In the Net: A Guide for Activists

This work about the Internet is an introduction, a handbook, a political treatise and a history. Explicitly written for social and political activists, as well as for educators, it presents a history of the technology, a guide to progressive uses of the Internet and an account of how NGOs and others have been using information and communication technology (ICT) for social and political change. Following an opening history of computer-mediated communication, its promises and its threat, the author shows how computing and electronic networking have been liberated from governments and corporations. He examines the social and political contexts of the Internet internationally and its future potential. He then presents a series of case studies - including the use of computer-mediated communication in parts of former Yugoslavia by peace and humanitarian organizations.