Philip N. Howard: The Digital Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Information Technology and Political Islam (2010)
Filed under book | Tags: · 1990s, 2000s, censorship, democracy, internet, iran, islam, politics, technology
– First book to move beyond potential and hypothetical relationships between technology diffusion and democratic transitions to look at lived experiences for countries under study
– Draws on a statistical study that compares data trends across 74 Muslim countries between 1990 and 2008
– Addresses 2009 presidential elections in Iran
Around the developing world, political leaders face a dilemma: the very information and communication technologies that boost economic fortunes also undermine power structures. Globally, one in ten internet users is a Muslim living in a populous Muslim community. In these countries, young people are developing their political identities–including a transnational Muslim identity–online. In countries where political parties are illegal, the internet is the only infrastructure for democratic discourse. In others, digital technologies such as mobile phones and the internet have given key actors an information infrastructure that is independent of the state. And in countries with large Muslim communities, mobile phones and the internet are helping civil society build systems of political communication independent of the state and beyond easy manipulation by cultural or religious elites.
This book looks at the role that communications technologies play in advancing democratic transitions in Muslim countries. As such, its central question is whether technology holds the potential to substantially enhance democracy. Certainly, no democratic transition has occurred solely because of the internet. But, as Philip Howard argues, no democratic transition can occur today without the internet. According to Howard, the major (and perhaps only meaningful) forum for civic debate in most Muslim countries today is online. Activists both within diasporic communities and within authoritarian states, including Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, are the drivers of this debate, which centers around issues such as the interpretation of Islamic texts, gender roles, and security issues. Drawing upon material from interviews with telecommunications policy makers and activists in Azerbaijan, Egypt, Tajikistan and Tanzania and a comparative study of 74 countries with large Muslim populations, Howard demonstrates that these forums have been the means to organize activist movements that have lead to successful democratic insurgencies.
Publisher Oxford University Press, 2010
ISBN 0199736413, 9780199736416
285 pages
review (Evgeny Morozov)
PDF (updated on 2012-11-11)
Comment (0)Julie E. Cohen: Configuring the Networked Self: Law, Code, and the Play of Everyday Practice (2012)
Filed under book | Tags: · code, copyright, everyday, internet, law, life, networks, piracy, play, privacy, security, self, surveillance
The legal and technical rules governing flows of information are out of balance, argues Julie E. Cohen in this original analysis of information law and policy. Flows of cultural and technical information are overly restricted, while flows of personal information often are not restricted at all. The author investigates the institutional forces shaping the emerging information society and the contradictions between those forces and the ways that people use information and information technologies in their everyday lives. She then proposes legal principles to ensure that people have ample room for cultural and material participation as well as greater control over the boundary conditions that govern flows of information to, from, and about them.
Publisher Yale University Press, 2012
ISBN 0300125437, 9780300125436
Printable version is under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike license
352 pages
the author discussing her book (video)
Comment (0)Cryptomorphosis (2012)
Filed under slideshow | Tags: · anonymity, cryptoanarchy, cryptography, darknet, floss, hacktivism, i2p, internet, occupy movement, security, surveillance, tor, wikileaks
This is a basic intro to hacktivism, the surveillance industry, online anonymity, encryption, filesharing, and darknets mainly intended for activists, occupiers, and all others passionate about using code and information for social change or just avoiding the seemingly all-seeing eye of the authorities.
Published in January 2012
BY-NC license
54 pages
PDF
View online (Scribd.com)