focus on digital activism is that only about 20% of population and access to internet and about one third of population to mobiles...digital-activism simply does not address issues of the majority of us and in particular marginalised communities - that we work with.
The other aspect of Information Activism worth mentioning here is
related to visualisation and representation of information. So far we
have written two guides that both give an interesting overview of
how graphics and maps have recently changed our ability to tell multilayer
stories and represent complex data.
http://www.tacticaltech.org/mapsforadvocacy
http://www.tacticaltech.org/infodesign
While geographical mapping now often employs digital tools such as Google Maps or IBM project maneyes (http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/home) the actual conceptualisation of visualisation can be maintained
in digital free environement and also turned into not digital forms
of representation such as stencils, hand made stickers, graffiti, street
theatre --you name it. What HAS changed though is the spread of information
through the use of new tactics and tools-- we are getting much quickly inspired as we learn from one another about what is possible and what works !
And we can also more clearly see the impact of what we do using online analytics tools that give us research data which years ago was only accessible to the most persistent and dedicated researchers. :-)
m
Effective low/non-tech approaches to info-activism
Great points, I very much appreciate the reference to information activism before the digital age as we forget too quickly how effective and powerful low/non-tech approaches can be. Subversive art, stickers, fliers (especially when dropped from the top of buildings for maximum dispersion), remain important.
I found this article on “How to Protest without Twitter” quite appealing:
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/worldview/090619/mass-protests-methods
I’d also like to emphasize the field of strategic civil resistance and in particular Gene Sharp’s list of 198 tactics for nonviolent action:
http://www.peacemagazine.org/198.htm
- Patrick Meier
Patrick Meier, Ushahidi
Examples of Info-Activism from before the Digital Age
Samir -
Thanks. These are great examples. Anyone wanting to learn more about Snow and his exploration of the cholera epidemic in London should read The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson http://www.theghostmap.com/
Re:
Are there any examples of people using mobile technology for human rights and government accountability? How would a person get involved with that?
Transmitting vote tallies by mobile phone to prevent tampering
One of the tactics in the New Tactics in Human Rights Tactics Database is close: Transmitting vote tallies by mobile phone to prevent tampering
--
Samir Nassar
Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow - 2009
New Tactics in Human Rights Project
CVT, Restoring the Dignity of the Human Spirit
Samir Nassar - Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow - 2009
Twitter: http://twitter.com/samirnassar - LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/samirnassar
From DigiActive.org: Citizen Media and the Iranian Protests
Thanks for the conversation starter, NEFFME! I hope we'll see many examples added here.
I did a quick look at the DigiActive site (www.digiactive.org) and clicked on Mobiles Phones under 'Tools you can use.' The third post listed is on the use of mobile technology during the recent Iranian Protests. Citizens were able to report out on the protests quickly by using their mobile phones to take photos and video. This is one example of using mobile tech to disseminate information for the sake of government accountability.
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Re: Mobile Phones and violations
Specifically I'm looking for something that doesn't have to do with elections. For instance, I read about a system they have in Kenya where voters can text their representatives with concerns.
Is there anything else like that out there?
Campaign: “No More Than 24!” Cabinet Ministers for Kenya
I believe that the campaign that you are referring to, NEFFME, is the 'No More than 24!' campaign organized by Kenyans for Peace and Justice (KPTJ). KPTJ made public the mobile numbers of 59 MPs and urged citizens to SMS each of MP directly. DigiActive has posted information on this campaign on their website. In this post, Mary Joyce writes:
The Mzalendo site hosts a list of 59 MP mobile phone numbers for people to use in the action.
“Given the current impasse, there is still an opportunity to urge OUR
elected representatives to stop being selfish and to put the nation’s
interest before their personal interests,” states the site. “It adds
strength to your sms if you personalize it by addressing the MP
directly,” the site recommends. “e.g., ‘Mr. Saitoti, Kenyans want a
lean, clean cabinet.’”
Unfortunately, the campaign was not successful in limiting the number political representatives to 24. Does anyone have any insight on what this group could have done differently? As NEFFME asks, is anyone familiar with similar campaigns?
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Inspiring (but...)
Hello from East Timor, where I am working with a number of partner organizations aligned against a potentially negative new Land Law. I found the Kenya example rather inspirational, even if it did not achieve the concrete policy change.
Relating to the Land Law issue here there is an "info activism" angle, that is, the time allowed for consultation is not sufficient (initially 2 mos, now 3 mos) and average people have little access to digestable information and no realistic way of making a technical submission to Parliament. (http://easttimorlegal.blogspot.com/2009/07/rede-ba-rai-calls-for-effecti...)
Timorese civil society is doing its best to interpret the Law and promote debate but it is a race against time.
So on my own I have been daydreaming up a way of using SMS to send small "submissions" to parliament. Problem is, we will have trouble finding somebody to champion this here... Everybody is in the defensive mode and it's not easy to ask people to carve out time to strategize and talk tactics. Let alone find somebody to work on an SMS campaign.
It seems to me this is often the crux of the problem in many places I work. The work is so defensive, and combined with the issue of finding champions for innovation... Sorry to put a damper on things.
Repeating Kristin's request, it would be useful to see more examples of SMS campaigns, especially ones that are light on tech implications and can be developed with little commitment. Perhaps these could win over those who feel there is "no time to innovate".
Janet
Getting started
Hi Janet
I fully understand the issues you face, and see the same challenges faced by many NGOs, campaigns and projects in the work that I do. The first step, as you rightly say, is to understand what's possible, and see what else other people are doing.
You can read and find more on mobiles and mobile activism campaigns in these places:
http://www.kiwanja.net/database/kiwanja_search.php
http://www.tacticaltech.org
http://www.mobileactive.org
http://www.digiactive.org
As for a need to find champions of innovation, there are tools out there which are relatively easy to adopt for the kinds of things you're contemplating there. For the past four years I've been working on a piece of software called FrontlineSMS, which allows you to take a regular computer with an attached mobile phone, and turn it into a two-way text messaging hub. It has been used in places such as Zimbabwe, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan and has been popular among the 'activist' community.
You can read more here: http://www.frontlinesms.com
The software is free, and support to users is free. You just pay whichever local operator you use for the messages you send, making it a fairly easy and relatively low barrier to entry.
I hope that helps.
Ken
http://www.kiwanja.net
Thanks
Hi Ken,
I met you briefly at the Africa Gathering in April. Been burning ever since to try and give Frontline SMS a try with one of our partners. But I'm still waiting to discover the right place. And my champion. It must be demand driven!
Already convinced a colleague to download and give it a try here.
As for something advocacy related to the Land Law, I'll see what I can do!
Thanks and great work.
Janet
Making connections in E. Timor...
Hi Janet, thanks for your comments. I was in Dili a couple years ago working with a local group (Belun) to set up a community based conflict early warning and response network. We were also looking into the possibility of using SMS at the time. Are you in touch with them? I’d be happy to make introductions.
- Patrick Meier
Patrick Meier, Ushahidi
Mobile phones and violations
A great example of people getting involved to hold governments responsible
(but not necessarily from one specific government's citizens) is from Amnesty International - Netherlands that has been using mobile phones to get people to text their immediate concern and urgent demand to release or acknowledge the whereabouts and conditions of people who have been arrested or imprisoned.
New Tactics has a great tactical notebook on how they were able to set up and use this rapid reponse mobile phone system.
Here's the link: Sending Out an SMS: A rapid-response mobile phone network engages a youth constituency to stop torture fast
I hope this responds to your question about ways in which mobile phones have and are being used to hold government accountable. I think that we have not begun to tap into the many ways in which mobile phones could be used to mobilize citizens to get involved in many aspects of political life - whether that's situations of torture; rights of discriminated citizens; budget accountability and corruption issues. The list is endless.
Thanks so much for raising the question. I hope others will share their ideas and experiences.
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Mobile Techology........
Co-Founder INFONET
Program Associate
http://www.sodnet.org
http://infonet.sodnet.org
NEFFME;INFONET Program is currently testing a mobile phone application for carrying out surveys by filling in a form designed for phones currently Nokia.This will be first used for Social Audits and Registration of PMCTC in Kenya. For more on the insights of this application please lets chat more on mail as we are on the test phases.Maybe we can learn from each other especially on different contexts of engagement
Co-Founder INFONET
Program Associate
http://www.sodnet.org
http://infonet.sodnet.org
Examples of mobile phone footage helping protect human rights
Thanks to everyone for such a great dialogue! At WITNESS, we use video/new technologies to expose human rights violations around the world. Increasingly, that can (and is) being done with mobile phones. Here are three interesting examples I've come across of mobile phones being used for human rights documentation, reporting, and accountability:
1) Torture in Egypt: in 2006, several Egyptian bloggers started posting leaked cell phone footage of torture in Egyptian prisons. There were more than 30 different clips, including one particularly shocking video of a man being sodomized with a stick in a police station. That footage got substantial attention and dramatically strengthened the call for accountability and human rights. After a long advocacy campaign, two police officers were tried and sentenced for their involvement in the incident (the first time that has ever happened, according to many Egyptian bloggers... ) Although it was a small victory, it was definitely an interesting example of how mobile phone footage could be used to pressure for justice/accountability from the bottom-up. And the greatest irony is that the videos were filmed by the police officers themselves (to intimidate other potential detainees). We wrote a post about the case in 2006 and have been following the issue since then (more here).
2) Accountability for police violence in Cambodia: LICADHO, a human rights organization we partner with in Cambodia, has been using video to document human rights abuses related to issues like forced evictions and land grabbing. One clip (shot on a mobile phone) shows police opening fire on farmers in the rural Siem Reap province. LICADHO was able to use that video to call for accountability and punishment for the officers involved. More in this Hub post and on LICADHO's website.
3) Closer to home, the shooting of Oscar Grant earlier this year in an Oakland subway station, which was captured by several witnesses using their mobile phones. The footage is a central piece of evidence in the case against the police officer who fired the shot that killed Grant.
Lastly, I highly recommend MobileActive's 2008 report for more examples... looking forward to everyone's thoughts as well!
Thanks,
Priscila (Content Coordinator at WITNESS' Hub)
More Egyptian Examples of using Mobile for Activism
Good examples!
In Egypt, we use mobile cameras to 'document' whatever we think it needs to be documented!
Almost every protest on street is now filmed by mobiles. Many of these films show how police are beating peaceful protestors this video is one of them, in which you see policemen are beating Syham Shawada , a (female) journalist, while she is covering a protest on 4th May 2009.and the story was covered by traditional media.
Another recent example is the detention of Wael Abbas, a prominent blogger. Abbas was kept on the airport 2 weeks ago, while returning from Sweden. Egyptian Police confiscated his laptop and passport. The police officer said that there is no proof that Abbas was molested in anyway, as no official paper says something was confiscated, that means, the blogger can not report against keeping him.
Another Blogger and activist (A.K.A Demagh Mak) went to airport and filmed Wael and the police officer, with his mobile phone.
He also took a picture to a banner on the police office reads 'Don't Use Mobiles Here!"
Noha Atef, editor of Tortureinegypt.net.
Noha Atef, editor of Tortureinegypt.net
Mobile technology for Human Rights and Governance
Co-Founder INFONET
Program Associate
www.sodnet.org
infonet.sodnet.org
INFONET program - on the outset proposes to proffer an open and democratic information and communication infrastructure to enable communities to develop social capital for democratic social action.
To achive this; we set out to make technologies to connect communities and the different facets in society to improve livelyhoods and social enviroments.By connection with SODNET : www.sodnet.org : (an indigenous organisation, which was established by Non-governmental Organization (NGOs) workers from Kenya as a facility to backstop reflection and action by local groups on causes and consequences of poverty and disempowerment of large sections of the Kenyan communities. It aims at facilitating effective strategic alliances among interested people’s and social movements to influence policy-making on issues of social development, in particular on resource management, globalization and information.) we set out to develop a budget monitoring tool which not only amplifies community voices but also engages communities in development planning and implementation at community level.
The use of mobile telephony in Kenya is growing.This for us deemed to me the most viable delivery and feedback mechanism.Addressing issues of internet access, literacy levels,ownership and more so expanding our network.We developed an SMS engine using short code:-in Kenya: 7002: where communities can query the system on the amounts of monies disbursed, types of projects and more importantly they can send back feedback on specific projects at their constituency level.Strategically placed in Kenya are our Social Watch groups whom we train on the different tools and technological tactics of efficiently and effectively use of these tools in their work; Human rights being Key.We also have set out to expand and localize Martus: www.martus.org: locally for monitoring and reporting on Human rights abuse.The same short code now is being tested for local SMS to web publishing of abuse and cases on our local and offshore secure servers.
Expanding this to an inward system at constituency level : www.sodnet.org: we started training our social watch members on using group communication through frontline SMS: www.frontlinesms.com. We are currently engaged with of partners(TTC,HP,CPU,Google.org), a team developers(INFONET TEAM), Professors in social development led by Prof.Edward Oyugi and activists in developing an African curriculum based on the Tactical Tech Tools;This will be available on the http://infonet.sodnet.org.
As earlier mentioned; in activism, the nurturing process of relationships and partnerships is paramount and this is how we effectively get to implement our activities and programs.
For instance relationships and partnerships with service providers helped us to access the short codes and negotiate rates on use of the codes across the networks.
For more: kipp(AT)sodnet(DOT)or(DOT)ke
Co-Founder INFONET
Program Associate
http://www.sodnet.org
http://infonet.sodnet.org
Re: using mobile technology
Hi NEFFME,
Not sure if you have come across our mobiles in a box toolkit. We have gathered a range of case studies on using mobile phones for advocacy. See http://mobiles.tacticaltech.org/taxonomy/term/4
with regards to your question, I can think of two examples:
1. Interactive SMS to influence local governance : See http://mobiles.tacticaltech.org/InteractiveSMSservicestoinfluencelocalgo...
2. Citizen Election Monitoring through SMS: See http://mobiles.tacticaltech.org/CitizenelectionmonitoringthroughSMS
Hope that helps!
Sophia
www.tacticaltech.org
Re: [New Tactics Dialogues: Information Activism: Turning Inform
Sophia, the in-a-box series is useful and helpful. But the challenge is
how to spread it wider and make it more widely noticed. Would you agree
that anything in a 'box' might make potential users a bit reluctant to
open-and-try-it-out? Best, FN
New Tactics wrote:
> A New Tactics Community member wrote:
>
> Hi NEFFME,
>
> Not sure if you have come across our mobiles in a box toolkit. We have
> gathered a range of case studies on using mobile phones for advocacy. See
> http://mobiles.tacticaltech.org/taxonomy/term/4 [1]
>
> with regards to your question, I can think of two examples:
>
> 1. Interactive SMS to influence local governance : See
> http://mobiles.tacticaltech.org/InteractiveSMSservicestoinfluencelocalgo... [2]
>
> 2. Citizen Election Monitoring through SMS: See
> http://mobiles.tacticaltech.org/CitizenelectionmonitoringthroughSMS [3]
>
> Hope that helps!
>
> Sophia
>
> www.tacticaltech.org [4]
>
>
> [1] http://mobiles.tacticaltech.org/taxonomy/term/4
> [2]
> http://mobiles.tacticaltech.org/InteractiveSMSservicestoinfluencelocalgo...
> [3] http://mobiles.tacticaltech.org/CitizenelectionmonitoringthroughSMS
> [4] http://www.tacticaltech.org
> [5] http://www.newtactics.org/en/user/register
>
>
FN * http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/fn
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The 'Death Camps for Children' blog
This began as a result of gathering information about childcare conditions inside homes for 'disabled' children in Ukraine. Due to the influence of organised crime, the climate of fearhad co-opted most into silence.
http://eng.maidanua.org/node/581
The blog began as a web forum topic and was removed under pressure from a deluge of anonmous accusations. After that it was hosted by a citizens action network as a blog where over a period of some months it evolved into a strategic plan for action.
The strategy paper, delivered in October 2006 proposed a multi-component development plan, which in many ways targeted the post war Marshall Plan and hence it was described as a microeconomic 'Marshall Plan' for Ukraine.
The web journal which had hosted the original forum discussion was the vehicle of publication in August if the following year.
Impact had begun early in 2007 before publication when Ukraine's government announced the decision to open 400+ rehab centres for disabled children,
Other milestones can be seen in links from the site of the business, in itself a form of activism as the profit for purpose business model funding the mission in Ukraine.
http://people-centered.net/About.aspx
Jeff
Information activism is a two sided coin
It is easy to forget the instances of information activism which were utilized by those often identified as perpetrators, but the e-mail bombing tactic utilized by Serb citizens (with alleged claims that they were assisted by the Serbian government) brought the bombing campaign on citives like Belgrade and Novi Sad to the minds of hundreds of thousands of Americans.Hundreds of thousands of emails were sent daily to email addresses around the western world, broadcasting the Serbian citizen's point of view reagrding the NATO bombing, reminding their readers that there were people under their bombs.
Dorothy E. Denning's article titled "Activism, Hacktivism, and Cyberterrorism: The Internet as a Tool for Influencing Foreign Policy" sheds light on how informational activism can be used in a multitude of ways, from spreading the message that innocent civilians are being killed in NATO bombing strikes, to being used as a form of 'cyberterrorism'. The article also mentions the use of the radio, albeit 'ancient' for the post-baby boomer generation, in information activism. Again this has been used to help advocate human rights and bring notice of violations to mainstream media (think B92 and Radio Free Europe in the Yugoslavian War). However, again, it has been used by perpetrators in the unforgetable broadcasts of Radio Rwanda.
Denning's article, although it is rather outdated for this topic, does cement a pertinent fact, namely that the tactics used by informational activists are often repeated or preceded in use by human rights violators. This brings up another important obstacle that human rights activists need to overcome: how to remain at the forefront of technological development and to best understand the feelings of social forces in order to best address their audience and 'out-inform' their opponents.
Phillip Paiement New Tactics Intern
Accelerating activists' learning curve
Great points, Phil. I think one way to help human rights and digital activists remain at the forefront is to document what works and what doesn’t work on a systematic basis. In other words, we need to ensure that we accelerate the learning curve on our end. In a way, we have an advantage over centralized and hierarchical regimes since more decentralized networks tend to learn and adapt more quickly. This is true of many networks in complex systems.
One of the main reasons for the DigiActive blog is precisely to try and accelerate the learning curve for digital activists:
http://www.digiactive.org
- Patrick Meier
Patrick Meier, Ushahidi
Casestudy: Reporting on human rights violations & victories live
I've been working with Tactical Tech on a new guide to info-activism for rights advocates -- what follows is a draft of one of our case studies for the guide. We've chosen ten different tactics for info-activism. This case study, on the Unsung Peace Heroes campaign, is on how to use ICT to report in real-time. The tool spotlighted here is Ushahidi. Read on -- and please, if you have have feedback on the format, or what information is missing or that you'd like to know more about, please let me know with a comment or message.
--
Unsung Peace Heroes
WHO: Butterfly Works, Media Focus on Africa Foundation
WHERE: Kenya
URL: http://peaceheroes.ushahidi.com
Unsung Peace Heroes honored those who worked for peace after post-election violence in Kenya in December 2007. Kenyans could nominate people and organisations by text message and email, and with paper forms at peace events. Butterfly Works and Media Focus on Africa collected and mapped these nominations using Ushahidi. By taking reports of peace work, Peace Heroes was able to generate a map of hot spots of violence, rights violations, and displaced persons. Working with a local design school, Nairobits, nominations were translated and verified. In addition to online outreach, Peace Heroes placed newspaper, radio and television ads, and with paper handouts distributed by Nairobits students. The 5 winning Peace Heroes were recognised on national television, and used prize money to support their communities and peace projects. One winner, Joel, hid 18 people for 2 weeks in his compound to protect them from violence. He says, "I received congratulations through telephone and text messages from diverse communities from far and near. As a family, we decided to draw a party and invite these people, those from the community, a local councillor and the administration to celebrate my being awarded the Unsung Peace Heroes Certificate. The need to form a peace initiative emerged during the party, and they mandated me to register a peace group and recruit members to address the violence." Marten Schoonman of Media Focus on Africa says, "The aim was to spread a message of hope and focus on the good in this time of trouble. The conflicts are far from solved, even today. Like the butterfly effect, a relatively small initiative like this has potential spin-off effects and unexpected benefits."
Tools used: Ushahidi, mobile phones, Facebook, website.
Reach: National. Over 500 nominations in one month, with peaks of 80 per day after Kenyan press coverage.
Cost: USD$18,000 (SMS system was USD$3000; remainder for publicity and awards for participants)
Resources: Local staffers, volunteers and partner organisations to publicize the campaign and design the Facebook page.
Time: One month to collect nominations; three months after, awards and recognition given to Peace Heroes at ceremony.
Links to learn more:
What the winning Heroes did: http://bit.ly/3T67Xo
Facebook group: http://bit.ly/mqJu9
Tips on implementing Ushahidi: http://bit.ly/3Oc47V
Melissa Gira Grant, writer and sex-worker activist, USA
Melissa Gira Grant, writer and sex-worker activist, USA
Using tech to communicate and recognize human rights victories
Thanks, Melissa, for sharing this example of using SMS, maps and Facebook to recognize human rights victories in Kenya. This story reminds me that the critical information to be communicated to an audience for a campaign does not have to motivate people to act via anger or frustration. Instead, focusing on the power of individuals to make a difference in midst of these awful situations, can inspire not only action but hope and faith that we can change things! The slogan 'Yes we can!' seemed to be a pretty effective motivator!
New Tactics has a tactic from its online database that is similar to this, called Using a nomination campaign to identify new constituencies for human rights. Charles Maisel developed an Everyday Hero campaign in South Africa that asked women to nominate men that do not commit domestic violence. Maisel wanted to engage these men to include them in his struggle to oppose domestic violence - to make them act. Maisel used more traditional ways of reaching his audience:
Volunteers went house-to-house to ask women for information about the
good, positive men who lived there. Many people also mailed in
nominations, for a total of 50,000 responses identifying the “best”
fathers, uncles, brothers, grandfathers and male friends in the
country. The names and recommendation forms decorated local churches,
spreading awareness of the campaign and increasing its popularity.
Has anyone else used a nomination campaign to turn information into action?
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Using Games in a Campaign
How many person will be interested in playing an internet game?!....
Answering this question, shows you how effective a GAME could be in spreading a message, even more than a text blog entry.
Making an internet game on the subject of your campaign is not an easy work to do yourself, but you should always look around and you would find others who managed to make what you don't know
Examples: If you visited Tortureinegypt.net, you find this game It is an element of IRCT campaign kit, on UN Day against Torture .
Here also you can play a game with a police man and a thief That is not so related to torture, but Tortureinegypt.net is also tackling the relationship between citizens and police.
Notes: If you can make a game, don't hesitate to make one on the cause you are interested in. And please make it in English, so as much people as possible can play it. (In the Arab World most of us are familiar with internet games in English)
And When you publish a game in your campaign blog, keep it for a while in the front page, then make an animation banner for it, and let visitors see that you have a game.
-- Noha
Noha Atef, editor of Tortureinegypt.net
Using games to engage and to learn strategy and tactics
I'm very excited to hear about the Tactical Technology handbook that's in the making that will provide a "hands-on" way for human rights activists to learn creative ways of using and adapting info-activism in their work.
I think the idea of using games is especially appealing to the younger generation that has grown up with technology and gaming. Putting their minds to work on social issues and problems - such as the relationship between police and citizens - in this way can not only spark interest but involvement as well - great idea.
I want to share a game that was developed by the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict called "A Force More Powerful - the game of Nonviolent strategy". It could be a very interesting tool especially for schools to teach young people about nonviolent action.
I'd love to know if others have also developed such games.
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Games and mobile phones
I’m also interested in games using mobile phones, like FourSquare. Would be great to have SMS based games that mimic SmartMob behavior. Any thoughts?
- Patrick Meier
Patrick Meier, Ushahidi
games ... and mobiles
We have been looking into developing a game for our girls project. Some studies show that the use of computer gamers are skewed in favour of boys and men, but I read a study on cellphones in South Africa that found that girls play cellphones games more than boys do!
I was intriuged - and I still want to find out why (maybe it's because lower-end cellphones have fairly non-violent games like snake and tetris?? of course stereotyping girls into the category of non-violent!!!)
Anyway, I'd love to look at games that get young people thinking and engaging about risk behaviours and decisions?
http://womensnet.org.za, Johannesburg South Africa:
Taking a BYte out of Gender Injustice
http://womensnet.org.za, Johannesburg South Africa:
Taking a BYte out of Gender Injustice
Info-activism games
Hi Women'sNet folk,
Here is an educational game I quite like for young people who have arrived in the US because of war: http://www.itvs.org/beyondthefire/
It is more interactive site than 'game' but it uses personal storytelling in a clever and pretty simple way which I think will be interesting to your work. IN fact http://www.itvs.org have many great interactive websites examples that are educational.
This company based in India was a 2008 Stockholm Challenge finalist and they make mobile games for communications development: http://www.freedomhivaids.in/
I don't know their work but it looked like their design is pretty good and their focus on social development very relevant.
Cheers,
Tanya
Tanya Notley Tactical Tech www.tacticaltech.org
games and mobiles
Thanks Tanya!
some interesting links, though on first glance Freedom from HIV/AIDs' two games seem pretty much focused on boys - 'AIDS Penalty Shoot Out' and 'AIDS Fighter Pilot' ... the later does have a female character though. Ill follow up with them as to whether there was good uptake by girls and what girls thought of the games. Young women outnumber young men in HIV+ statistics by 4 to 1 - so engaging with young women specifically is really important for us.
http://womensnet.org.za, Johannesburg South Africa:
Taking a BYte out of Gender Injustice
http://womensnet.org.za, Johannesburg South Africa:
Taking a BYte out of Gender Injustice
info-activism and games
Hi Women'sNet folk,
Interesting about girls being biggest users of mobile games.
Here is an educational game I quite like for young people who have arrived in the US because of war: http://www.itvs.org/beyondthefire/
It is more interactive site than 'game' but it uses personal storytelling in a clever and pretty simple way which I think will be interesting to your work. IN fact http://www.itvs.org have many great interactive websites examples that are educational.
This company based in India was a 2008 Stockholm Challenge finalist and they make mobile games for communications development: http://www.freedomhivaids.in/
I don't know their work but it looked like their design is pretty good and their focus on social development very relevant.
Cheers, Tanya
Tanya Notley
Tactical Tech
www.tacticaltech.org
Tanya Notley Tactical Tech www.tacticaltech.org
what's your top 3 sites to find stories of info-activism??
Right now we are working on a multimedia Info-Activism handbook. I was planning to link to many of our info-activism videos this weekend. Unfortunately our editor is finding it impossible to get videos uploaded today. So while I wait... I was wondering:
What would I say were my top websites for finding new stories of Info-Activism. Here are three of them:
1. Global Voices: http://globalvoicesonline.org/
2. My Heart's in Accra Blog by Ethan Zuckerman: http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/
3. Black Looks Blog by Sokari: http://www.blacklooks.org/
All have very active Twitter feeds as well.
What would be your top sites for info-activism stories???
Tanya
Tanya Notley,
Tactical Tech
www.tacticaltech.org
Tanya Notley Tactical Tech www.tacticaltech.org
Visualisations for info-activism video
Hi everyone,
I wanted to share a 5 minute video with you. This a beta version is from our upcoming Info-Activism Multimedia Handbook. The video is based on 10 tactics you can use for info-activism and it looks at stories of info-activism from around the world.
http://blip.tv/file/2348686/
This short video includes a story each from Labanon, Tunisia and Egypt.
We are mid editing this video so your input would be most appreciated! What extra info did you feel you wanted to hear, what did you like, not like....?
Cheers!
Tanya
Tanya Notley
Tactical Tech
www.tacticaltech.org
Tanya Notley Tactical Tech www.tacticaltech.org
RE: Visualisations for info-activism video
Tanya - I really like the tip from Tunisia on geo-tagging videos to match up with Google Earth - not only for a known place like the example of the Presindental Palace in Tunis for anyone to stumble upon - but also perhaps for less geographically known places where activists could be directed to see cases of ie forced eviction, development-induced displacement, etc in a given area.
It may be easier for some to see how the land in question and the people living there are related to the surroundings. Is the land near a major river? Is the land near government offices?
Also, geo-tagging would be particulary interesting to show what existed before the construction of a new development project.
Thanks for sharing,
Ryan
Ryan Schlief
Asia Coordinator
WITNESS
80 Hanson Place, 5th Floor
Brooklyn NY 11217 USA
+1.718.783.2000 x333
www.witness.org
Ryan Schlief
Asia Coordinator
WITNESS
80 Hanson Place, 5th Floor
Brooklyn NY 11217 USA
+1.718.783.2000 x333
www.witness.org
Digital Storytelling for transformation
We have used Digital storytelling for advocacy and also to produce locally relevant training materials for change makers.
Our first digital story workshop was in 2006 and we trained 2 groups of women - survivors of domestic violence and young lesbain women who experienced hate crimes.
Over 5 days we trained women to produce a short (max 6 minutes) movie using still images (scanned photos or drawings and documents) a recorded narration (in any language, in the storytellers voice) and music (participants sang) - the stories were about their experiences. The stories made abstract rights real.
We produced a DVD of stories that accompanied a book on using audio-visual meterials in human rights training and education. We distributed this product to human rights NGOs only, the movies were not put online because of safety issues.
Since this time we have done lots of storytelling workshops - most recently with a transgender organisation called Gender DynamiX as well as with the African Decade for Disabled People.
The value of digital stories methdolology is that they put the technology as well as the content decisions in the hands of people often overlooked - in our case we have worked with women and girls, with lesbian women, disabled people, transgender people, survivors of violence and HIV+ people. Also, the methdolology produces a powerful product that speaks about real lives - with all the complications,intricacies and difficulties!
Of course there are issues - we have not found suitable open source video editing software for community training (any ideas?!) and privacy and consent is a big issue, as well as evaluating the impact of the stories on the issue you want to address.
http://womensnet.org.za, Johannesburg South Africa:
Taking a BYte out of Gender Injustice
http://womensnet.org.za, Johannesburg South Africa:
Taking a BYte out of Gender Injustice
Digital Storytelling with Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone
Sally-Jean and Womensnet.org,
Thank you for sharing the way you've been using digital storytelling. I want to share an example in our New Tactics database of tactics from Sierra Leone.
The Child Soldier Project of the International
Education and Resource Network in Sierra Leone (iEarn Sierra Leone) created a web site on which former child soldiers can share their
stories. The web site, www.childsoldiers.org, features the essays, poems, artwork and voices of former child soldiers and offers an online forum for discussion. Click on the link to read more about their efforts: Creating a venue on the Internet for former child soldiers to share their stories and develop new skills
The internet can provide a powerful link for people who have been marginalized. I'd like to hear how others have used digital storytelling.
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Mobilisr - new mobile messaging platform for CSOs
Cell-life, an innovator in mobiles and HIV aids, has developed a new tool for CSOs. We partner with them to bring the tools to women's and human rights organisations with an HIV/Aids componant, training on use and uptake.
more information here: http://www.mobilisr.org/
http://womensnet.org.za, Johannesburg South Africa:
Taking a BYte out of Gender Injustice
http://womensnet.org.za, Johannesburg South Africa:
Taking a BYte out of Gender Injustice
Mobiles & HIV in Africa
That's fantastic, Sally! So Mobiliser is an open-source project -- is it an alternative to something like FrontlineSMS? How is it different?
For the info-activism guide, I spoke with Uju Ofromata of One World UK, who collaborated on a campaign with Nigerian NGO's to educate and inform young people about sexual health and HIV. (Video about that campaign here: http://bit.ly/WxXsS) One part of the campaign, MyQuestion/MyAnswer (http://bit.ly/VFK0E), used a custom mobile platform, where queries could be sent in by SMS and answers sent back either via SMS, or by voice call if more detail was needed than could fit in 160 characters. This looks the kind of project that might have been able to use Mobiliser?
Melissa Gira Grant, writer and sex-worker activist, USA
mobilisr
Hi Melissa
The tool has just undergone a revision, and we are going to be working on the new version in the next 2 weeks. it aims to be a tool for mobilising responses to HIV... broadly to improve treatment and prevention in the country.
it can be used to keep in touch with members of a socal movement (the Treatment Action Campaign use it) for social change messages, and for information sharing (like where to get ARVs etc)
it builds in modules that are suitable for different tactics - including USSD menu trees (that could ptentially be used to get feedback on services or collect basic data)
We are really looking forward to testing out how it works in the field - will report back!
http://womensnet.org.za, Johannesburg South Africa:
Taking a BYte out of Gender Injustice
http://womensnet.org.za, Johannesburg South Africa:
Taking a BYte out of Gender Injustice
Humor as civil resistance tactic
Hi All, thought this might be of interest:
Humor as Nonviolent Resistance to Oppression
http://www.coventry.ac.uk/researchnet/external/content/1/c4/11/36/v12021...
Cheerio,
Patrick Meier, scholar, activist and writer for DigiActive, USA
Patrick Meier, Ushahidi
The Yes Men - Using Satirical Humor in Activism
Patrick, I am glad you brought up the topic of humor. The Yes Men have taken this tactic to the highest level, impersonating executives, managers, and officers of major international organizations (WTO, IMF), governmental organizations (National Patroleum Council and US Department for Housing and Urban Development), and large corporations (Dow Chemical). In their impersonations they have managed to gain precious hours of global media attention (think BBC and the Dow Chemical impersonation), which usually originate in being mistakenly contacted due to mock websites they run parallel to those they are imitating.
Through this tactic, the Yes Men team have satirically put forth a "WTO" suggestion to implement slavery in Africa to help address the poverty crisis, a "National Petroleum Council" proposal to begin using human corpses to create future fuel sources, and a new "Halliburton" SurvivaBall (see photo below) to help humans survive global warming. Such forms of activism are not only humorous, but are also attractive to the media, and work well to publicize information the organizations and corporations would rather be kept quiet. Occassionally these actions can even have severe economic impacts, such as when an impostor claimed that Dow Chemical would liquidize one of its sub-companies for $12 billion, resulting in a $2 billion loss of shares in the German stock exchange. Although it was not true, the Yes Met made their point, very successfully. Clearly this is a tactical venue with great opportunities.
Phillip Paiement,
New Tactics Intern
Phillip Paiement New Tactics Intern
Online tactics used by extremists
Racial Extremists Discover Twitter
http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2009/07/08/racial-extremists-discover-twit...
A Call to Jihad Answered in America?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/us/12somalis.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss
Thoughts?
Patrick Meier, scholar, activist and writer for DigiActive, USA
Patrick Meier, Ushahidi
---Incorporating Info-Activism tactics into your strategy
When deciding to incorporate Info-Activism tactics into your strategy,
Helpful guide specifically on video for advocacy
WITNESS' Video for Change book and acompanying videos provide tips, a compelling range of case studies, and easy-to-use exercises on the range of strategic, technical and ethical issues involved in using video for advocacy.
Chapter 2 focuses specifically on Safety & Security and the other sections are helpful guides to crafting your advocacy message, mapping your target audiences, selecting the most effective tactics, etc...
Good as a comprehensive guide for both first-time and more experienced video-makers. Download it for free here (available in Arabic, English, French, Russian and Spanish).
Priscila (Content Coordinator at WITNESS' Hub)
A classic approach
I would do all of the classic advocacy strategizing first, including problem analysis, if necessary research, stakeholder analysis, identifying good objectives, and then go into audiences and tactics. Where to fit the risk analysis? I would say during discussion of tactics.
We have a growing library of "generic" but tagged resources on Advocacy that we share with partners and friends here
http://delicious.com/AdvocacyResources
Excited to follow this discussion the best I can from far away!
Janet
Moving from activity, to tactics, to strategy
Thank you, Janet, for starting this thread on the 'classic approach' to applying tactics to your strategy. I would like to share a few great resources and easy-to-follow tips from the author of the interTactica blog, Philippe Duhamel. In his three-part series on moving from activity, to tactics, to strategy, Philippe describes the steps that he took to become a successful activist, tactician and strategist - a sequence that I think many activists can relate to.
Learning by doing 101: Activities create the activist
In this entry, Philippe describes a successful campaigner whose use of well-organized and well-articulated information inspired Philippe to act! What was the trick?
Learning by doing 201: Becoming a good tactician
Learning by doing 301: From tactics to strategy
In this entry, Philippe explains the relationship between strategy and tactics, and the difference between what is need for a successful strategist, and a successful tactician. He writes: "The tactician thinks contextually, the strategist, more globally. While the tactician focuses on the short- to mid-term, the strategist generally focuses on the mid-term to long-term." What are the steps?
What do you think? Please share your own experiences of moving from activity, to tactics, to strategy!
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
know thy target... and thy policy enrivonment!
Just an example of how important it is to know your target and also to be aware of the policy environment as it's impact on your work....
know thy target...
In doing a little reading and research for our work with girls we found that:
- young people have a LOT of sim cards, from different service providers, and sometimes more than one handset
- young people are pretty savvy when it comes to service providers - using different sim cards at different times of the month to get the most out of them
- young south africans dont often share phones (sharing phones here is much less common than in other african countries)
- a lot of kids had their cellphones stolen (almost everyone had lost their phone to theft at some point)
So, when you have young South Africans as targets, you will have to have more that one phone number for them (possibly sending out a lot of dead and costly SMS'!) and you will have to work hard to keep up with them (lots of changing of sim cards, lots of theft)
Know thy policy environment ...
Frustratingly for young people, South Africa has just put into place a piece of legislation that will close the mobile phone arena - basically requiring all sellers of pay-as-you-go sim cards to record the sim card buyers' identity number, a copy of their identity book as well as their address. This means that all those kids with more than 1 sim card is going to have to register their ID number and address for that sim- or loose it. The legislation is supposedly meant to prevent cellphones from being used to commit crime..... what it could end up doing is limit young people's use, and especially young people who might not have a fixed address, or who dont live in places where there is a street name, and who dont have an identify document....
http://womensnet.org.za, Johannesburg South Africa:
Taking a BYte out of Gender Injustice
http://womensnet.org.za, Johannesburg South Africa:
Taking a BYte out of Gender Injustice
when info-activism leads to arrest
I'm wondering how digital media can be best mobilised when info-activism has led to the arrest of the practitioners.
I've just been talking to people about the arrest of two Azeri youth activist bloggers (more info at Azerbaijan: Citizen media in defense of detained activists, bloggers).
For example, how about a Kiva loans for paying bail and / or legal fees?
dan
Dr. Dan McQuillan, blogs about open source activism and social innovation at internetartizans.co.uk
Dr. Dan McQuillan, blogs about open source activism and social innovation at internetartizans.co.uk
Using digital media to mobilise demonstrators outside of prisons
Great question, Dan -- how can digital media be best mobilised when info-activism has led to the arrest of the practitioners?
New Tactics has documented a great example of a tactic used in Serbia to turn arrests (one of the government's strengths) against it. It involves supporting activists that have been arrested (as well as gain momentum for the movement) by coordinate secondary protests outside of the prison where the activist is held. We call this tactic 'Plan B' (available for download in English and Turkish). Here is a short description:
Plan B is conceptually simple: whenever the police arrested activists
in their demonstrations, Otpor! would instantaneously launch a second
operation, mobilizing more people to show up at the police stations and
protest the arrest. The events at the police station became media
showpieces, calling attention to the injustice of the arrests and the
illegitimacy of the regime. They also provided moral support and
encouragement to the arrested activists, turning them into local and
national heroes, rather than forgotten victims. Otpor! thus turned the
regime’s policy of arrests to its own advantage and continued to build
a movement.
When implementing a tactic like this, I can imagine that digital media can be very effective in mobilizing so many people in a short amount of time! It is so important, however, to be knowledgeable of all the risks involved in using digital media (see Tanya's comment on Security-in-a-box).
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
How to integrate information activism into your strategy
I have found inspiration in the various creative examples of digital and information activism offered in this dialogue. While I believe that social relations will always change primarily through "analog" (i.e. real-life) connections between live beings, I am excited by some of the new opportunities created by modern-day information channels, emergent technologies, and the inventive new uses that are being pioneered.
Following the day-by-day developments in Iran and Honduras these days, however, and witnessing how global communities in struggle are still so vulnerable to information blackouts and censorship, I am realizing the importance for activists and organizers the world over to ramp up new forms and channels of unassailable and instant citizen-to-citizen means of communication.
State rulers and repressive brutes, wherever they conduct their misdeeds, be it in China, Honduras or Iran, must become powerless to filter out grassroots content that can disrupt their power-grabbing schemes. Likewise, powerful corporations that assist tyrants and human rights abusers in shutting down the voices of the dissident, must be circumvented and dismantled by a new globally empowered citizenry. I can think of no greater global mission information activists could rally around and implement IN THIS DECADE.
Information activism can be most effectively used as a tool in three stages of collective strategizing:
What's great about these new information activism tools, is that the information products can be taken through development cycles, tweaked and upgraded as your group moves along from analysis to strategizing, to propagandizing on to mobilizing, and then to fighting off repression and reaching the next stage. Think of it as building your beta version for strategizing, perfecting and launching a 1.0 release for mass education, then working towards your revolutionary 2.0 to allow powerful social interaction, birthing a tool that builds irrepressible collective power...
--
Philippe Duhamel, Intertactica — a liberation blog
--
Philippe Duhamel
Intertactica — a liberation blog
---Resources
Share and explain any Info-Activism resources that you have, such as:
Guide | Communicating Securely in Repressive Environments
Hi All,
I thought this guide might be of interest:
http://www.digiactive.org/2009/06/26/secure-comm
Looking forward to any feedback and/or questions you may have!
All best,
Patrick
Patrick Meier, Ushahidi
Security in-a-box
Hi everyone,
Earlier this year Front Line Defenders (http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/) and Tactical Tech launched Security in-a-box, a toolkit created to meet the digital security and privacy needs of advocates and human rights defenders. The toolkit includes all the software required to safeguard your information and to circumvent internet restrictions and it was made by experts in this field who have tested the software and developed content around it.
English: http://security.ngoinabox.org
Soon in Arabic, Russian, French, Spanish
Email: security{at}tacticaltech.org
We are very happy to send hard copies of these toolkits out to rights advocates.
Wojtec from Front Line and Bobby from Tactical Tech are participating in this dialogue and they are able to answer any specific security questions people may have.
Warm Wishes!
Tanya
---
Dr. Tanya Notley
Skills Building Team Leader
Tactical Technology Collective
3 Gloucester Yard | 121 Gloucester Road | Brighton | East Sussex | BN1 4AF | UK
P: +44 (0) 1273 604 848
M: +44 (0) 7726243168
E: tanya [at] tacticaltech [dot] org
http://www.tacticaltech.org
Tanya Notley Tactical Tech www.tacticaltech.org
Common Craft for Security
This is great knowledge! The situation in Iran shows how people get swept by events in to needing this knowledge without time to become security geeks. I'd love to see security activism guides that are as easy to absorb as the Common Craft videos on social media.
Dr. Dan McQuillan, blogs about open source activism and social innovation at internetartizans.co.uk
Dr. Dan McQuillan, blogs about open source activism and social innovation at internetartizans.co.uk
Tactical Tech in process of producing Digital Security videos
Great point Dan on the need for simple Digital Security videos...At Tactical Tech we have recently started production on these and hope to release some in coming months.
Cheers
Tanya
Tanya Notley Tactical Tech www.tacticaltech.org
Tactical Tech: Free Toolkits / Guides for Human Rights Advocates
Tactical Tech (www.tacticaltech.org) is an international NGO that provide human rights advocates with guides, tools, training and consultancy to help them develop the skills and tactics they need to increase the impact of their campaigning.
The following guides and toolkits are available online, as downloadable files or they can be posted to not-for-profits in a book/CD format, free of charge.
Mobiles in-a-box: Designed to support campaigners looking to use mobile technology in their work.
Email: mobiles{at}tacticaltech.org
Message in-a-box: A set of strategic guides and tools to help non-profits create media and communicate for social change.
Email: miab{at}tacticaltech.org
Security in-a-box: Created to meet the digital security and privacy needs of advocates and human rights defenders.
Email: security{at}tacticaltech.org
Maps for Advocacy: An effective, practical guide to using maps in advocacy campaigns.
Email: mapping{at}tacticaltech.org
Visualising Information for Advocacy: A manual aimed at helping NGOs and advocates strengthen their campaigns and projects through visual communication.
Email: infodesign{at}tacticaltech.org
Quick ‘n’ Easy Guide to Online Advocacy: Aims to expose advocates to online services that are quick to use and easy to understand.
- English: http://onlineadvocacy.tacticaltech.org
Base NGO in-a-box: A collection of tools for the day-to-day running of small to medium sized NGOs.Email: base{at}tacticaltech.org
Tactical Tech are happy to send copies of any or all of these toolkits and guides to human rights advocates working in marginalised communities. For general enquires email: ttc{at}tacticaltech.{dot}org
Website: http://www.tacticaltech.org
--- Dr. Tanya Notley Skills Building Team Leader
Tactical Technology Collective 3 Gloucester Yard | 121 Gloucester Road | Brighton | East Sussex | BN1 4AF | UK
P: +44 (0) 1273 604 848 M: +44 (0) 7726243168 E: tanya [at] tacticaltech [dot] org
Tanya Notley Tactical Tech www.tacticaltech.org
More resources on using video for advocacy
1) Video for Change book (available for free download online here)
2) Four short videos that accompany the Video for Change manual. Watch Before Filming, During Filming Part 1, During Filming Part 2, and After Filming for a quick overview...
3) Overview: Effective Strategies for Video Advocacy
4) Video Action Plan - a questionnaire we designed to assist our partners in developing a plan to integrate video into their human rights advocacy. This should be filled out before any shooting begins and is a great resource to help groups/individuals plan out the goals, audiences, and tactics for their video... download it here.
5) YouTube's newly launched Reporters' Center also has useful resources...
6) See3, which works to make nonprofit organizations more effective in raising money, educating the public and advocating for change, has a guide to creating online video for change (a useful seven-part series)
7) SmartMeme is a great organization that helps movements harness the power of storytelling and narrative to advance social change. We recently watched their video, which is a good introduction to smartMeme's work and their story-based strategy model, appropriately titled as Grassroots Organizing Meets Narrative Power. Once you watch this presentation, you will want to read Re:Imagining Change, their fantastic interactive book that provides tools, analysis, case studies and inspiration to amplify and enhance your social change work. More on SmartMeme in this post by Chris Michael.
Thanks to my wonderful colleague Chris for putting these resources together!
Priscila (Content Coordinator at WITNESS' Hub)
...and a few more resources on using video for advocacy
Wow, Priscila and Chris - that is a great list of resources. Thanks!
I have just a few more to add. Mary Joyce of DigiActive has put together a pretty nice straight forward online guide on Designing and Advocacy Video. This is a guide to help activists put together a 'youtube-style' video to promote their cause. The includes the following 4 important elements that a video like this should include:
Last June, a few WITNESS folks joined New Tactics in a featured online dialogue focused specifically on Using Video for Advocacy. We also have a New Tactics group of practitioners using video for advocacy. All are welcome to join the group and share your questions and resources!
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Multimedia in Blogs ...Random Thoughts
Many people do have no time/interest to read and read. A video are
more attractive than words, at least, for those who sit in front of
their laptops at a coffee shop or at home after a long day of
working/studying.
Videos are preferred to be original, so the visitor
is tuned to watch something NEW, but if not possible to do, we can
publish popular videos (movie scenes- songs- footage of a meeting or a
conference- news report…) sometimes we need to clear the context of the
video.
Try to make a simple video clip or a PowerPoint show, using the
available photos you have/collected from internet, and do not forget to
play a suitable music as background. You can do it easily by
moviemaker, slidshow.com.
Do NOT publish a post without a photo!(Do not insert the photo
always in the top of your posts, as all of them will appear in the
front page, and make it looks crowded, and takes longer time to load!).
If the pos
t is long, it is recommended to insert more than photo, banner, logo, etc.
Old photos are always fantastic!, the eye goes to the unusual things, like a black& white photos.
Cartoons and drawings gives impression of
simplicity and satiric, so using them are more than useful when we want
to send a message for children, youngsters, even when tackling a
dramatic incident (ex: 3 consecutive torture to death crimes in the
same month), such cases often are highlighted in the mainstream media,
people heard/ red about it.
Audio Files have the advantages of being available
to the visitor all the time, just a click to download it, and he can
listen to the file more than time. Plus, audio files do not require
time to go by, people can play it, when they are browsing the website.
But Be Careful: in some websites/blogs you hear a radio station once
you visit the main page, that is not recommended to do all the time.
- Noha
Noha Atef, editor of Tortureinegypt.net
Video across languages, across borders
Video is absolutely essential for me in getting exposed to issues and campaigns when I don't speak the language myself. One of the reasons the sex workers in the Asia Pacific are so fond of karaoke videos as a form of info-activism is how well they can express an issue beyond their language groups, too.
Melissa Gira Grant, writer and sex-worker activist, USA
Re: [New Tactics Dialogues: Information Activism: Turning Inform
I could only think of video after (i) we got some decent (read: 256 kbps!) connectivity in my village in India (ii) simple tools like TheFlip.com came up and made video work easy to use.
FN * http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/fn
M +91-9822122436 P +91-832-2409490
http://fredericknoronha.multiply.com/ http://goa1556.goa-india.org
Re: [New Tactics Dialogues: Information Activism: Turning Inform
I completely hear you on that. With a Flip project WITNESS and its partner LICADHO has throughout Cambodia documenting forced evictions for campaign use, it is important to plan how the video, although 'YouTubesque in quality and seemingly destined for online use, can also be used offline at screenings and community meetings. Although many do find there way to the internet, online video can easily be burned onto DVDs and screened where the bandwith makes viewing online video problematic if not impossible.
And, as in the case of a community affected by HIV/AIDS facing imminent forced eviction in Phnom Penh, an intended target audience of the video lived in areas where the bandwith easily supported watching video online. In this case, activists sent emails with the relevant urls from the Hub to representatives of UNAIDS and the Red Cross, who then could have personal screenings of the video on their own office computer. The video accompanied written briefing and campaign materials, as well.
Ryan Schlief
Asia Coordinator
WITNESS
80 Hanson Place, 5th Floor
Brooklyn NY 11217 USA
US Land: +1.718.783.2000 x333
US Mobile: +1.718.307.9786
IN Mobile: +91 96 5060 8105
Skype: witnessryan
www.witness.org
Blog: hub.witness.org/blogs/ryan-schlief
FB: witness ryan
Borei Keila: Fighting for Health and Home
http://hub.witness.org/BoreiKeila
Borei Keila: Forced Eviction Date Delivered
http://hub.witness.org/BoreiKeila2
Watch an amazing video by WITNESS partner LICADHO on the Borei Keila community in Phnom Penh, "Living with HIV/AIDS in the Green Shed", on the WITNESS Hub blog and learn how you can take action. The blog also has links to articles, reports and media on Borei Keila.
Ryan Schlief
Asia Coordinator
WITNESS
80 Hanson Place, 5th Floor
Brooklyn NY 11217 USA
+1.718.783.2000 x333
www.witness.org
really really local
I love the idea of capturing some of the local and organic ways people protest - like in South Africa, and im sure every place, songs because such a huge part of socal movements - from HIV to anti-globalization - songs were a way of celebrating progress, educating others, raising spirits and mobilising support.... and of course it's one of the great things about radio..
When ever we do workshops on producing audio, making a 'jingle' has been the most fun way of getitng people on board and into the technology- and now, we can make those jingles into ring tones for cellphones!
http://womensnet.org.za, Johannesburg South Africa:
Taking a BYte out of Gender Injustice
http://womensnet.org.za, Johannesburg South Africa:
Taking a BYte out of Gender Injustice
Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents
Hi everyone, just wanted to share another great resource to this collection. It is a guide created by 'Reporters without Borders.' The guide is called 'Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents.' This guide includes some good info for those just getting started (What is a blog? page 7, How to set up and run a blog? page 16), selecting the best blogging tools (page 10), ethics, making 'your blog shine' as Noha was mentioning above, and some great examples of how activists have successfully used blogs (personal accounts page 36). Thankfully, the guide includes information on security: how to blog anonymously, getting around censorship, and emailing privately.
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Twitter (microblogging)
I'm sure people nowadays know a lot about microblogging, I mean after the mass protests in Iran. Twitter, Watwet , Jaiku or any of their brothers are quit useful.
After using twitter for a year or more, I find it helpful to give some tips:
-- Noha
Noha Atef, editor of Tortureinegypt.net
Twitter, et al
Thanks Noha, that's very useful. It was almost a Twitter-like (in brevity) guide to Twitter!
I wonder under what circumstances Twitter would have an impact. Incidentally, have not heard it being very effective in Indian campaigns (except in disaster, where speed is the essence). Was wondering if this is due to the fact that (i) we still don't have too many Twitter users in this part of the world (ii) basic free-speech is not much of an issue here (though there are creeping censorship concerns) and hence it's utility is not so vital.
Just a Google link to some Twitter guides: http://bit.ly/HQd8C
FN * http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/fn
M +91-9822122436 P +91-832-2409490
http://fredericknoronha.multiply.com/ http://goa1556.goa-india.org
FN * http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/fn
M +91-9822122436 P +91-832-2409490
http://fredericknoronha.multiply.com/ http://goa1556.goa-india.org
Twitter in India
That's interesting, Frederick -- I had thought of Twitter as very much in use in India, but that opinion was mostly based on the Mumbai attacks. India was one of the first countries outside the United States to have an SMS shortcode, so I thought that also had a bit do with it. Maybe I'm off on this? Was Twitter also used during the April elections to report on election corruption?
Melissa Gira Grant, writer and sex-worker activist, USA
DigiActive’s Strategy Guide to Twitter for Activism
Thanks for your post, perhaps DigiActive’s Strategy Guide to Twitter for Activism might be of interest:
http://www.digiactive.org/2009/04/13/twitter_guide/
- Patrick Meier
Patrick Meier, Ushahidi
mobilisation of young people & the streamlining info
Hi We’ve got a couple questions around the mobilisation of young people & the subsequent “corralling” of information into a centralised on-line hub. – What are the most effective ways of alerting young people across a city of a new campaign to track discrimination of young people using public space? – Do you have any suggestions about how to streamline the information that will be gathered – via mobile phone, on-line blogging, micro blogging, surveys – so that we can present a coherent and comprehensive review of young people’s experience in an on-line forum? Thanks so much Tamar
Tamar
Youthlaw
Using music, movies and art to mobilize young people
Hi Tamar, thanks for your post. I think one way to mobilize and alert young people is to use music, open-air concerts and movie showings, and art. You may want to see what “Not An Alternative” is doing:
http://www.notanalternative.net/
- Patrick Meier
Patrick Meier, Ushahidi
Using a music video to inform people on human trafficking issues
Thanks, Patrick - I just came across a new music video that highlights the impact of human trafficking for sexual exploitation (found out about it on Twitter!). This music video is a collaboration between 'The Killers' (a rock band), MTV, UNICEF, and USAID. Watch the video here - http://www.unicef.org.uk/videos/video.asp?video_id=145&thesource=tw
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
moblisation of young people and mash-ups
Hi Tamar,
I have asked a few people to respond to your post because I know they do great work around mash-ups...hopefully they will do this soon.
A mashup is a web page or application that combines data or functionality from two or more external sources to create a new service.
It sounds like a mash-up would be relevant to you because creating an entire new site for young people to talk about discrimination might not be the way to go....already they are using MySpace, Facebook, YouTube. The question might be how to connect with them there. So instead you may want to promote that they 'tag' their blog-posts, tweets, photo's etc in a way that will allow you to aggregate what is happening. Perhaps there are already good sources that cover this issue already as well.
So below I am adding some info about a 'mash-up' website focused on Women's Rights to Drive in Saudi. It does this by directly pulling content from popular websites. The method may be relevant to you and I would be happy to discuss more if it would help! You could of course customise a mash-up site like this to meet your needs and it may involve very little effort to keep it dynamic.
The below case study will be included in our upcoming 'Info-Activism Handbook'
4. Case study
DESCRIPTION:
To draw attention to laws that ban women from driving cars in Saudi Arabia, Areej Khan, a Saudi artist and graphic designer living in the United States, created the “We, the Women” campaign. The project asks women to respond to the question, “To drive or not drive?” by writing their answers on stickers that they can post in public spaces. Areej asked participants to photograph their stickers and post the photos to the project's Flickr photo set and on its Facebook page. By collaborating anonymously over a long distance, Areej and the women who submitted stickers to the project have been able to engage with audiences who might not have otherwise had opportunity to speak to . “People don't like to post the stickers on their own, on Facebook or Flickr,” Areej said. “People preferred to do it anonymously, by email to me and then I post them” The individual and anonymous nature of the stickers allows women to express themselves in a range of ways – from the very personal to the openly political. The project received media attention from the Arab News in Saudi Arabia, and in the US. “Most of the people participate on the Facebook page are against women driving,” said Areej. “There's back and forth and debate on the group, people go off on tangents, and I have to mark posts as irrelevant if they go off topic. I had to be prepared that I can't control what this is at the end. It's about finding a solution as community, not what I think or am attached to.” Though the project gets many comments in opposition to women driving in Saudi Arabia Arjeej finds that,“a lot of people say they think that will change soon, because of the voice given to women by projects like this.”
Tanya Notley
Tactical Tech
www.tacticaltech.org
Tanya Notley Tactical Tech www.tacticaltech.org
RE: [New Tactics Dialogues: Information Activism: Turning Inform
Hi Tanya
Thanks so much for that feedback
I’ll share it with the working group – I’m
sure that they’ll be thrilled to have the opportunity to explore the example
Take care
Tamar
Tamar Spatz
Project Officer
Young People & Human
Rights Project
tamar [at] youthlaw [dot] asn [dot] au
9611 2412 ext 2433
I work Mondays, Tuesdays,
Thursdays & Fridays
Tamar
Youthlaw
Re: [New Tactics Dialogues: Information Activism: Turning Inform
it is encouragious to young men interesting in human rights . young cameroonians will to extend the mobilisation in cameroon.human can be well ptotected when each and evryone knows his or her rights.i will like share your expirience if you do
Of Relationships;Information and call to Action
Co-Founder INFONET
Program Associate
www.sodnet.org
infonet.sodnet.org
We have been following the discussions with keen interest and find many of the innovations inspiring.
We would therefore like to add a little of our experience to the dialogue.
The INFONET Programme is based at the Social Development Network in Kenya. The programme was conceived within the premise of leveraging appropriate information and communication technologies that strengthen the work of civil society and social movements.
Budget tracking tool:
In this regard, INFONET has developed a couple of tools, but only one is live. In February this year, we launched a national budget tracking system (www.opengovernance.info): that is both web based and accessible by SMS on the Constituency Development Fund (CDF). The CDF is form of devolved system of for economic and democratic governance. The tool can be queried by anyone to provide information on funds disbursements. The public can also provide feedback on particular projects: on anomalies or corruption. We are now customizing the tool for internal monitoring upon request by Members of Parliament from the Coast Province.
Digital rebroadcasting:
Migori CLAN, a member of the Social Development Network is a community media entity that records mainstream media issues of concern for the community in Migori, Nyanza Province. The recordings are then broadcasted from a cart, with discussions held to generate public debate. The content is then published as news in a free grassroots newspaper (The Link) that has a rural distribution base of about 500,000.
We will contribute more in the coming days.
Co-Founder INFONET
Program Associate
http://www.sodnet.org
http://infonet.sodnet.org
my opinion
I think is an opportunity to share, change, make and created new ways of community action. Oswaldo
Oswaldo
Sharing of Tactics may bring New Tactic for activists!!
Human rights activists are active on different issues of human rights all over the world. They are doing a lot by using different tactics of human rights. But due to lack of sharing of we can not know about each other tactics that could be a very helpful for all to move right and innovative way to achieve the success of movement.
Suppose- We are translating tactical note book and resource book of "New Tactics in Human Rights" in Bengali where lot of innovative tactics been introduced through website for Bengali speaking activists all over the world. Even all those Bengali documents are using by some activists in Bangladesh for strengthening their human rights movement although the activist are learning from the story of Africa and other country but the used tactics bringing a new tactic for them. So a used tactic can use as a new tactic for others if the sharing of tactics increase with each other.
Mahbub
caution :-)
hello from South Africa and Women'sNet..
We have found here in South Africa, where mobile penetration in huge, that gender is a factor in determining levels participation and benefit in projects that use mobile technologies.
This is the context here in South Africa:
So, this is the environment that advocacy efforts have to deal with. (That being said, it seems that the use of cellphones is far more gender balanced than the use of internet and computers! - something to do with the privacy of the device perhaps?)
The notion that technology is a neutral resource has long been abandoned, but it seems that gender is still not a major factor in planning, implementing and evaluating initiatives that use technologies..
In initial research here in South Africa, we found that young women's participation in social networks was shallow, and limited and that they often characterised their interactions as 'uncomfortable'. Some withdrew from mobile social networks because of sexual harassment.
We have launched a campaign to address this issue - called "Keep your Chats Exactly That!" - that aims to help young people full participate safely and responsibly - in mobile social networks. We want to transform online spaces, as we do streets and homes where violence or inequality exist.
I'd be interested in hearing about how other projects take into account factors that impact on participation in mobile advocacy?
- Sally
http://womensnet.org.za, Johannesburg South Africa:
Taking a BYte out of Gender Injustice
http://womensnet.org.za, Johannesburg South Africa:
Taking a BYte out of Gender Injustice
gender injustice
it exist also in cameroon today
request
should i develop the topic
clearificatio
i dont understand the process at this level
traduction du site
plusieus personnes activits pouront accepter pour traduire ce site . mais je pense si les moyens sont disponible,c'est possible Que dite vous
Re: traduction du site
Bonjour Eluid,
Nous n'avons pas les ressources nécessaires pour traduire ce dialogue
en ce moment, mais nous offrons de nombreuses autres ressources qui ont
été traduits en français.
'Notebooks' en français:
New Tactics book en français [Section 1] [Section 2] [Section 3]
Tactics: http://www.newtactics.org/fr/tactics/database
Vous mai tiens également à traduire ce dialogue en utilisant Google Translate
Merci,
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Re: [New Tactics Dialogues: Information Activism: Turning Inform
The process we're going through reminds us of a few things:
* Sometimes, the technology itself can trip us up.
* What might seem apt in one part of the world may seem too advanced and
superfluous in another.
* While I'm impressed by the tools that have been cited here, it would
be nice to have a look also at the more simpler, affordable options that
could be used by the bandwidth-challenged in many parts of the globe.
FN
New Tactics wrote:
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Action in Ukraine
We started as an advoocacy for reforming capitalism and digital inclusion in 1996 with a white paper for the Committee to re-elect the US President which was published in synopsis on our website. In its own right this has created influence in the development of social enterprise.
http://www.p-ced.com/1/about/history/
The model of a trading business investing at least 50% in social purpose for example which last week became the qualifying criteria for the Social Enterprise Mark and some of the more recent advocacy for inclusive captalism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inclusive_capitalism#People-Centered_Economic_Development
Fast forward to 2006 and we began blogging about institutional childcare in Ukraine with the Death Camps for Children article
http://eng.maidanua.org/node/581
It was followed with a formal strategy paper to goverment which we went public with the next year.
http://en.for-ua.com/analytics/2007/08/06/121201.html
http://en.for-ua.com/analytics/2007/08/09/110003.html
In the links from our commercial site the milestones show how this was to influence government poliicy and bring about social change.
http://people-centered.net/About.aspx
There are still many obstacles particularly when it comes to the plight of disabled children.