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Ed Webb

This Forum - 27 views

Use this forum for any discussions of POSC290. Use this topic for administrative questions.

general admin

started by Ed Webb on 29 Jan 09 no follow-up yet
Ed Webb

Twitter - 17 views

twitter Social networking

started by Ed Webb on 06 Feb 09 no follow-up yet
Ed Webb

Why I Was Wrong about the Arab Revolutions | Stephen M. Walt - 2 views

walt.foreignpolicy.com/...y_i_m_not_losing_sleep_over_it

Egypt #jan25 protests Tunisia Libya bahrain walt

shared by Ed Webb on 26 Feb 11 - No Cached
Terri Soifer liked it
  • Ed Webb on 26 Feb 11
     
    Smart social scientists always own up - sometimes gleefully - when they get things wrong.
Ed Webb

Summer Internship Opportunities - 6 views

House Divided Interns. Professors Pinsker and Osborne are seeking paid summer interns for the House Divided Project (http://housedivided.dickinson.edu). The project concerns Dickinson College and...

admin

started by Ed Webb on 19 Mar 09 no follow-up yet
Ed Webb

Middle East Revolutions: The View from China by Perry Link | NYRBlog | The New York Rev... - 5 views

www.nybooks.com/...le-east-revolutions-view-china

middle_east china revolution protest #jan25 authoritarianism mubarak filtering social_media

shared by Ed Webb on 15 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • hus, while Chinese censors have declared the word Mubarak (along with “Egypt” and others) to be “sensitive” and have set up filters to delete any message that contains it, Chinese Web users, in their usual cat-and-mouse game, have invented witty substitutes. These include “Mu Xiaoping” and “Mu Jintao”—which, by playing on the names of China’s own autocrats, get around the censors and up the ante at the same time.
    • gweyman
      gweyman on 15 Apr 11
       
      The contest is at the level of the word - imitates the growth of search and of Twitter hashtags. 
  • The Egyptian uprising is an awkward fact for China’s rulers because it undermines one of their favorite arguments.
    • gweyman
      gweyman on 15 Apr 11
       
      Is control at the level of the argument? What impact do arguments have in authoritarian countries? 
    • Ed Webb
      Ed Webb on 16 Apr 11
       
      Even authoritarian regimes require consent at some level, even the consent of silence. This is why the role of dissenter is so important in such societies. Repression alone is too expensive - ideological hegemony is more efficient. So argument/dissent matters.
    • gweyman
      gweyman on 20 Apr 11
       
      Agreed repression is expensive and often only causes more dissent. But the issue is whether ideological hegemony is actually about substantive arguments or a kind of rhetoric which citizens cannot break down, but know is false.
    • Ed Webb
      Ed Webb on 20 Apr 11
       
      If you haven't read Lisa Wedeen's Ambiguities of Domination, you should! Great stuff on the power of absurd arguments.
    • gweyman
      gweyman on 20 Apr 11
       
      Absolutely what I was thinking of. This book was quite influential for me. Thanks Ed. (ps back in the day I tried to take forward some of those arguments for Syria here http://users.ox.ac.uk/~metheses/WeymanThesis.htm)
    • Ed Webb
      Ed Webb on 20 Apr 11
       
      That's going on my summer reading list!
  • The example of Tunisia raises a related question, equally awkward. For China’s rulers, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the ousted dictator, would have been seen as following their own approach—the so-called “Chinese model” of economic growth combined with political repression—and having much success with it, or so it was assumed for many years. But the Tunisian people took to the streets to overthrow him. Did the people want something more than the Chinese model? How could that be?
    • gweyman
      gweyman on 15 Apr 11
       
      Points also to Saudi Arabia. 
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • The uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt could not have happened without Facebook and Twitter.
    • gweyman
      gweyman on 15 Apr 11
       
      Over stated. How would the author explain Yemen where Facebook has a 1.6% penetration?
  • For five days at the height of the protests, Mubarak’s people were able to shut down the Internet and, for a time, cell phone networks as well.
    • gweyman
      gweyman on 15 Apr 11
       
      Shutting the internet down was in effect the Egyptian government admitting to its own weakness in the face of growing internet  use that it could not control. 
  • Chinese sources have revealed that the government spends over 500 billion yuan ($76 billion) a year on domestic “stability maintenance.”
    • gweyman
      gweyman on 15 Apr 11
       
      What is the relationship between what an authoritarian regime spends on maintaining its power and the fact of its continued power? Are these resources well spent? 
  • On February 15, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton delivered a speech on Internet freedom in which she said the US is committed to helping people in China and elsewhere “get around filters, stay one step ahead of the censors,” and in other ways join a free and open Internet. She said the US plans to award $25 million this year in competitive grants to “technologists and activists working at the cutting edge of the fight against Internet repression.”
    • gweyman
      gweyman on 15 Apr 11
       
      US credibility in internet censorship is somewhat undermined by its response to Wikileaks. 
  • And which method—fighting Internet repression or fighting wars—seems more likely actually to bring democracy?
    • gweyman
      gweyman on 15 Apr 11
       
      cf clay shirky on US policies on tackling internet repression. He argues it is not a particularly useful strategy.
Ed Webb

China mobilizes army for National Day parade_English_Xinhua - 0 views

news.xinhuanet.com/...content_10801729.htm

shared by Ed Webb on 18 Feb 09 - Cached
Manon Latil liked it
  • The instruction said that the parade, to be the highest level of its kind, will showcase the PLA's first-class organization, weapons systems, training results and "spiritual outlook."
    • Ed Webb
      Ed Webb on 18 Feb 09
       
      Parades and spectacles are also media.
  • demonstrate the integrity of China's armed forces
  • the parade will promote national pride and self-confidence amid economic hard times.
Ed Webb

Egypt's critics have a voice, but never the last word - International Herald Tribune - 1 views

www.iht.com/...18egypt.php

shared by Ed Webb on 18 Feb 09 - Cached
Manon Latil liked it
  • For some reason, as yet unexplained, blogging seems to cross the line from speaking to acting.
    • Ed Webb
      Ed Webb on 18 Feb 09
       
      Why should this be so? Discuss!
  • Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suleiman, a young blogger sentenced to four years in prison for criticizing President Hosni Mubarak and the state's religious institutions.
  • "For a second, after the judge said I should be freed, I thought there really were laws in this country,"
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • security forces operate with impunity
    • Manon Latil
      Manon Latil on 18 Feb 09
       
      Unable to explain the unexplained, I just think that blogging, through writing, can be considered as an alternative means of criticising the government, as were pamphlets. It does not justify censorship, but since newspapers more or less use autocensorship (or is it selfcensorship?), because they are journalists, professionals, belonging to a specific group or sphere, that they have codes and ways of framing the world through their kownledge, blogs and bloggers are dangerous. They are hard to control because now the sphere of people expressing themselves has nothing to do with any writing ability (unlike people who went to a journalism school for example) or knowlegde. Through censorship, they deny the bloggers the right to be considered legitimate sources of information.
Zach Hartnett

U.S. Army captain learning new skills in war-torn Afghanistan | McClatchy Washington Bu... - 0 views

www.mcclatchydc.com/...62616.html

shared by Zach Hartnett on 23 Feb 09 - Cached
Zach Hartnett liked it
  • U.S. Army Capt. Matthew Crowe trained to obliterate distant foes with high-explosive shellfire. But in this mud-washed, mountain-framed provincial capital in eastern Afghanistan, he is learning to be a diplomat, urban planner, construction manager, humanitarian worker and politician.
  • There was virtually no Taliban presence in Maydan Shahr until last year. Insurgent leaders believed to be wintering in Pakistan's nearby tribal region have been recruiting among the area's dominant Pashtun ethnic group. Even some senior city officials are now said to support the guerrillas, who often target public workers.
  • "I want to focus on Maydan Shahr," he said, "because it becomes a very visible sign of how we are here to help."
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • The United States hopes that by partnering with officials like Ebrahimi across the country, popular faith can be restored in local authorities, whose years of flagrant misrule and rampant corruption are driving people into the arms of the guerrillas.
    • Zach Hartnett
      Zach Hartnett on 23 Feb 09
       
      Maybe the officials the Bush administration has been so quick to place in positions of power are part of the reason the Taliban has been able to maintain support in Afganistan. Obama's tough stance with Karzai should offer a refreshing change that will hopefully accelerate the peace process.
  • Ed Webb on 23 Feb 09
     
    Public diplomacy - the visibility of deeds
Ed Webb

'World's First' Street Named After a Twitter Account - 0 views

www.wired.com/...-named-after-a-twitter-account

Twitter geography street_art internet of things

shared by Ed Webb on 28 Sep 09 - Cached
  • Ed Webb on 28 Sep 09
     
    For once, you can take the @ symbol at the front of a Twitter account name literally. The Twitter name @arjanelfassed is not only the Twitter account
Ed Webb

In an attempt to challenge Islamophobia the Daily Show presents The Qu'osby Show - 3 views

mondoweiss.net/...-the-qu%e2%80%99osby-show.html

Islamophobia racism US USA media television TV funny dailyshow stewart

shared by Ed Webb on 19 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • Ed Webb on 19 Feb 11
     
    So, this clearly isn't going to work. What will?
Ed Webb

Twitter network of Arab protests - interactive map | World news | guardian.co.uk - 3 views

www.guardian.co.uk/...tter-arab-protests-interactive

twitter sidibouzid #jan25 protests guardian guardian.co.uk map mapping

shared by Ed Webb on 20 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • Taryn Abbassian on 21 Feb 11
     
    This is amazing. Its astonishing how far our technology has come in the last few years. I remember when Twitter first came out it seemed rather pointless, and I didn't think it would really catch on. Its fascinating to see how significant Twitter has become in terms of social networking and even in the realm of politics/social movements.
Ed Webb

The Arab Revolution and Social Media - 5 views

flipthemedia.com/...ab-revolution-and-social-media

socialmedia protests #jan25 Egypt Tunisia

shared by Ed Webb on 01 Mar 11 - No Cached
  • Taryn Abbassian on 01 Mar 11
     
    "In other protesting nations, Internet access ranges from only 5% (Libya) to 34% (Tunisia)." It is amazing to be reminded that these numbers still remain very low in these countries given the powerful impact that social media has had in the Middle East, especially recently.
Manon Latil

'Israeli elections paint a dark picture' | Middle East | Jerusalem Post - 0 views

www.jpost.com/...Satellite

Turkey Israel elections

shared by Manon Latil on 14 Feb 09 - No Cached
Ed Webb liked it
  • Manon Latil on 14 Feb 09
     
    Turkish reaction after the Israeli elections.
Michael Fisher

How Iranians See Their Country - 0 views

www.npr.org/...story.php

Iran Middle East NPR

shared by Michael Fisher on 18 Feb 09 - Cached
Ed Webb liked it
  • Michael Fisher on 18 Feb 09
     
    NPR discussion about Iranian attitudes toward their country. Topics included common American misperceptions about Iran, the role of Iranian youth in domestic politics, and Iran's electoral process as it prepares for presidential elections in June.
Ed Webb

David Ignatius - Jordan's ex-spy chief wasn't too good to be true - 2 views

www.washingtonpost.com/...AR2009121102610_pf.html

shared by Ed Webb on 13 Dec 09 - Cached
  • played in the movie by British actor Mark Strong
    • Ed Webb
      Ed Webb on 13 Dec 09
       
      Continuing the long tradition of westerners (particularly Brits) playing Arabs in films - Anthony Quinn, Alex Guinness et al. It's almost as if Omar Sharif is the only Arab allowed to play a major role...
Ed Webb

What Egypt Can Teach America - NYTimes.com - 5 views

www.nytimes.com/...13kristof.html

#jan25 Egypt Tunisia sidibouzid kristof opinion analysis socialmedia television jazeera aljazeera

shared by Ed Webb on 13 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • Egypt is a reminder not to be suckered into the narrative that a place is stable because it is static.
  • New technologies have lubricated the mechanisms of revolt. Facebook and Twitter make it easier for dissidents to network. Mobile phones mean that government brutality is more likely to end up on YouTube, raising the costs of repression.
  • Maybe the most critical technology — and this is tough for a scribbler like myself to admit — is television. It was Arab satellite television broadcasts like those of Al Jazeera that broke the government monopoly on information in Egypt. Too often, Americans scorn Al Jazeera (and its English service is on few cable systems), but it played a greater role in promoting democracy in the Arab world than anything the United States did.
Ed Webb

The New Iron Curtain of Journalism in America: Banning Al Jazeera | BuzzFlash.org - 3 views

blog.buzzflash.com/12342

censorship TV television opinion analysis jazeera al-jazeera

shared by Ed Webb on 13 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • Ed Webb on 13 Feb 11
     
    How apt is this comparison? Does it belittle the experiences of those who lived under Soviet censorship regimes? Or is the type of censorship discussed just as repressive?
Ed Webb

Facebook Officials Keep Quiet on Its Role in Revolts - NYTimes.com - 3 views

www.nytimes.com/...15facebook.html

facebook twitter youtube middleeast privacy activism

shared by Ed Webb on 15 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • The social media giant finds itself under countervailing pressures after the uprisings in the Middle East. While it has become one of the primary tools for activists to mobilize protests and share information, Facebook does not want to be seen as picking sides for fear that some countries — like Syria, where it just gained a foothold — would impose restrictions on its use or more closely monitor users, according to some company executives who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were discussing internal business.
  • Last week, Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, urged Facebook to take “immediate and tangible steps” to help protect democracy and human rights activists who use its services, including addressing concerns about not being able to use pseudonyms. In a letter to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, Mr. Durbin said the recent events in Egypt and Tunisia had highlighted the costs and benefits of social tools to democracy and human rights advocates. “I am concerned that the company does not have adequate safeguards in place to protect human rights and avoid being exploited by repressive governments,” he wrote.
  • This is an incredible challenge and an incredible opportunity for Facebook, Twitter and Google,” said Ethan Zuckerman, a senior researcher at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, where he works on projects about the use of technology and media in the developing world. “It might be tougher for Facebook than anyone else. Facebook has been ambivalent about the use of their platform by activists.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Twitter and YouTube, which is owned by Google, have been more willing to embrace their roles in activism and unrest, Mr. Zuckerman said. After the Internet was shut down in Egypt, Twitter and Google actively helped protesters by producing a new service, speak2tweet, that allowed people to leave voicemail messages that would be filed as updates on Twitter. Biz Stone, one of Twitter’s founders, used it as an opportunity to emphasize the positive global impact that comes with the open exchange of information. When the Internet was back up, YouTube, working with Storyful, a social media news curation service, took the thousands of videos pouring in from the protests in Tahrir Square to help people access and share the information as quickly as possible on CitizenTube, its news and politics channel.
  • the Global Network Initiative, a voluntary code of conduct for technology companies created in 2008 that requires participating businesses to take reasonable steps to protect human rights
Ed Webb

Libya February 17th | Keeping with the events as they happen - 2 views

www.libyafeb17.com

Libya #feb17

shared by Ed Webb on 17 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • Ed Webb on 17 Feb 11
     
    The revolution will have a website
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