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EBookClubs

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Book Open Networks  Closed Regimes

Download or read book Open Networks Closed Regimes written by Shanthi Kalathil and published by Carnegie Endowment. This book was released on 2010-11 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the Internet diffuses across the globe, many have come to believe that the technology poses an insurmountable threat to authoritarian rule. Grounded in the Internet's early libertarian culture and predicated on anecdotes pulled from diverse political climates, this conventional wisdom has informed the views of policymakers, business leaders, and media pundits alike. Yet few studies have sought to systematically analyze the exact ways in which Internet use may lay the basis for political change. In O pen Networks, Closed Regimes, the authors take a comprehensive look at how a broad range of societal and political actors in eight authoritarian and semi-authoritarian countries employ the Internet. Based on methodical assessment of evidence from these cases—China, Cuba, Singapore, Vietnam, Burma, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt—the study contends that the Internet is not necessarily a threat to authoritarian regimes.

Book New Media  Old Regimes

Download or read book New Media Old Regimes written by Lyombe Eko and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2012 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New Media, Old Regimes: Case Studies in Comparative Communication Law and Policy, by Lyombe S. Eko, is a collection of novel theoretical perspectives and case studies in comparative communication law. Through these cases, Eko describes, explains and illustrates how a number of nation-states, transnational, and international organizations employ culture-specific "distillations" of universal principles to resolve tensions between freedom of expression and other societal interests in real space and cyberspace. This study provides essential scholarship on comparative communication law and policy.

Book International Encyclopedia of Civil Society

Download or read book International Encyclopedia of Civil Society written by Helmut K. Anheier and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-11-24 with total page 1722 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recently the topic of civil society has generated a wave of interest, and a wealth of new information. Until now no publication has attempted to organize and consolidate this knowledge. The International Encyclopedia of Civil Society fills this gap, establishing a common set of understandings and terminology, and an analytical starting point for future research. Global in scope and authoritative in content, the Encyclopedia offers succinct summaries of core concepts and theories; definitions of terms; biographical entries on important figures and organizational profiles. In addition, it serves as a reliable and up-to-date guide to additional sources of information. In sum, the Encyclopedia provides an overview of the contours of civil society, social capital, philanthropy and nonprofits across cultures and historical periods. For researchers in nonprofit and civil society studies, political science, economics, management and social enterprise, this is the most systematic appraisal of a rapidly growing field.

Book The Authoritarian Public Sphere

Download or read book The Authoritarian Public Sphere written by Alexander Dukalskis and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-01-20 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Authoritarian regimes craft and disseminate reasons, stories, and explanations for why they are entitled to rule. To shield those legitimating messages from criticism, authoritarian regimes also censor information that they find threatening. While committed opponents of the regime may be violently repressed, this book is about how the authoritarian state keeps the majority of its people quiescent by manipulating the ways in which they talk and think about political processes, the authorities, and political alternatives. Using North Korea, Burma (Myanmar) and China as case studies, this book explains how the authoritarian public sphere shapes political discourse in each context. It also examines three domains of potential subversion of legitimating messages: the shadow markets of North Korea, networks of independent journalists in Burma, and the online sphere in China. In addition to making a theoretical contribution to the study of authoritarianism, the book draws upon unique empirical data from fieldwork conducted in the region, including interviews with North Korean defectors in South Korea, Burmese exiles in Thailand, and Burmese in Myanmar who stayed in the country during the military government. When analyzed alongside state-produced media, speeches, and legislation, the material provides a rich understanding of how autocratic legitimation influences everyday discussions about politics in the authoritarian public sphere. Explaining how autocracies manipulate the ways in which their citizens talk and think about politics, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Asian politics, comparative politics and authoritarian regimes.

Book Chinese Authoritarianism in the Information Age

Download or read book Chinese Authoritarianism in the Information Age written by Suisheng Zhao and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-06-24 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines information and public opinion control by the authoritarian state in response to popular access to information and upgraded political communication channels among the citizens in contemporary China. Empowered by mass media, particularly social media and other information technology, Chinese citizen’s access to information has been expanded. Publicly focusing events and opinions have served as catalysts to shape the agenda for policy making and law making, narrow down the set of policy options, and change the pace of policy implementation. Yet, the authoritarian state remains in tight control of media, including social media, to deny the free flow of information and shape public opinion through a centralized institutional framework for propaganda and information technologies. The evolving process of media control and public opinion manipulation has constrained citizen’s political participation and strengthened Chinese authoritarianism in the information age. The chapters originally published as articles in the Journal of Contemporary China.

Book The Internet and Political Protest in Autocracies

Download or read book The Internet and Political Protest in Autocracies written by Nils B. Weidmann and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-07-10 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eight years after the Arab Spring there is still much debate over the link between Internet technology and protest against authoritarian regimes. While the debate has advanced beyond the simple question of whether the Internet is a tool of liberation or one of surveillance and propaganda, theory and empirical data attesting to the circumstances under which technology benefits autocratic governments versus opposition activists is scarce. In this book, Nils B. Weidmann and Espen Geelmuyden Rød offer a broad theory about why and when digital technology is used for one end or another, drawing on detailed empirical analyses of the relationship between the use of Internet technology and protest in autocracies. By leveraging new sub-national data on political protest and Internet penetration, they present analyses at the level of cities in more than 60 autocratic countries. The book also introduces a new methodology for estimating Internet use, developed in collaboration with computer scientists and drawing on large-scale observations of Internet traffic at the local level. Through this data, the authors analyze political protest as a process that unfolds over time and space, where the effect of Internet technology varies at different stages of protest. They show that violent repression and government institutions affect whether Internet technology empowers autocrats or activists, and that the effect of Internet technology on protest varies across different national environments.

Book Bits and Atoms

Download or read book Bits and Atoms written by Steven Livingston and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-02 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bits and Atoms explores the governance potential found in the explosive growth of digital information and communication technology in areas of limited statehood. The chapters explore when and if the growth in digital technology can fill some of the governance vacuum created by the absence of an effective state.

Book   And Communications for All

Download or read book And Communications for All written by Amit Schejter and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2009 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In . . . And Communications for All, 16 leading communications policy scholars present a comprehensive telecommunications policy agenda for the new federal administration. This agenda emphasizes the potential of information technologies to improve democratic discourse, social responsibility, and the quality of life along with the means by which it can be made available to all Americans. Schejter has assembled an analysis of the reasons for the failure of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and offers an international benchmark for the future of telecommunications. Addressing a range of topics, including network neutrality, rural connectivity, media ownership, minority ownership, spectrum policy, universal broadband policy, and media for children, it articulates a comprehensive vision for the United States as a twenty-first-century information society that is both internally inclusive and globally competitive.

Book Information Diffusion Management and Knowledge Sharing  Breakthroughs in Research and Practice

Download or read book Information Diffusion Management and Knowledge Sharing Breakthroughs in Research and Practice written by Management Association, Information Resources and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2019-10-11 with total page 920 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Within the past 10 years, tremendous innovations have been brought forth in information diffusion and management. Such technologies as social media have transformed the way that information is disseminated and used, making it critical to understand its distribution through these mediums. With the consistent creation and wide availability of information, it has become imperative to remain updated on the latest trends and applications in this field. Information Diffusion Management and Knowledge Sharing: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice examines the trends, models, challenges, issues, and strategies of information diffusion and management from a global context. Highlighting a range of topics such as influence maximization, information spread control, and social influence, this publication is an ideal reference source for managers, librarians, information systems specialists, professionals, researchers, and administrators seeking current research on the theories and applications of global information management.

Book Online Communities as Agents of Change and Social Movements

Download or read book Online Communities as Agents of Change and Social Movements written by Gordon, Steven and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2017-03-24 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The growing presence of social media and computer use has caused significant changes to community engagement. With the ubiquity of these technologies, there is increasing engagement in social and political policies and changes. Online Communities as Agents of Change and Social Movements is a pivotal reference source for the latest research on relevant theoretical and practical frameworks regarding online communities and social media as agents of social and political change. Featuring extensive coverage on relevant areas such as computer use, online engagement, and collective action, this publication is an ideal resource for researchers, academics, practitioners, and students in the fields of social psychology, social network analysis, media studies, information systems, and political science.

Book Management and Participation in the Public Sphere

Download or read book Management and Participation in the Public Sphere written by Merviö, Mika Markus and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2015-04-30 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Public policy has a dynamic effect on multiple facets of modern society. Methods for managing and engaging the public sphere continue to change conceptually across the globe, impacting the ways that governments and citizens interact both within and across borders. Management and Participation in the Public Sphere is a definitive reference source for the latest scholarly research on the interplay of public affairs and the domestic realm, providing innovative methods on managing public policy across various nations, cultures, and governments. Featuring expansive coverage on a multitude of relevant topics in civic involvement, information technology, and modes of government, this publication is a pivotal reference source for researchers, students, and professionals seeking current developments in novel approaches to public policy studies. This publication features timely, research-based chapters on the critical issues of public policy including, but not limited to, archival paradigms, Internet censorship, media control, civic engagement, virtual public spaces, online activism, higher education, and public-private partnerships.

Book Cyberspaces and Global Affairs

Download or read book Cyberspaces and Global Affairs written by Sean S. Costigan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-05-13 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the "Facebook" revolutions in the Arab world to the use of social networking in the aftermath of disasters in Japan and Haiti, to the spread of mobile telephony throughout the developing world: all of these developments are part of how information and communication technologies are altering global affairs. With the rise of the social web and applications like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, scholars and practitioners of international affairs are adapting to this new information space across a wide scale of issue areas. In conflict resolution, dialogues and communication are taking the form of open social networks, while in the legal realm, where cyberspace is largely lawless space, states are stepping up policing efforts to combat online criminality and hackers are finding new ways around increasingly sophisticated censorship. Militaries are moving to deeply incorporate information technologies into their doctrines, and protesters are developing innovative uses of technology to keep one step ahead of the authorities. The essays and topical cases in this book explore such issues as networks and networked thinking, information ownership, censorship, neutrality, cyberwars, humanitarian needs, terrorism, privacy and rebellion, giving a comprehensive overview of the core issues in the field, complemented by real world examples.

Book Cyberactivism and Citizen Journalism in Egypt

Download or read book Cyberactivism and Citizen Journalism in Egypt written by Courtney C. Radsch and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-09-23 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This compelling book explores how Egyptian bloggers used citizen journalism and cyberactivism to chip away at the state’s monopoly on information and recalibrate the power dynamics between an authoritarian regime and its citizens. When the Arab uprisings broke out in early 2011 and ousted entrenched leaders across the region, social media and the Internet were widely credited with playing a role, particularly when the Egyptian government shut down the Internet and mobile phone networks in an attempt to stave off the unrest there. But what these reports missed were the years of grassroots organizing, digital activism, and political awareness-raising that laid the groundwork for this revolutionary change. Radsch argues that Egyptian bloggers created new social movements using blogging and social media, often at significant personal risk, so that less than a decade after the information revolution came to Egypt they successfully mobilized the overthrow of the state and its president.

Book Imagining the Internet

Download or read book Imagining the Internet written by Robin Mansell and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-07-12 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an impressive survey of our collective and cumulative understanding of the evolution of digital communication systems and the Internet. Whilst the information societies of the twenty-first century will develop ever more sophisticated technologies, the Internet is now a familiar and pervasive part of the world in which we live, work, and communicate. As such it is important to take stock of some fundamental questions - whether, for example, it contributes to progress, social cohesion, democracy, and growth - and at the same time to review the rich and varied theories and perspectives developed by thinkers in a range of disciplines over the last fifty years or more. In this remarkably comprehensive but concise and useful book, Robin Mansell summarizes key debates, and reviews the contributions of major thinkers in communication systems, economics, politics, sociology, psychology, and systems theory - from Norbert Wiener to Brian Arthur and Manuel Castells, and from Gregory Bateson to William Davidow and Sherry Turkle. This is an interdisciplinary and critical analysis of the way we experience the Internet in front of the screen, and of the developments behind the screen, all of which have implications for privacy ,security, intellectual property rights, and the overall governance of the Internet. The author presents fairly the ideas of the celebrants and the sceptics, and reminds us of the continuing need for careful, critical, and informed analysis of the paradoxes and challenges of the Internet, offering her own views on how we might move to greater empowerment, and suggesting policy measures and governance approaches that go beyond those commonly debated. This concise book will be essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the challenges the Internet presents in the twenty-first century, and the debates and research that can inform that understanding.

Book The Network Society

Download or read book The Network Society written by Darin Barney and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-05-20 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Network Society, Darin Barney provides a compelling examination of the social, political and economic implications of network technologies and their application across a wide range of practices and institutions. Are we in the midst of a digital revolution? Have new information and communication technologies given birth to a new form of society, or do they reinforce and extend existing patterns and relationships? This book provides a clear and engaging discussion of these and other questions. Using a sophisticated model of the relationship between technology and society, Barney investigates both what has changed, and what has remained the same, in the age of the Internet. Among the issues discussed are debates concerning the emergence of a 'knowledge economy'; digital restructuring of employment and work; globalization and the status of the nation-state; the prospects of digital democracy; the digital divide; new social movements; and culture, community and identity in the age of new media. This book provides an accessible resource for a thoughtful engagement with life in the network society. It will be essential reading for students in sociology and media and communication studies. This will be a valuable textbook for undergraduate students of sociology and media and communication studies.

Book e Government in Asia Origins  Politics  Impacts  Geographies

Download or read book e Government in Asia Origins Politics Impacts Geographies written by Barney Warf and published by Chandos Publishing. This book was released on 2016-11-22 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: E-Government in Asia offers a thorough examination of e-governance in Asia, including the uses of the Internet to mediate interactions between Asian governments and their citizens. The book examines how the Internet is reshaping these interactions in the region and summarizes the nature of e-government, the growth of the Internet in Asia, issues of the digital divide, and how the Internet is affecting the ways in which public services are provided, how Asians acquire information, and other issues. Offers essential reading for many social science courses on Asia, including geography, political science, public administration, as well as courses on the social impacts of technology, notably the Internet Examines issues of e-governance, which loom large in significant Asian economies, including China Examines how e-governance in Asia is shaped by regional geographies Explores how the Internet is affecting the ways in which public services are provided and how Asians acquire information

Book Social Networking Communities and E Dating Services  Concepts and Implications

Download or read book Social Networking Communities and E Dating Services Concepts and Implications written by Romm Livermore, Celia and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2008-08-31 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book provides an overview of the major questions that researchers and practitioners in this area are addressing at this time and by outlining the possible future directions for theory development and empirical research on social networking and eDating"--Provided by publisher.