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From: Walker, Steve [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: 02 May 2006 20:45 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Technology and Social Action Workshop@PDC 2006 - Call for partiicpation TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL ACTION A WORKSHOP AT THE PARTICIPATORY DESIGN CONFERENCE, TRENTO, ITALY TUESDAY 1ST AUGUST, 2006. Deadline: Monday 12th June 2006. INTRODUCTION This workshop will bring together campaigners, practitioners and academics to examine the use of technology to promote emancipatory social change. The internet has opened up a range of opportunities for progressive social movements and organisations. Groups promoting: (for example) women's rights, human rights, disability rights, community development, third world development, industrial democracy and global justice are all developing ways of using technology to further social ends, as have others with less desirable ends such as hate groups and a variety of cults The needs of such social action groups differ from industrial applications of ICT because they: * rely heavily on the work of volunteers who are not professionally trained in their area of work; * may involve groups of individuals who are distributed with limited chances for face-to-face communication; * exhibit complex interwoven value systems beyond commercial profit and 'efficiency'; * typically suffer from extreme shortages of resources; * often aim to reach individuals with limited access to ICT (e.g. in developing countries, in disadvantaged areas of the developed world, or people with disabilities or suffering other forms of social exclusion). This workshop aims to bring together researchers and practitioners involved in the design and use of electronic tools to support social action. 1. THE AIMS OF THE WORKSHOP The workshop will present and discuss the work of the UK research network 'Technology & Social Action' in an international setting, aiming to test findings against the experiences from elsewhere. We aim to build links between the resulting network of researchers and practitioners and others doing similar work elsewhere in the world. The workshop posits a number of questions. * How might practitioners maximise the impact of electronic tools on their campaigning goals? * How can we design systems to enable and encourage fair access and participatory democracy in a world of computer mediated communication and digital divides? * What kinds of design and development tools and techniques can be made available for (generally inexperienced) volunteers to make best use of available technologies? * How can we study interactions between participants in social action and systems designed to support them? * How does engagement with electronic campaigns relate to 'real world' activism? * What are the challenges in countering undesirable developments, e.g. campaigns by sectarian groups? * What are the potentials and problems of using Free / Libre Open-Source Sofware in this area? * How can campaigns integrate electronic and physical information systems to maintain and extend involvement, and increase the effectiveness of campaigns? * How can social movements organise across boundaries of language, organisations and culture? * How does the globalisation and computerisation of campaigning impact on the developing world? 2. WHO SHOULD ATTEND? The workshop is aimed at practitioners, designers, campaign organisers, activists and researchers who are: * involved in designing for, or supporting NGOs, trade-unions, community, campaigning or voluntary groups; * concerned with the relationship between 'the network society', democracy and emancipation; * interested in understanding the impact of electronically mediated communication on the development of civil society. 3. WORKSHOP STRUCTURE Participants in the workshop will be asked to make a short presentation of their positions. This will be followed by collaborative working to explore and collate issues raised by the participants. The expected output will be a series of challenges and questions that will be put to the wider PD audience at the conference in the form of a poster to stimulate discussion during and after the conference. 4. HOW TO PARTICIPATE If you would like to participate, please write a 1 page introduction explaining your experience of the domain, and the main issues you would like to discuss. Send this to the workshop organisers ([log in to unmask]) by Monday 12th June 2006. For details of the conference, please visit www.pdc2006.org Important Dates: Statement Due 12th June 2006. Early bird registration for conference - Thursday 15th June 2006. Workshop date: 1st August 2006 PDC 2006 1st - 5th August 2006 Andy Dearden Communication & Computing Research Centre Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield UK, S1 1WB Tel: +44 114 225 2916 Fax: +44 114 225 3161 email: [log in to unmask] Steve Walker School of Information Management Leeds Metropolitan University Beckett Park, Leeds, LS6 3QS Tel: +44 113 283 7448 Fax: +44 113 283 7599 email: [log in to unmask] ________________________________________________________________ Steve Walker, Senior Lecturer Leeds Metropolitan University School of Information Management Phone: (44) 113 283 7448 Skype: steve_walker To view the terms under which this email is distributed, please go to http://disclaimer.leedsmet.ac.uk/email.htm **************************************************************************** ******** Distributed through Cyber-Society-Live [CSL]: CSL is a moderated discussion list made up of people who are interested in the interdisciplinary academic study of Cyber Society in all its manifestations.To join the list please visit: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/cyber-society-live.html **************************************************************************** ********* ==== This e-mail is intended solely for the addressee. 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