[discuss] /1net Steering/Coordination Commitee

Wed Dec 25 13:00:30 UTC 2013

Dear all,

My apologies for coming to this thread late, I had very limited email
access for the past ten days, but I do still want to respond to a few
messages here.

> On 21 December 2013 07:28, michael gurstein <gurstein at gmail.com> wrote:
/snip/
>While I recognize the significance and contribution of the existing IG
>oriented CS organizations I must insist that they do not reflect the
>interests or concerns of those of whom Community Informatics is for the
most
>part constituted... marginalized communities in Developed and Developing
>Countries, indigenous peoples, older persons, and others for whom the
>Internet offers but for the most part has not provided, significant
>opportunities for "engagement, empowerment and justice".  As an example,
>although there are some 325,000,000 indigenous people in the world apart
>from my regular comments I have yet to see anyone in the CS or larger IG
>community make any reference to these people or any overtures towards
>inclusion of their very specific concerns and interests.
>
>Matters of free expression, human rights, net neutrality and so on and so
on
>are discussed and pondered but the manner in which the Internet might
>provide enhanced life opportunities for Indigenous peoples, marginalized
>communities and so on are never ever discussed except in the most abstract
>and ultimately condescending terms.

I fully agree that the perspectives of marginalised people require greater
attention in Internet governance debates, but the impression given here
that people in CS today do not address such issues at all is simply
incorrect. For some of us, they are in fact what drives all of our work.
Just by means of a concrete, brief example, when I participated in the
WSIS+10 Review MPP meeting last week, I made interventions, among other
things, to request for a balance between civil and political rights on the
one hand and economic and social rights on the other; to acknowledge in the
text the qualitative digital gap in particular where bandwidth speeds are
concerned and educational exceptions and limitations on copyright; and
incidentally even to strengthen text around the rights of indigenous people
- in addition to arguing in favour of strong protections for the right to
freedom of expression - and all this from a strong developing country
perspective. I am by no means the only person in CS who takes such stances,
nor, I dare say, am I the only one among the CS 1net Steering Committee
nominees (though I am speaking here only as myself).

Although my analysis is always rooted in political economy perspectives, I
tend to couch such interventions often in the language of human rights as I
believe that is one of the best tools we have to communicate with a wide
range of policy makers from very wide backgrounds on such issues. But that
does not mean that I fight only for freedom of expression, let alone for a
very narrowly-framed version of it, as seems to be the claim here. To think
that human rights are only about civil and political rights would be a
major fallacy. To think that civil and political rights are not important
for people in developing countries, or are only of secondary importance,
would be equally mistaken: without freedom of expression, for example, it
is very difficult for marginalised people especially to defend their own
rights. Justice and human rights are not two separate, let alone opposite
strands, but are intimately interrelated, and as far as I am concerned one
cannot be achieved without the other.

To set up a dichotomy, as has been done somewhere on this long thread,
between human rights and justice is therefore something that I find
extremely dangerous and damaging to the work that is already being done in
the Internet governance sphere to create a more just, equal and fair
society for all. It is true that different actors may come at these
concerns in different ways and by using different languages and
perspectives, but surely if we keep the end goal in mind, there is space
for all of these. Though I have been lurking on a community informatics
email list for years now, I don't use that framework because for a variety
of reasons, I don't find it the most politically productive one. I would
still like to think of the folks in that community as allies though, and
treat them as such. Keeping in mind that we have similar end goals, I would
appreciate if my political choices are treated with similar respect.

On 23 December 2013 06:10, Norbert Bollow <nb at bollow.ch> wrote:

> /snip/
> Anja Kovacs is originally from Europe, although she now lives in India.
>
> I therefore do not think that European perspectives are
> underrepresented.
>

While it is correct that I am originally from Europe, I have now lived in
India for more than 12 years. When I speak, that is the perspective from
which I speak. I do not represent European perspectives on Internet
governance issues in any way.

Best regards,
Anja

>
> (It is true that neither of these represents the political entity "EU".
> Representing political entities is however not part of the role of
> civil society in the first place, IMO.)
>
> Greetings,
> Norbert
>
> _______________________________________________
> discuss mailing list
> discuss at 1net.org
> http://1net.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>

-- 
Dr. Anja Kovacs
The Internet Democracy Project

+91 9899028053 | @anjakovacs
www.internetdemocracy.in

On 23 December 2013 06:10, Norbert Bollow <nb at bollow.ch> wrote:

> Rudi Vansnick <rudi.vansnick at npoc.org> wrote:
>
> > A quick reply to the message below.
> >
> > If I'm not wrong for civil society there is no representation from
> > EU ? Can someone explain me why ?
> >
> > > *** from Civil Society:
> > >
> > > 1. Joana Varon
> > > 2. Rafik Dammak
> > > 3. Anriette Esterhuysen
> > > 4. Vladimir Radunovik
> > > 5. Anja Kovacs
>
> Vladimir Radunović is originally from Europe, and he still lives in
> Europe.
>
> Anja Kovacs is originally from Europe, although she now lives in India.
>
> I therefore do not think that European perspectives are
> underrepresented.
>
> (It is true that neither of these represents the political entity "EU".
> Representing political entities is however not part of the role of
> civil society in the first place, IMO.)
>
> Greetings,
> Norbert
>
> _______________________________________________
> discuss mailing list
> discuss at 1net.org
> http://1net.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>

-- 
Dr. Anja Kovacs
The Internet Democracy Project

+91 9899028053 | @anjakovacs
www.internetdemocracy.in
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