DigiActive.org

Theory: Poverty & Digital Activism

As our contribution to Blog Action Day, I’d like to offer a response to a common question I receive: “How can you promote digital activism in resource-constrained societies if poor people don’t have access to digital tools?”

In answering this question, it isn’t sufficient to respond with the multiple examples of activists without substantial resources mounting brilliantly creative and successful campaigns for social an internet center supported by the Brazilian Ministry of Culture and political change like the strikers in Egypt using Facebook, the Help Fouad campaign in Morocco, and anti-FARC activists in Colombia.

Answering this question in a persuasive way requires a more thorough analysis of how access to digital tools is changing and what this means for political activism.  The key trends here are sky-rocketing increases in mobile phone subscriptions in developing countries and more shared mobile phones and computers.  The digital divide is no longer defined by computer ownership.  There are simply too many other ways to get on the network.

Let’s take Brazil as an example.  To quote an article from World Politics Review from earlier this year: “In Brazil, the spread of communications technology is proceeding at breakneck speed. Internet usage statistics are breaking records every month.  As a result, Brazilian society is changing in ways that have hardly begun to be understood.”
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Campaign: Online activists champion hunger relief

Description: The recent financial downturn has had an effect on people throughout the world. However, crashing stock markets in the industrialized world have had a particularly detrimental effect on those already suffering in the developing world. Tomorrow is Blog Action Day, where bloggers will raise awareness about poverty. One organization is using multiple digital tools to fight hunger among the world’s children.

Action Alert: Blog Action Day 2008

What? Blog Action Day 2008 - Poverty
When? October 15, 2008
Where? on your blog
Why? To raise awareness and trigger a global discussion on poverty.

Vimeo has announced it’s 2008 challenge to bloggers, called Blog Action Day.  It’s meant to encourage and empower bloggers around the world to focus on one pertinent issue to write about on 15 October 2008.  Their aim every year is to “raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.”

This year’s topic is focused on global poverty.  Vimeo has even provided bloggers with a video (below) to post beforehand to spread the word, which I’ve gone and posted on my blog, and have seen several times this week on other blogs!  Please join in this effort, and follow the links below to learn more.

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.