September 5, 2002 | Read Time: 1 minute
Advocacy, Activism, and the Internet: Community Organization and Social Policy
edited by Steven F. Hick and John G. McNutt
Internet-bred technologies such as e-mail, electronic discussion lists, chat rooms, and computer conferencing have become key tools for social activism and advocacy groups, but have also created new challenges and concerns, this book says.
In many cases, new technologies have replaced or augmented activities that were previously done through other means. E-mail, for example, has replaced printed flyers, making it easier for activists to accomplish tasks more effectively and quickly, at a lower cost, and on a global scale. But while the Internet may make activism easier, the process of organizing people for social change is “painstaking, face-to-face, grass-roots work” that no amount of technology can replace, says Noam Chomsky in the book’s foreword.
The book discusses the question of whether a sense of community can be achieved on the Internet, and examines the benefits of new technology, its impact on community organizing, as well as problems such the digital divide and the commercialization of the Internet.
Publisher: Lyceum Books, 5758 S. Blackstone, Chicago, Ill. 60637; lyceum@lyceumbooks.com; http://www.lyceumbooks.com; 241 pages; $29.95; I.S.B.N. 0-925065-60-9.
