ABSTRACT

Cyberactivism is a timely collection of essays examining the growing importance of online activism. The contributors show how online activists have not only incorporated recent technology as a tool for change, but also how they have changed the meaning of activism, what community means, and how they conceive of collective identity and democratic change. Topics addressed range from the Zapatista movement's use of the web to promote their cause globally to the establishment of alternative media sources like indymedia.org to the direct action of "hacktivists" who disrupt commercial computer networks. Cyberactivism is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the impact of the Internet on politics today.

chapter |21 pages

Introduction

part I|92 pages

Cyber-Social Movements Emerging Online

chapter 2|23 pages

Indymedia.org

A New Communications Commons

chapter 3|25 pages

Classifying Forms of Online Activism

The Case of Cyberprotests against the World Bank

chapter 4|18 pages

The Radicalization of Zeke Spier

How the Internet Contributes to Civic Engagement and New Forms of Social Capital

part II|91 pages

Theorizing Online Activism

chapter 5|28 pages

Democracy, New Social Movements, and the Internet

A Habermasian Analysis

chapter 7|20 pages

Mapping Networks of Support for the Zapatista Movement

Applying Social-Networks Analysis to Study Contemporary Social Movements

chapter 8|21 pages

Identifying with Information

Citizen Empowerment, the Internet, and the Environmental Anti-Toxins Movement

part III|72 pages

Cautionary Readings of Community, Empowerment, and Capitalism Online

chapter 9|23 pages

Wiring Human Rights Activism

Amnesty International and the Challenges of Information and Communication Technologies

chapter 10|22 pages

Ethnic Online Communities

Between Profit and Purpose

chapter 11|24 pages

Gay Media, Inc.

Media Structures, the New Gay Conglomerates, and Collective Sexual Identities

chapter |14 pages

Epilogue

Current Directions and Future Questions