Costelloe-KuehnMemo14

emerging narratives

see column in memo 13

also, from my HASS proposal:

** 2.3D Preliminary Insights **
==== · EMOs are mired in paradox. They unsettle popular images of activists as relatively unreflective, sure of their goals, and acting primarily through public protests; they often collaborate with “the enemy,” use tools they also critique, and constantly negotiate double-binds about priority setting. Goals seen as more “activist” and “contentious” may clash with goals of “community-building,” “outreach” and “collaboration.” New opportunities for collaboration with scientists, journalists, and other experts will be more likely to take shape if sharp lines between “mainstream” and “independent” are questioned. ==== ==== · There are long-standing critiques that North American white male activists disproportionately use and benefit from ICTs. My research at the Sanctuary for Independent Media is useful for thinking through the challenges and possible solutions to enhancing diverse participation in progressive projects. But this same research also helped me recognize ways in which “preaching to the choir” is necessary for building community and deepening commitment. ==== ==== · Working with JATAN Trust in India, I saw how gender can be a factor of exclusion for EMOs. While it is clear that unequal access to new media can be a hindrance to the formation of broad-based capacity (Wasserman 2007), //empirical// analysis of negative consequences of new ICTs is largely absent (Garrett 2006, 218). ==== ==== · In the 1980s and 90s, environmentalism was an emerging movement in India (Fortun 2001). Today, EMOs may be fundamentally changing this movement. ICTs tend to promote non-traditional movement organization and in both India and the U.S. environmental activists have been fairly successful in using ICTs to innovate hybrid organizational forms – combining hierarchical and non-hierarchical structures as fit their needs – that have the potential to greatly enhance capacity to address environmental challenges. I look forward to testing this primary hypothesis in different national contexts in order to examine the conditions that affect success – and what counts as “success” to the EMOs themselves. ====