I hope the forwarded e-mail is of interest to the list, it certainly
crosses over
a range of themes from globalisation to the use of the internet as a
forum for protest. Does anyone on the list plan to attend? There is a
growing need for academics such as ourselves to actively _engage_ with
the groups and issues we write about. For this reason I am co-editing
a book on British Direct Action which seeks to give a space to the
untold stories in this area over the period since Thatcher came to
power. Castells are interested in the proposal and Tony Benn will
write the preface. Although all of the chapters will be wrtten by
activists, some of these are also academics. If anyone has ideas for a
chapter they would wish to include please contact me
directly and I will send you more details. Provisional timetable is
for proposals to be in by mid June and the book to be out early in
'98. I look forward to any responses on the above, Ian.
ENCUENTRO PROPOSAL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, APRIL 30, 1997
PLEASE FORWARD AND DISTRIBUTE WIDELY
We in Austin, Texas, associated with Accion Zapatista, ZapNet, and others
are eager to hear from people around the world who want to collaborate with
us in the realization of this project for an Internet-Web Encuentro during
the Second Intercontinental Encuentro For Humanity And Against
Neoliberalism.
We have already established preliminary relationships with some of the
organizers in Spain, but we feel this project needs to be developed
collectively, in cyberspace, on a global level.
We urge the active participation of those of you who are already engaged in
web sites, listservs, and other manifestations of Zapatismo in electronic
media.
Please post this text on your web sites
Please send comments on this proposal to Accion Zapatista at
[log in to unmask]
Also post comments to the Encuentro2 and the Zapatismo listservs
Especially let us know if you can collaborate with us in any way.
**********************************************************
INTERNET-WEB ENCUENTRO PROPOSAL
FOR THE
SECOND INTERCONTINENTAL ENCUENTRO
FOR HUMANITY AND AGAINST NEOLIBERALISM
JULY 25 - AUGUST 2, 1997, SPAIN
A co-production of
Accion Zapatista and ZapNet
In affiliation with the
Foundation for a Compassionate Society
Austin, Texas
Version 3.2
April 30, 1997
ABSTRACT
This proposal seeks to electronically link and connect people
around the globe for The Second Intercontinental Encounter (Encuentro) for
Humanity and Against Neoliberalism to take place from July 25 to August 2,
1997. This international event, to be convened in Madrid, Spain, was
proposed in August 1996 at the Zapatista's First Intercontinental Encuentro
in Chiapas, Mexico, an historic gathering which brought together over 3,000
artists, activists, and intellectuals from Europe, The Americas, Asia,
Australia, and Africa. Our Internet-Web Encuentro project will develop
existing cyber networks, strengthen collective efforts for information
exchange, maintain an ongoing encounter within the Zapatista solidarity
movement, and link together other grassroots struggles that seek to
transform humanity and defeat neoliberalism. A "cyber encounter" will make
possible virtual participation for untold numbers of people unable to
attend the event in person. Coordinated by Accion Zapatista and the
Zapatista Net of Autonomy and Liberation - two Austin groups with expertise
in the interface of politics and technology - this precedent setting
project will be an important step in the evolution of new technologies and
social change.
WHO ARE WE?
This proposal is a co-production of ZapNet and Accion Zapatista,
autonomous collectives that publish and circulate cultural and political
discourse around the Zapatista Movement in cyberspace. Since 1994, we have
collaboratively created various print, on-line, and interactive multimedia
projects, including an award-winning CD-ROM and internationally renown Web
sites. In 1996, we helped design a proposal for an "Intercontinental
Network of Alternative Communication" (Spanish Acronym: RICA).
Partners in this project include the Austin Peace and Justice
Coalition, The Foundation for a Compassionate Society, and ThingNYC, a
consortium of artistic nodes in the United States and Europe. This
undertaking will draw on other Austin resources including the Women's and
Latino collectives at KOOP Radio, Women in News Gathering Service (WINGS),
and Women's Access to Electronic Resources (WATER). We are working with Web
site and listserv managers, and others versed in digital audio and visual
media, in Mexico, other locations in North America, and Europe.
For more information see these Web sites:
* Accion Zapatista: http://www.utexas.edu/students/nave
* ZapNet: http:// www.actlab.utexas.edu/~zapnet
* Encuentro Web site: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/3849/gatherdx.html
NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND GLOBAL SOCIAL CHANGE
New computer-based communication and information technologies, like
the Internet and the World Wide Web, have dramatically increased people's
ability to communicate with one another on a global level. This increased
capability for global electronic communication means that groups and
individuals, unlike ever before, may work together, share information,
build alliances, create dialogue, strategize, and operate as part of a
global community. Moreover, the potential for direct democracy these new
technologies provide is especially crucial in an era of corporate dominated
media and communication. The proliferation of electronic communication and
information infrastructures is now making access to digital media
technologies a fundamental human right.
The Zapatista uprising on January 1, 1994 and the subsequent
solidarity movement in support of the EZLN and the indigenous communities
of Chiapas illustrates how activists have seized the Net as a means of
resisting and struggling on a global level. Only days after the rebellion,
the EZLN began their 'war of words' and circulated communiques across
international borders. Vital information and pleas for crucial support
flowed through pre-existing networks that had been established around the
anti-NAFTA campaign and other struggles. The Zapatista struggle against
Mexico's state party system and the devastating effects of externally
imposed structural adjustments, or neoliberalism, has produced critical
linkages that promise a fundamental transformation of the Mexican polity.
In August of 1996, the Zapatistas hosted thousands of activists and
intellectuals from Europe, The Americas, Asia, Australia, and Africa for
the First Intercontinental Encuentro For Humanity and Against
Neoliberalism. This historic gathering continued the Zapatista efforts to
encourage dialogue on an international scale. Zapatista-based Web sites in
Mexico City, San Diego, Austin, Montreal, Dublin, and Berlin sustained the
Zapatistas' presence in cyberspace and became locations for active
participation in an international dialogue that promoted struggle for
humanity and resistance against neoliberalism.
As we approach the Second Intercontinental Encuentro, to be held in
Spain from July 25 to August 2, 1997, the global Zapatista movement is
represented by well over fifty Net and Web resources. One of the primary
objectives of this Second Encuentro, which was first articulated at the
culmination of last year's intercontinental gathering in Chiapas by
Subcommandante Marcos, is to continue expanding the alternative
communication infrastructure needed for circulating global struggle and
resistance. As has been demonstrated, broadening the application of Net and
Web technologies is vital to continued expansion of this global alternative
communication network. By creatively applying these new technologies, and
through active collaboration with parallel initiatives, we can advance a
"virtual" or "cyber" participation in the Second Intercontinental
Encuentro. By creating an interactive environment through a combination of
digital text, images, audio, and video this project will enable important
dialogue through an "internet encuentro."
PROJECT OUTLINE
This project proposal directed toward the Second Encuentro seeks to
integrate a variety of digital media, including text, images, audio, and
video. It incorporates interactive environments ranging from simple email
capability to more advanced use of Web-based interactive video.
* Multiple-user access to computer and telephone facilities at the
Encuentro will allow participants to access basic Internet services such as
email and Web browsers, enabling communication with associates at remote
locations. People unable to attend the Encuentro will be able send
statements to be posted on the Internet and/or in public spaces at the
Encuentro sites.
* Texts developed prior to the Encuentro, developed on-site or at other
locations during the Encuentro, and written after the Encuentro will be
posted to a Web site, that will be linked to other Web sites globally. A
search engine will be developed for archival searches of texts on the
Encuentro Web site.
* Through the Encuentro Web site people will be able to automatically
subscribe to Encuentro email discussion lists. Some Encuentro Web sites may
feature scripted interactive applications such as on-line threaded
discussion lists and databases.
* Advance announcements, via email or other means, will invite participants
to submit texts. Notices that the Encuentro Web sites exist will be widely
circulated and people will be encouraged to distribute the information to
public sites.
* Photos and images created prior to, during, or after the Encuentro will
be posted to central Web sites that will be linked to interconnected Web
sites globally.
* Real-audio services will feature live and recorded transmission of key
speakers and events at the Encuentro. In addition, people transmitting from
remote sites will be able to address the Encuentro, via Real-audio.
* Interactive on-line video transmission, using the CUSeeMe application,
will enable real-time video communication between the Encuentro and remote
sites, allowing for presentations, meetings, interviews, and performances
to be viewed interactively. Remote locations can consist of Web access via
private and public locations to CUSeeMe Interactive Spaces at universities,
galleries and other wired venues.
* This project will collaborate with managers of email listservers and Web
sites to circulate digital texts, images, audio, and video. An important
goal is to link digital media available on the Net to more traditional
forms of communication like radio and print, so as to make available
multi-media representations of the Encuentro, and the intercontinental
project for humanity and against neoliberalism, available to the wider
public audiences without Internet access.
PROJECT NEEDS
Our highest priority is getting our team to the Encuentro. We will
need to provide for transportation to Spain, Encuentro fees, and other
expenses. For this, we anticipate needing a minimum of $10,000. But in
order to fully realize our project goals, we will need between $30,000 and
$40,000 to cover equipment and operational costs.
Organizers in Spain will be establishing basic computer and
telecommunication infrastructure at the 5 Encuentro sites. A goal of the
Spanish organizers working on these technical aspects of the Encuentro is
to establish ISDN lines for each site. This will enable band-width
capability necessary for rapid transmission of digital audio and video.
Since it may not be possible to arrange high-speed lines for all 5 sites -
because several are in more rural areas - our proposal offers two
contingencies in its budget: one for ISDN lines at 5 sites and one for ISDN
lines at only 2 sites.
Our proposal focuses on the advanced and sophisticated applications
of Internet-Web technology. We hope to augment and build upon the basic
infrastructures people in Spain are establishing in conjunction with APC
nodes. Since most of the Encuentro will be taking place simultaneously in
multiple sites, equipment needs must be considered for each.
These are our equipment needs:
* As fundamental tools for all of our project goals, our team will need 2
high-end multimedia Macintosh powerbooks equipped with sound and video
cards and built-in high-speed modems, and 3 other PC or Macintosh laptop
computers.
* Digital cameras to achieve the goal of displaying images of people,
meetings, performances, and art on Encuentro Web sites.
* Quick-time video cameras to achieve the goal of establishing on-line
interactive video transmissions between the Encuentro and remote sites.
* Cables for audio feeds, high volume digital storage capability such as
Zip Drives, and other technical accessories and supplies.
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