Electronic Networking and
Activism
Christine Shearer
1950s U.S.

Fordist Mode of production
Assembly line
– Mass production
– Standardization
– Vertically-integrated industry (within a nation-state)
• Mirrored organization of social life:
- Standardized nuclear family: husband at work, housewife
- Mass consumption
–
1970s
Beginning of major changes in production, particularly:
- Outsourcing of manufacturing from First to Third World
Reluctance on the part of many social scientists to say the
change was due to technology, because it comes off as
technological determinism. Instead many globalization
theorists ascribe the cause as decreasing returns on capital
invested in production, leading corporations to send their
manufacturing operations abroad where production costs
are lower (i.e. wages, taxes, less regulations, etc.)
New Mode of Production:
Flexibilization

Manufacturing becomes organized along
global commodity chains, with each piece
produced where it is most cost-efficient:
–
–
–
–
“Just in time” production
Subcontracting
Flexible labor
Containerization
Globalization

Decentralization of production necessitates
tighter integration at level of command
–
–
–
Many corporations subcontract production and
focus instead on the more profitable area of
marketing, advertising, research and design, etc.
Global cities (Sassen 2001) have the
technological infrastructure to act as coordinating
nodes in the global economy (e.g. NY, Tokyo)
Idea of a “trans-national class” – elites whose
interests lie outside any particular nation-state
Fordism vs. Flexibilization

Fordism
- Mass production
- Nation-state
- Full-time work
- Keynesianism
- Autos/Electronics

Flexibilization
- “Just in time”
- Trans-national
- PT, Temp, Contract
- Neoliberalism
- Technology/Info
Trans-National Activism
As corporations take on a transnational perspective, political activists
need to do the same.
And as corporations use technology to
make their activities more efficient,
political activists should do the same.
Structure of Activism Changing?
- W. Lance Bennett (2003) – Social movements
changing from top-down, bureaucratic
structures (NGOs) to decentralized,
horizontally-integrated direct action networks
(DANs) [a big generalization and Bennett
offers no actual examples, so it seems most
useful to look at as ideal-type models]
Role of Hackers


According to Critical Art Ensemble (thanks,
Alan) the “old-school” leftist activists need to
link up with computer hackers. Old activists
still targeting concrete structures, when the
real damage to be done is in cyberspace, by
blocking flows of info (i.e. the centralization of
command discussed earlier).
“Electronic Civil Disobedience” (ECD).
Zapatistas

Maria Torres (2001) went to Chiapas in 1993 as part
of an electronic project to get local NGOs and
popular orgs in Mexico “on-line.” The effect?
- Just two days after rising up in Chiapas,
Subcomandante Marcos was online, thus able to
send the Zapatista message and subvert the reports
of major Mexican media orgs. Ten days after that the
Mexican army was called off, as people around the
world held demonstrations supporting the Zapatistas.
Precursor to the World Social Forum?
In July 1996 the Zapatista call for a
worldwide conference against neoliberalism
brought over 3,000 people from five
continents to Chiapas
Zapatista Networks


Garrido and Halavais (2003) mapped out the
communication network of the Zapatista’s
main site (www.ezln.org) and found it was
linked with various global NGOs and was
central to connecting many of them together
[seems a somewhat obvious finding, which
the authors admit, but it shows the degree of
connection of the Zapatista struggle with
other online activist groups].
Electronic Disturbance Theater

Floodnet
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–
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Website that uses a Java applet to make browsers
automatically reload targeted webpages several times per
minute—all someone has to do is connect their browser to
the website at a certain hour.
Was used by EDT and Zapatista supporters as a form of
“Free Speech expressed artistically on the Internet”—a
virtual sit-in. (Debate on whether it’s legal, but EDT
considers it ethical; it’s a “disturbance,” not hacking.)
As the target, usually the Mexican President's website, is
automatically reloaded, netizens could upload server log
messages such as "human-rights not found on this server."
Effect of Internet on Zapatistas
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To spread information from the Zapatista
point of view
To link up with other groups/orgs.
To organize conferences
To plan for and engage in electronic civil
disobedience
Inspired creative, electronic uses of free
speech?
Electronic Frontier Foundation

Fighting for civil liberties in cyberspace
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–
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Group of legal and/or tech-savvy professionals
and activists who use the law to fight against
infringements of freedom in cyberspace.
Carry on this battle mainly in courts, bringing and
defending lawsuits often against the US Gov’t or
big corporations.
Also informs the press on tech issues and helps
fund “freedom-enhancing technologies.”
Activists and Hacktivists

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Common belief in liberty and freedom, and
refusal to obey unjust laws.
Striving for effective, efficient action.
Hactivists who engage in electronic civil
disobedience face the same penalties as
activists who engage in civil disobedience:
both are considered criminal acts (e.g. it’s
illegal to intentionally cause damage to a
website).