Add an eventSessions at SXSW Interactive 2012 about Democracy
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- Topic: Democracy
Saturday 10th March 2012
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The Power of Fear in Networked Publics
by danah boyd
This solo presentation will cover the culture of fear and the consequences of visibility. Acclaimed researcher danah boyd will weave together the predator panic and bullying phenomenon with the socio-political dynamics around otherness, the rise of fear alongside the increased ability to connect with others around the globe, the empowering rhetoric of the Arab Spring along the rise of local networks of power. She will call into question some of our utopian assumptions about all of the automatic democratic possibilities of technology and offer a challenge to folks about the need to step out of our techno-bubble and engage with people who are fearful of technology.
Sunday 11th March 2012
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Fixing Broke(n) Governments Through Serious Games
by Luke Hohmann
It’s no secret. Local, state and federal governments face budget shortfalls, spending cuts and reduced service—in a political climate that favors gridlock. Serious games have emerged as a viable approach to budgeting that is both participatory and scalable. In this session, we’ll discuss why serious games are a particularly good tool for budgeting and their advantages over alternatives such as deliberative democracy, participatory budgeting, or majority voting through polls. Participants will learn to conduct in-person and online games built specifically for resolving multi-scalar budget problems. These models are based on Budget Games, which we designed and played in San Jose, CA, on Jan. 29, 2011 in which more than 100 community leaders collaboratively re-crafted the city’s proposed budget. Because the game revealed real consensus, San Jose officials were able to act on the game’s results with more confidence than traditional polling.
Monday 12th March 2012
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State of the Media Democracy
by Phil Asmundson and Robert Underwood
Digitization is transforming the media and entertainment industry full stop. But is the industry evolving quickly enough to meet consumer demands—demands that differ greatly from one generation to the next? In this discussion, industry executives will react to data from Deloitte’s sixth edition of the State of the Media Democracy Survey which provides insight into the media consumption behaviors and preferences of generations around the world.
For more information on the State of the Media Democracy survey visit: www.deloitte.com/us/mediademocracy
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Tech Cooperatives: A Better Way to Make a Living
by Andi Shively, Drew Stephan, Jack Aponte, Poonam Whabi and Raeanne Young
Most experienced IT folks have faced the choice of freelancing versus working for an established business. Freelancing offers creative autonomy but not necessarily steady income. A job with a larger company provides a steady paycheck but often comes with creative and personal constraints.
We are part of a growing movement among creative professionals who want an alternative to traditional business structures. The worker-cooperative business model enables IT professionals to maintain control of their work and life, produce excellent work, and retain the benefits of the value that they create, without sacrificing security. Our tech cooperatives offer the support and team approach of a firm but are entirely owned and democratically governed by the folks who work in them - us.
This is a moderated panel with a focused, first-person discussion of different experiences of working in tech cooperatives. We will explain why a growing number of IT professionals prefer working in a co-op setting, the advantages and drawbacks of a democratic workplace, and the processes of starting and maintaining a worker cooperative.
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Your iPhone Is Political: Mobile Democracy
by Josh Levy, Katherine Maher, Nilay Patel and Parul Desai
By 2014, more of us will access the Internet with mobile devices than with desktops or laptops. Android phones, iPhones, iPads and other mobile devices are quickly becoming our primary gateways to the Internet.
Everything we do online -- the ways that we produce news, organize our communities, and communicate with each other -- will increasingly depend on access to these devices and the broadband data connections they provide.
Meanwhile, wireless companies are seeking to determine what content we can see and how we can access it. As users fight for control over their mobile experience, it's fair to say that your Android or iPhone is political.
This panel of policy experts, tech journalists and public interest advocates will discuss how demographic and social shifts are changing how we use mobile devices and networks, how carriers and the public are fighting for control over them, and how good policies can protect consumers from wireless carrier abuse.
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Why Hasn't the Internet Made Voting Awesome?
by Paul Schreiber and Seth Flaxman
In the United States, only 50% of people vote in presidential elections. That drops to 40% for midterm elections, and 10% for primary, local and special elections. Worldwide, we rank 138th in voter turnout. The Internet has made it easy to find your old friends from college; download any song you want; get shoes delivered the very next day, and help create social change by signing petitions, making donations and lobbying congress.So why hasn't the Internet made voting awesome? Seth Flaxman and Paul Schreiber of Democracy Works will talk about why the voting system is so broken, and how the Internet can route around inefficiency and bureaucracy to increase voter turnout and make voting fit the way we live today.
Tuesday 13th March 2012
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Democracy 2.0 in the German Parliament
by Jimmy Schulz
Jimmy Schulz attended SXSW in 2011 and announced during the panel session „Make Citizens Social: Digital Participation in Public Services“ that next year he would report the results of the implementation of “Adhocracy” in the German parliament. The Inquiry Committee “Internet and digital society” has been experimenting with the application of Liquid Democracy ( www.demokratie.de ) this last year. New forms of democratic participation thanks to technical innovation can help reduce public dissatisfaction with politics. Significantly, these tools can improve transparency, which is important for political legitimization and helping people better understand and identify with political decisions. Jimmy Schulz would like to report on the initial results of the application of these tools in the German Parliament.
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Why Karl Keeps His Shades On: Style & Social Media
by Angela Buttolph and Roisin Kiberd
Digital democracy has been and gone; at the end of the day, we only want fashion that looks good. Which is, for the most part, highly produced, edited and featuring a well-known model. Fashion social media has had quite a journey so far, whether in the form of the legion of DIY self-promoters on Lookbook and Chictopia, the impromptu crafts community sprung up around Etsy, or the big-name designers putting in their time on Twitter. But we say Karl can leave his glasses on, and even stay away from Twitter. Exclusivity remains key. The future is not in democratizing fashion media online, but in leveraging this audience and arranging it into tiers; idle browser, brand ambassador, fashion insider or member of the Front Row upper echelon.
Geo-tagging for time spent in store. The option of recording a wardrobe and sharing its contents. Celebrity curators, catwalk live streams and behind-the-scenes insight. A new incarnation of the badge system used in fashion blogging. Without turning shopping into a competitive sport, we want to see shoppers prove their loyalty, and we want to see designers offer something in return. A brand's Facebook page risks becoming little more than an HR department; how we can find ways to make it more glamorous?