Sessions at SXSW Interactive 2012 matching your filters

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Saturday 10th March 2012

• 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.

  • Bullying
  • Democracy
  • Fear
  • Online Visibility

  At 11:00am to 12:00pm, Saturday 10th March

  In Ballroom EF, Austin Convention Center

  Coverage audio clip

Sunday 11th March 2012

• 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.

  • Budget
  • Democracy
  • Games
  • Government

  At 9:30am to 10:30am, Sunday 11th March

  In Salon A, AT&T Conference Center

  Coverage audio clip slide deck

Tuesday 13th March 2012

• 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.

  • Democracy
  • Politics

  At 12:30pm to 1:30pm, Tuesday 13th March

  In Salon B, AT&T Conference Center

  Coverage audio clip write-up