Rohde Transnational Social Activist Communities

Information Systems and New Media Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf C&T2009, July 25

Technologies within Transnational Social Activist Communities

An Ethnographic Study of the European Social Forum

Saqib Saeed, Markus Rohde, Volker WulfDepartment of Information Systems and New Media

University of Siegen, Hölderlinstr 3, 57076 Siegen, Germany


Organizational Field of Application

Transnational networks of civil society organizations (CSOs), groups, movements and activists

Loosely connectedVolunteer-basedCultural and language diversityLimited financial and human resourcesAdhoc-setup, lacking well-organized and institutionalized structures


R&D Objective

Help to design appropriate technological support for transnational CSO networks


Research Questions

What requirements do CSO networks address to technological support?How do transnational CSO networks interact with technology?How is their technological infrastructure developed and appropriated?What are the main problems that transnational CSO networks face with regard to computer-mediated communication/cooperation?


Research Program

Understand the social practice of transnational CSO networkingUnderstand the state of the art of technological infrastructureDerive design requirementsDevelop prototypesEvaluate use of prototypes in the social practiceRe-design if necessary


Research Program

Understand the social practice of transnational CSO networkingUnderstand the state of the art of technological infrastructureDerive design requirementsDevelop prototypesEvaluate use of prototypes in the social practiceRe-design if necessary


Social ForumsWorld Social Forum (WSF) process:

initiated in 2001 as a counterpart to the World EconomicForumThe largest communication space for the alter-globalization movement (for global justice)„Another world is possible!“

Local, national, regional, global forums with independent organizing processesnetworks of NGOs, labour organizations, trade unions, social movements and grass-roots activistsNon-hierarchical structures, absence of central leadership and well-organized institutionsDecision-making by consensus


History of Social Forums9 Annual World Social Forum (WSF) Events

Central locations, policentric events, global call for actionBetween 12,000 to 155,000 attendees, thousandsorganizations, more than 130 countries

5 (Bi-) Annual European Social Forum (ESF) Events since 2002Central locationsUp to 60,000 attendees, hundreds of participating organizations

5th European Social Forum, 17th-21st September 2008 (ESF 2008) in Malmo, Sweden13,000 participants

1st European Social Forum Florence, Italy 2002

2nd European Social Forum Paris, France 2003

3rd European Social Forum London, UK 2004

4th European Social Forum Athens, Greece 2006

5th European Social Forum Malmo, Sweden 2008


Social Forums: Field of Application

Activistsand Networks

Individuals Groups Organizations Networks Movements localregionalnational

international

Social Forums: Events and Organizations/Committees

World SocialForum

National SF:

German, Italian, Indian, United States etc. Social Forums

City/DistrictSocial Forums

State/ProvincialSocial Forums

Self-organize and participate

ThematicSocial Forums

Regional SF:

European, African, Asian, American etc. Social Forums





international

Social Forums: Events and Organizations

World SocialForum

National SF:






Regional SF:






international

Social Forums: Events and Organizations

World SocialForum

National SF:






Regional SF:



Organizing Structure of ESF 2008

•European Preparatory Assembley (EPA)•Babels (volunteering interpreters)•Web-Team (volunteers for IT mangement)•Networks (specialized thematic groups)

•Nordic Organizing Committe (NOC)•139 member organizations•11 Working Groups•Board (financial matters)•Office •Coordination Group


Organizing Structure of ESF 2008

EPABabels

Web-Team

Net-works

NOC

Board OfficeCoor-

dinationGroup

139 Member Organizations

11 Working Groups

Experts

ALISProgramFundraisingDemonstrationInformationCultureLogisticsMobilizationVolunteersInterpretationsContact Group forEurope & the World


Central Website (official information)Event Website (event information)OpenESF Website (Collaborative tool, Project Workspaces, Wikis, Mailing lists)Mailing lists (communication at the European level)

Self-organized resources (volunteers/activists/participants):MySpaceFacebookYoutubeTwitter… etc.

Technological Infrastructure


ESF Website

Central Website (official information)


Event Website ESF 2008

Event Website (official information onthe recent ESF event)


Open ESF platform

Open ESF (communication platform)


Research Methods

Participant Observations at EPA/NOC meetings (Berlin, Malmo)Online Skype Meetings (3)Semi-structured interviews (14)

4 members of the organizing committee (NOC)4 members of the “web-team”4 social activists who organized workshops2 social activists who attended the event

Analysis of Websites and Mailing Lists


Development of the Event Website

2008 Event Website (Registration of activities, Merging, Event information, Publishing the Program, Storing outcomes)

Company volunteering to develop the websitePrevious website (2006 event) was developed using Ploneand the company developers were not familiar with Plone, so they started from the scratchProblems with the software companyCommunication problems, requirements, limited resourcesThus, the 2008 Event Website was developed by extending the previous forum (2006) website by a hired developer from the web-team


Selection of ThemesFrom Sept. to Nov. 2007 there were collected 70 suggestions for thematic initiatives through the event websiteNOC combined these suggestions in 7 thematic clusters/categoriesEPA meeting in November 2007 in Istanbul (Turkey) rejected these categoriesDiscussion at the EPA meeting in January 2008 in Paris and February 2008 in BerlinNine themes finalizedIn April 2008 a 10th category was added as a residual category


Activities Merging Process800 activities were proposed on the event website until June 2008, each was given a code numberMerging to 200 in order to reduce the coordinationcomplexity and due to limited resourcesEach theme having 1 coordinator and volunteerssupporting the merging process

Users were given options/suggestions for merging based on similarities in proposed activitiesCommunication by phone, fax, e-mail, lists, skype etc.Data extracted in excel filesMerging through the event website, new code numbers formerged activities, activities got lostMismatch between actual web-database and excel files


MobilizationProposed target: 20,000 attendees2 Mobilization Groups

Contact Group for Europe and the World (European mobilization)Mobilization Group (Swedish)

CommunicationPhysical MeetingTelephone ConferencesMailing listsFacebook group

Mobilization resulted in 13,000 attendeesFinancial problemsMisunderstandings with the Athens 2006 mobilization groupFree-rider problem


Preparing Activities

One activity, many organizers (due to merging)Some workshops used OpenESF to plan, others didnot, using e-mail or telcos insteadDifficulties in using the OpenESF platform

Difficulties in access (e.g., due to the war in Georgia)Deficiency of IT skillsLanguage barriersManyfold negotiation processesExisting network structures and alternative communicationinfrastructures and habits/practices


Documenting Outcomes

Lacking official outcomes (general reader, proceedings etc.)Objective for ESF: open space for networking and planning on common actions for the futureEvent website used to record outcomes very unstructured (some initiatives, some networks started, some statements agreed with other organizations)Web-based form to report (43 initiatives published a form)


Discussion

Highly complex interaction processesHeterogeneous infrastructure and communication/use habitsDiversity of skills, languages and cultures, expectations and experiencesDiversity of organizational structures

Knowledge Transfer/Expertise SharingFrom one event to the nextBetween EPA and event committee (NOC)Between ESF and other local, national and regional SFs and theWSFBetween working groups, participants etc. in general


DiscussionPerception of Technology

Scepticism: technocracy, replacing physical interactionDigital divide

Needs for technological infrastructureStandardization of technologySustainabilityDecentralized web sources, platforms, mailing lists etc.Search & Find problemLacking integration concept

Common culture of information sharing and usage of ICT infrastructureLimited resources and training facilities(e.g. provided by peers)


Conclusion and Future Work

Need for a better understanding of the social practice of transnational CSO networksBody of knowledge on technology support for this specific kind of ad-hoc communitiesDefinition of design requirementsParticipatory design of prototypical systemsEvaluation in practice

Ongoing research with respect to ESF, DSF, WSF


Thanks for your attention!

Markus [email protected]

http://www.wineme.uni-siegen.de

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Rohde Transnational Social Activist Communities