[liberationtech] What Makes a Liberation (or Repression) Technology?

[Rohan Dixit]

I don't think the requirement to maintain privacy is necessarily a defining
characteristic of this type of technology.

One could imagine a completely open system that is equally susceptible to
surveillance by anyone at any node of the network. Changing the paradigm
from the informational asymmetry that historically state or
corporate-sponsored surveillance has benefited from, and transforming into a
"sousveillance" model is worth looking at more closely.

Thanks Mary for bringing this discussion about.

warmly,

Rohan

On Fri, Feb 4, 2011 at 4:12 PM, Yosem Companys <yosem at joindiaspora.com>wrote:

> There's some great work done by Jeremy Weinstein (I believe) -- who is a
> Stanford prof and a member of this list -- on making paper ballots more
> transparent for illiterate people in Africa and the use of SMS to
> communicate corruption info to disconnected villages.  I can't find the
> paper anywhere on my desktop, so if anyone has it, could you please share it
> with Sheila?  She may be interested in reading it.
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 4, 2011 at 1:05 PM, Sheila Parks <sheilaruthparks at comcast.net>wrote:
>
>>  Dear Mary Joyce,
>>
>> Thx for sending this. I think it is crucially important to define what
>> liberation technology is
>>
>> I am very interested in this group because of its name Democracy and
>> Technology - the Stanford U dept or program
>>
>> And on this list serve name, liberation comes first too
>>
>> My question is, why would u want it 2 b accessible ONLY to a large segment
>> of the population, and how would u define large?
>>
>> For me, and many of us in the hand-counted paper ballots elections (HCPB)
>> voting rights activists,  I want  third grade student to understand how our
>> votes r counted.
>>
>> No experts who have 2 explain it.  No statisticians, no mathematicians, no
>> computer geeks,
>>
>> Democracy means EVERY PERSON understands - I draw my line in the sand at
>> third grade.  I could go to 5th, if pressed, but  not higher than that.It
>> It is not totally transparent democracy, then the process belongs to an
>> elite.
>>
>>  That is not democracy. That is what we have now, everywhere, including,
>> of course, the US
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Sheila
>>
>>
>> At 03:10 PM 2/4/2011, Mary Joyce wrote:
>>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> I'm interested in feedback on a list of characteristics I've developed to
>> define a "liberation technology"
>>
>> The short version:
>>
>>    1. It must transmit POLITICAL INFORMATION.
>>    2. It must be ACCESSIBLE to a large segment of the POPULATION.
>>    3. It must allow for EFFECTIVE UTILIZATION.
>>    4. It must allow for protection of PRIVACY.
>>
>> ...and a repression technology has the reverse characteristics. Full post
>> here: "What Makes a Liberation (or Repression) Technology?"<http://www.meta-activism.org/2011/02/what-makes-a-liberation-or-repression-technology/>
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Mary
>>
>>
>> --
>> MARY C. JOYCE
>> Founder | The Meta-Activism Project  | www.Meta-Activism.org
>> Digital Activism Consultant | www.MaryJoyce.com
>> Mobile | +1.857.928.1297 <tel:+18579281297>
>>
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>>  Sheila Parks, Ed.D.
>> Founder
>> Center for Hand-Counted Paper Ballots
>> Belmont, MA 02478
>> 617-932-1424 <tel:+16179321424>
>> DEMOCRACY IN OUR HANDS
>>  www.handcountedpaperballots.org
>> sheila at handcountedpaperballots.org
>>
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>
>
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