[URBANTH-L]CFP: Mobilization and Protest Communication on the Social Web

[Angela Jancius]

Call for Papers - Deadline 1 February 2009!
5th ECPR General Conference in Potsdam, 10-12 September 2009

Section: Protest Politics
Panel: Mobilization and Protest Communication on the Social Web
(http://www.ecpr.org.uk/potsdam/panel_details.asp?panelID=557)

Panel Organizers: Prof. Dr. Sigrid Baringhorst, Dr. habil. Heike Walk, Dr. 
Markus Rohde
Social web applications (Wikis, Blogs, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Orkut, 
etc.) aim to support end
users' content production and to allow for social networking of internet 
users. Since these new
technologies (often also referred to as "Web2.0") enhance users' 
possibilities to direct and active
participation in collaborative web content creation, they are looked upon as 
promising means for
democratization while also enabling conditions for unprecedented domination 
and power.
The work of transnational social movement organizations and protest networks 
is highly dependent on
social networking, trust-building and strategic alliances. These NGO 
networks are addressing political
issues which cause global problems and challenges to cope with (e.g., 
human/women/childrens'
rights, poverty, ecological and environmental issues like sustainable 
development, pollution etc., fair
trade, international democratization, peace, health and other problems that 
are mainly interconnected
with implications of globalization). Transnational NGOs and civil society 
organizations have been fairly
successful in setting many of these issues on the public agenda by 
organizing global campaigns and
mobilizing for world-wide protest activities. One central success factor of 
this international engagement
was the early adoption and intense use of new media and internet 
technologies by NGOs since the
early 1990th.
Since the new internet technologies, which are summarized by the label 
"social web", offer a whole
range of new opportunities for social networking, collaborative engagement 
and the building of social
capital among users, it is expected that transnational NGOs and civil 
society organizations will develop
strategies for the appropriation, usage and adaptation of these social web 
applications for their
purposes. The presented panel aims to analyze these NGO strategies 
concerning mobilization and
campaigning on the social web. Specifically, possibilities and limitations 
for the democratization of
media and formation of independent media networks, which enable new forms of 
collective action. It
addresses researchers investigating in transnational NGO activities and the 
socio-technical basic
conditions for international NGO networking.
The scope of submissions includes (but is not limited to):
. social web appropriation strategies of NGOs
. use of social web tools for mobilization and campaigning
. new forms of transnational NGO collaboration
. requirements analyses and needs assessment of NGOs and civil society 
activists
. development of social web applications for NGOs
. evaluation studies and case studies
. quantitative and qualitative analyses
. empirical research methods for social web technology usage
. social web applications for open source/open access movement engagement
. the deliberative quality of protest communication on social networking 
sites on the web
. protest communication on commercial formats of social networking sites
. The social web - a technical opportunity structure for the emergence of a 
global civil society?

A proposal of 300 words is due by 1 February 2009.

Please submit your paper on the web using the form at:
http://www.ecpr.org.uk/potsdam/select_panels.asp?panelID=557&sectionID=40