[liberationtech] Wikileaks, Anonymous, and global activism

[Barbie Keiser]

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Barbie Keiser

----- Original Message -----
From: Shava Nerad <shava23 at gmail.com>
Date: Wednesday, December 11, 2013 12:19 pm
Subject: Re: [liberationtech] Wikileaks, Anonymous, and global activism
To: Liberation Technologies <liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu>, wendyh.wong at utoronto.ca

> For those of us interested,  but unaffiliated with an academic library,
> any chance of a way to give input without shelling out US$30 for the
> privilege of sending the author our expert feedback? ;)
> 
> We e-bandits (hmmm… do I qualify or care to? ) do not come with fat expense
> accounts.
> 
> Yrs,
> Shava Nerad
> shava23 at gmail.com
> On Dec 11, 2013 11:07 AM, "Yosem Companys" <companys at stanford.edu> wrote:
> 
> > From: Wendy Wong <wendyh.wong at utoronto.ca>
> >
> > Hi Everyone:
> >
> > I just wanted to let you know about an article I (and co-author Pete
> > Brown) have in the new issue of Perspectives on Politics on the role
> > of Wikileaks, Anonymous, and other “e-bandits” in global activism .
> > Here is the link:
> > 
> >
> > Here is the abstract for “E-Bandits in Global Activism: Wikileaks,
> > Anonymous, and the Politics of No One."
> >
> > In recent years, WikiLeaks and Anonymous have made headlines
> > distributing confidential information, defacing websites, and
> > generating protest around political issues. Although many have
> > dismissed these actors as terrorists, criminals, and troublemakers, 
> we
> > argue that such actors are emblematic of a new kind of political
> > actor: extraordinary bandits (e-bandits) that engage in the politics
> > of no one via anonymizing Internet technologies. Building on
> > Hobsbawm's idea of the social bandit, we show how these actors
> > fundamentally change the terms of global activism. First, as political
> > actors, e-bandits are akin to Robin Hood, resisting the powers that 
> be
> > who threaten the desire to keep the Internet free, not through
> > lobbying legislators, but by “taking” what has been deemed off limits.
> > Second, e-banditry forces us to think about how technology changes
> > “ordinary” transnational activism. Iconic images of street protests
> > and massive marches often underlie the way we as scholars think about
> > social movements and citizen action; they are ordinary ways we expect
> > non-state actors to behave when they demand political change.
> > E-bandits force us to understand political protest as virtual missives
> > and actions, activity that leaves no physical traces but that has
> > real-world consequences, as when home phone numbers and addresses of
> > public officials are released. Finally, e-banditry is relatively open
> > in terms of who participates, which contributes to the growing sense
> > that activism has outgrown organizations as the way by which
> > individuals connect. We illustrate our theory with the actions of two
> > e-bandits, Anonymous and WikiLeaks.
> >
> > We’d love to hear your thoughts!
> >
> > Wendy H. Wong
> > Director, Trudeau Centre for Peace, Conflict and Justice
> > Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
> > Associate Director, Munk School Global Justice Lab
> >
> > Munk School of Global Affairs | University of Toronto
> > 315 Bloor Street West | Room 214
> > Toronto, ON   M5S 1A3
> > Phone: 416-946-8703 | Fax: 416-946-5566
> > www.munkschool.utoronto.ca
> > individual.utoronto.ca/wendyhwong
> > --
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> >
> -- Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. 
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