Cultivating Civil Society 2.0
Author: Mosaiko EditorPosted on: Dec 21st 2011
Civil society consists of organizations and institutions that help and look after people, their health and their rights. The work of civil society groups complements the efforts of governments and the private sector. Whether the goal is as local as building a new school or as global as stemming the spread of HIV/AIDS, civil society is a vital player and essential partner.
As more and more people around the world have gained access to computers, phones and other mobile communication devices, civil society organizations have kept pace. Civil society is pioneering the use of so-called “connection technologies” (for example, mobile phones, mapping applications and social-networking software) to improve health, promote transparency, advance human rights and uphold justice. Connection technologies are limited only by the ingenuity of their users. Increasingly, civil society groups are using technology in unprecedented ways to carry out their work and expand the sphere in which they operate.
For this issue mosaiko explores the evolving intersection between civil society and technology and offers examples of how civil society organizations are exploiting technology’s potential to give a voice to the voiceless and homes to the homeless.
Additional Resources
Books, articles and websites about civil society and new media
05 October 2011
This list of resources is part of the eJournal USA issue “Cultivating Civil Society 2.0.”
BOOKS AND ARTICLES
Farivar, Cyrus. The Internet of Elsewhere. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 2011.
Fine, Robert, ed. The Big Book of Social Media: Case Studies, Stories, Perspectives. Tulsa: Yorkshire Publishing, 2010.
Gillmor, Dan. Mediactive. San Francisco: Creative Commons, 2010.
http://mediactive.com/
Holtz, Shel. Tactical Transparency: How Leaders Can Leverage Social Media to Maximize Value and Build their Brand. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009.
Howard, Philip N. “The Role of Digital Media.” Journal of Democracy, vol. 22, no. 3 (July 2011), p. 35, 14 pages.
Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: NYU Press, 2008.
Morozov, Evgeny. The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom. Philadelphia: Perseus Books Group, 2010.
Rushkoff, Douglas. Program or Be Programmed: 10 Commandments for the Digital Age. New York: OR Books, 2010.
Shirky, Clay. Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age. New York: Penguin Press, 2010.
Shirky, Clay. Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations. New York: Penguin Group, 2008.
Shirky, Clay. “The Political Power of Social Media: Technology, the Public Sphere, and Political Change.” Current, vol. 552 (May 2011), p. 17.
Sonvilla-Weiss, Stefan, ed. Mashup Cultures. Vienna: Springer Verlag, 2010.
Sunstein, Cass R. Going to Extremes: How Like Minds Unite and Divide. New York: Oxford UP, 2009.
Turkle, Sherry. Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. New York: Basic Books, 2011.
Zandt, Deanna. Share This!: How You Will Change the World with Social Networking. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2010.
WEBSITES
Berkman Center for Internet and Society
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/
Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Youth and Media
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/research/youthandmedia
The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE)
http://www.civicyouth.org/
CrisisCommons
CrisisCommons seeks to advance and support the use of open data and volunteer technology communities to catalyze innovation in crisis management and global development.
http://crisiscommons.org/
Digital Media Mash Up
The Digital Media Mash Up is a weekly newsletter focusing on digital media events, news and research from around the world.
http://cima.ned.org/tools-and-resources/digital-media-mash
Tactical Technology Collective
Tactical Tech is an international nongovernmental organization working in close collaboration with partners, usually human rights groups and local issue-focused NGOs, for social change and the potential of technology and effective information processes to contribute to it.
http://www.tacticaltech.org
FEATURED ORGANIZATIONS
Managing Natural Disasters
Room Donor.jp
Centralized disaster information including offers of and requests for accommodation for evacuees and people displaced by the events in Tohoku, Japan.
http://roomdonor.jp/
Télécoms Sans Frontières
Telecom Without Borders offers telephones to people in areas that are affected by natural disasters, conflict or famine.
http://www.tsfi.org/
Ushahidi
Ushahidi is a nonprofit tech company that specializes in developing free and open source software for information collection, visualization and interactive mapping.
http://www.ushahidi.com/
Combating Corruption
The Fair Play Alliance
The Fair-Play Alliance is an NGO based in Slovakia that monitors political party finance in the country and promotes transparency in party financing and procurement.
http://www.fair-play.sk/index_en.php
ProPublica
ProPublica is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.
http://www.propublica.org/
Zero Rupee Note
This NGO works to encourage, enable and empower every citizen of India to eliminate corruption at all levels of society.
http://india.5thpillar.org/front_page
Empowering People
HarassMap
HarassMap, a crowd-sourced way to monitor and protect women in Cairo, enables Egyptian women to take a stand against sexual harassment and abuse.
http://harassmap.org/
Project Masiluleke
Project Masiluleke uses mobile devices for the delivery of public health information reaching upwards of 1 million South Africans every day, helping connect them to care.
http://poptech.org/project_m
Loading ...
Loading ...
