Blessings and Curses: Women and the Internet Revolution in the Arab World

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah L. Wheeler
Keyword(s):  
Arab World ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Internet Revolution

scholarly journals Broken promises of Internet and democracy: Internet art in Serbia, 1996–2014

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 889-900
Author(s):  
Nina Mihaljinac ◽  
Vera Mevorah
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Internet Technology ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Internet Art ◽  
Art And Culture ◽  
Mixed Feelings ◽  
Phases Of Development ◽  
Democratic Principles ◽  
Internet Revolution

The article uses case studies of artistic and cultural practices on Internet in Serbia (1996–2014) to provide a deeper analysis of possible uses of internet technology and internet art for social and political change as well as showcasing changing attitudes toward the internet in a transitional semi-periphery state. Through analyzing these questions, the article defines several phases of development of internet and art projects in Serbia including (a) the phase of techno-utopia when internet technology was used for staging and supporting student protests and the so-called first ‘internet revolution’ in Serbia (1996–1999); (b) the phase of ambivalence or ‘mixed feelings’ toward the Internet, triggered of by Kosovo War and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-led bombing of 1999–2000; (c) the phase of optimism and hope about the Internet after the ‘October 5th’ revolution (2000–cc. 2005); and (d) the phase of disillusionment with both the Internet and democracy (2010–2014). This study re-evaluates early achievements and democratic principles of networked society and illuminates core issues and accomplishments of cyberculture from the 1990s until present times through the point of view of multiple actors present within Serbian art and culture.

Arabic Literature Goes Digital

2019 ◽  
pp. 28-47
Author(s):  
Teresa Pepe
Keyword(s):  
Arab World ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Arabic Literature ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Short History ◽  
Online Publishing ◽  
Internet Media ◽  
History Of ◽  
Publishing Houses

This chapter provides the historical context in which Egyptian blogs appeared. Drawing on ethnographic research on the Internet and in the Egyptian literary sphere, it shows that the introduction of Internet tools in the Arab world was soon accompanied by the emergence of numerous platforms for distributing and discussing Arabic literature, such as forums, literary websites, online publishing houses, the Internet Arab Writers Union, and so on. This atmosphere was conducive to the adoption of blogs as a platform for literary experimentation in Egypt. The chapter then focuses on blogging in the Arab world and in particular in Egypt, providing a short history of its development. It also addresses how Internet media have affected Arabic literature as a tool for publishing and distribution, as in the case of book-blogs.

Order in Cyberspace Can Only Be Maintained with a Combination of Ethics and Technology

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Perry Barlow ◽  
Adolfo Plasencia
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Global Culture ◽  
Ethics And Technology ◽  
The Poor ◽  
World Power ◽  
Electronic Frontier ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Internet Revolution ◽  
John Perry

John Perry Barlow starts the dialogue explaining the reasons that led him to draw up and disclose his Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace, in Davos. He then discusses why he believes that people who use the term ‘intellectual property’ have got the wrong idea about it, and puts forward his ideas about frontiers in general and in particular the electronic frontier. He deliberates on whether the Economy of Ideas is capitalist, socialist or Marxist, and whether it should be supervised by someone or not. He also explains why cyberspace has still not been dominated by any world power, and explores the contradiction of why the differences between the rich and the poor have increased considerably since the onset of the global Internet revolution, what the cause of this is, and what has happened to all the hopes placed in the Internet by the underprivileged. Finally, he talks about how the structure of local cultures in cyberspace and their relationship with the global culture of the Internet is evolving.

The New Age E-Enterprise

2013 ◽  
pp. 313-326
Author(s):  
Vandana Ahuja
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Economy ◽  
Virtual Work ◽  
New Age ◽  
Social Software ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Business Relationships ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Software Platforms ◽  
Internet Revolution

Globalization and the resultant transition to virtual work are changing the dynamics of critical business relationships today. The organizational fabric is undergoing a transformation. The new knowledge economy, coupled with the modern customer based relationship approach has transformed the shape of business, catalyzed further by the internet revolution. Shrinking distance barriers and the emergence of new ways of building and delivering products and services online, is enabling the rapid globalization of markets. This chapter traces how the new knowledge economy, along with the modern customer based relationship approach, impacts the organizational fabric. The collaborative Web along with the e-enterprise, has brought into vogue the use of emergent social software platforms within companies, or between companies and their partners or customers. This, along with organizational willingness to take risks, has created new opportunities for companies in the domain of innovation, Internet based collaboration and co-creation.

Can Digital Technologies Threaten Democracy by Creating Information Cocoons?

2014 ◽  
pp. 145-154
Author(s):  
Cédric Gossart
Keyword(s):  
Bounded Rationality ◽  
Cognitive Dissonance ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Political Events ◽  
Main Factor ◽  
Do So

This chapter examines the extent to which digital technologies can threaten democracy by creating “information cocoons,” within which information is filtered and tailored to our tastes and prevailing opinions. Digital technologies allow us to filter information and contacts in a very efficient way, thereby creating a risk that we end up exchanging information only with like-minded people. Since humans' bounded rationality cannot cope with the amount of information available on the Internet, we are confronted with problems of cognitive dissonance that we attempt to solve by ignoring opinions and arguments that differ too much from our own. Recent political events in the Arab world suggest that digital technologies support democratisation. But there is also a risk that these technologies might impoverish democratic debates and reduce exchanges amongst the stakeholders of a given political arena while radicalising their points of views. This threat is serious and needs to be investigated. To do so, this chapter suggests a methodology to evaluate that risk, as well as ways to mitigate it. Various methods have been used to analyse the polarisation of opinions in human societies, such as the ones analysing the traces left by Internet users in blogs or hypertext links. The authors provide a review of these methods after having explained the main factor conducive to the creation of information closure.

Digital Governance and Democratization in the Arab World

2011 ◽  
pp. 676-687
Author(s):  
Deborah L. Wheeler
Keyword(s):  
Arab World ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
Economic Incentives ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Authoritarian State ◽  
The World ◽  
Building Information ◽  
The Right ◽  
Free Flow Of Information ◽  
Flow Of Information

Making the choice to be an Internet society is not a process governed simply by a state’s attitudes towards computers and the data that flows between them. Rather, being an Internet society means fostering the wide embrace of perspectives modeled on the technology itself. The basic components of designing an Internet society include a commitment to the free flow of information across and among hierarchies; a belief that it is best not to privilege any single information node; a realization that censorship is difficult if not futile; and a commitment to the idea that communities, companies and individuals have the right to represent themselves within electronic landscapes. All of these information attitudes have spill over effects in the real world. While constructing an Internet society is also about building information infrastructure and teaching people to use new tools, it is the clear spill over effects linked with the technology’s design principles that have most developing countries proceeding with caution. For many countries around the world, especially (semi) authoritarian ones, no matter how strong the economic incentives for being an Internet society are, politically and socially, accepting such processes of change without selective state intervention is uncommon. Nowhere are these interventions more apparent than in the puzzling mosaic of Internet led development in the Arab World. This article entertains a series of questions regarding emerging Internet societies in the Arab World: 1. To what degree is the Internet spreading in the Arab World and what factors are most commonly driving (or inhibiting) these processes of technological change? 2. In what way is the Internet contributing to processes of political change in the region? And how is the authoritarian state intervening to regulate Internet use in an attempt to control the spill over effects of such use? 3. What might be the longer term impacts of emergent Internet cultures in the region?  

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