International Journal of Communication, Vol. 6, with special sections: Info Capacity, Piracy Cultures (2012)

The International Journal of Communication is an online, multi-media, academic journal that adheres to the highest standards of peer review and engages established and emerging scholars from anywhere in the world. The International Journal of Communication is an interdisciplinary journal that, while centered in communication, is open and welcoming to contributions from the many disciplines and approaches that meet at the crossroads that is communication study.

Special sections: Info Capacity, Piracy Cultures.
Features: Transnational Connections Symposium.

Editor: Larry Gross
Published by University of Southern California, Annenberg Press, Los Angeles, CA, 2012

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Constanze Kurz, Frank Rieger: Die Datenfresser (2011) [German]

Der Wegweiser zur digitalen Mündigkeit.

Warum findet Facebook jeden meiner Bekannten? Auf welche Datenspuren hat der Staat Zugriff? Und was kann man aus ihnen herauslesen?

Die Experten für Informationssicherheit, Constanze Kurz und Frank Rieger, weisen uns den Weg zu einer neuen digitalen Mündigkeit. Sachkundig und verständlich erklären sie, was sich hinter den Benutzeroberflächen tatsächlich verbirgt. Aus dem Strom scheinbar harmloser Daten, die wir tagtäglich im Netz hinterlassen, werden geldwerte Informationen geschöpft, deren Ausmaß und Gehalt wir uns gar nicht vorstellen können. Ob der Staat oder Google, alle bedienen sich am Datensatz Mensch. Es ist an der Zeit, das eigene digitale Schicksal wieder selbst in die Hand zu nehmen.

Die Datenfresser: Wie Internetfirmen und Staat sich unsere persönlichen Daten einverleiben und wie wir die Kontrolle darüber zurückerlangen
Publisher Fischer Taschenbuch Vlg., 2011
Volume 19033 van Fischer Taschenbücher Allgemeine Reihe
ISBN 3596190339, 9783596190331
288 pages

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Amanda Taub (ed.): Beyond Kony2012: Atrocity, Awareness, & Activism in the Internet Age (2012)

This book is for those who know a little about Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army, and want to know more.

Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 has become the most viral video ever. Concerned citizens around the world, from middle school students to celebrities like Oprah and Justin Bieber, watched the film and shared it with their friends. It has now been viewed more than 87 million times.

That success was soon met by a critical backlash. Critics nearly as varied as the campaign’s supporters pointed out that Invisible Children was offering an oversimplified, even misleading narrative. They faulted the campaign for failing to provide a context for the LRA conflict, and pointed out that the video portrayed Africans as either helpless victims, or heartless killers.

This book is both a collection of that criticism, and a constructive response to it. The authors each wrote a short essay offering information that they felt was missing from the video, or explaining how they thought the campaign could be improved.

The first several chapters provide historical and political context. Adam Branch, Daniel Kalinaki, and Ayesha Nibbe explain the roots of the conflict, and how it has persisted for so many years. Alex Little and Patrick Wegner discuss various attempts to end the conflict through peace negotiations, ICC arrest warrants, and military operations, and why they have not been successful.

Later chapters consider the ethics and effectiveness of awareness campaigns like Kony 2012. Glenna Gordon and Jina Moore draw on their experiences as journalists to critique the video’s portrayal of Africa and the people who live there. Rebecca Hamilton, Laura Seay, Kate Cronin-Furman, and Amanda Taub examine the weakness of “awareness” advocacy. Alanna Shaikh explains the ethical dangers of bad aid work. Teddy Ruge offers a different view of Africa, as a place of dynamic innovation instead of violence and helplessness. And youth activist Sam Menefee-Libey describes his frustration with the tone and substance of the campaign meant to target his generation.

With contributions by Adam Branch, Daniel Kalinaki, Ayesha Nibbe, Alex Little, Patrick Wegner, Jina Moore, Glenna Gordon, Rebecca Hamilton, Laura Seay, Alanna Shaikh, Kate Cronin-Furman and Amanda Taub, TMS Ruge, Sam Menefee-Libey

Self-published on Leanpub, April 2012
159 pages

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