Chapter 6 How liberating is liberation technology?

It has been a decade since Diamond’s seminal and sober work on the possibilities of ‘liberation technology’ to ‘expand political, social and economic freedom’ (Diamond 2010). Since that time, the Arab supernova has electrified Twitter’s supporters, Russian paws and exquisite Cambridge algorithms hav...

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Hlavní autor: Angus, Simon
Médium: Online
Jazyk:angličtina
Vydáno: Taylor & Francis 2023
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On-line přístup:https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/85108
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author_browse Angus, Simon
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description It has been a decade since Diamond’s seminal and sober work on the possibilities of ‘liberation technology’ to ‘expand political, social and economic freedom’ (Diamond 2010). Since that time, the Arab supernova has electrified Twitter’s supporters, Russian paws and exquisite Cambridge algorithms have lent on the scales of a presidential campaign via social media, and China has amassed the data and technology to control its citizenry with cold efficiency. So what of liberation technology? What do we know about its impact on political participation, expression and freedom? In this chapter I review the promise and complexities of the pursuit of freedom via liberation technology. Tracing powerful forces that have darkened liberation technology’s initial promise, I look specifically at the complexities of both access to, and activism via, social media, showing how simple and naïve characterisations of its role in political engagement are misplaced. Whilst these results would appear to suggest that oppressive regimes have already snuffed out the promise of technology to support wider freedoms, recent theorising suggests that a pathway to freedom and prosperity has been opened where both the state and society have equal strength in the technology of accountability, information, and coordination, co-investing in each other’s capacity.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1222992025-06-24T07:55:59Z Chapter 6 How liberating is liberation technology? Angus, Simon liberation technology, Larry Diamond, political polarisation, Arab Spring, Twitter, Facebook, platforms, state-society balance It has been a decade since Diamond’s seminal and sober work on the possibilities of ‘liberation technology’ to ‘expand political, social and economic freedom’ (Diamond 2010). Since that time, the Arab supernova has electrified Twitter’s supporters, Russian paws and exquisite Cambridge algorithms have lent on the scales of a presidential campaign via social media, and China has amassed the data and technology to control its citizenry with cold efficiency. So what of liberation technology? What do we know about its impact on political participation, expression and freedom? In this chapter I review the promise and complexities of the pursuit of freedom via liberation technology. Tracing powerful forces that have darkened liberation technology’s initial promise, I look specifically at the complexities of both access to, and activism via, social media, showing how simple and naïve characterisations of its role in political engagement are misplaced. Whilst these results would appear to suggest that oppressive regimes have already snuffed out the promise of technology to support wider freedoms, recent theorising suggests that a pathway to freedom and prosperity has been opened where both the state and society have equal strength in the technology of accountability, information, and coordination, co-investing in each other’s capacity. 2023-11-17T09:59:50Z 2023-11-17T09:59:50Z 2023-11-14T10:38:35Z 2023 chapter https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/85108 9781032364070 9781032364094 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/122299 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/85108/1/9781003331780_10.4324_9781003331780-9.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/85108/1/9781003331780_10.4324_9781003331780-9.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/85108/1/9781003331780_10.4324_9781003331780-9.pdf Taylor & Francis Routledge 10.4324/ 9781003331780-9 10.4324/ 9781003331780-9 fa69b019-f4ee-4979-8d42-c6b6c476b5f0 New Interdisciplinary Perspectives On and Beyond Autonomy Monash University fba673a1-ae6a-4dd4-91dd-32bdd6d35a1e 9781032364070 9781032364094 Routledge 15 open access
spellingShingle liberation technology, Larry Diamond, political polarisation, Arab Spring, Twitter, Facebook, platforms, state-society balance
Angus, Simon
Chapter 6 How liberating is liberation technology?
title Chapter 6 How liberating is liberation technology?
title_full Chapter 6 How liberating is liberation technology?
title_fullStr Chapter 6 How liberating is liberation technology?
title_full_unstemmed Chapter 6 How liberating is liberation technology?
title_short Chapter 6 How liberating is liberation technology?
title_sort chapter 6 how liberating is liberation technology
topic liberation technology, Larry Diamond, political polarisation, Arab Spring, Twitter, Facebook, platforms, state-society balance
topic_facet liberation technology, Larry Diamond, political polarisation, Arab Spring, Twitter, Facebook, platforms, state-society balance
url https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/85108
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