RE:activism: call for submissions

The Budapest University of Technology and Economics ,

the Central European University ,

the Open Society Institute , and

the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania

is proud to present a conference on
RE:activism: Re-drawing the boundaries of activism in a new media environment

which is to take place in Budapest, October 14-15, 2005

Re:activism will focus on two closely connected subjects. On the first day, we gather to discuss the new dynamics of culture production. Digital networks allow the large scale cooperation of individuals with diverse motivational backgrounds. This cooperation often results in globally competitive ideas, (software) products, (social) services. Ad-hoc activist, expert networks can only consolidate themselves if the necessary legal, economic and technological frameworks are created or emerge from local interactions. We research into the political economy of peer production networks and examine how regulation in a post-Westphalian order can integrate these networks. We also discuss the potential conflicts between peer networks and contemporary social, economic, and legal institutions and examine how tradition emerges through open archives documenting these conflicts.

On the second day we offer a layered approach to activism when we examine activist practices and civic action groups in urban, local and global contexts. The general title of the day: Local and global activism in the context of new media covers the analysis of anti-globalization activist networks who often use the urban fabric as a battleground for their causes. We also try to grasp the conceptual framework that helps describing the emergence of local civic engagement and the civic uses of new media technologies. The special case of democratic elections also provide us the opportunity to dive into the forces that change contemporary political systems.

The conference is organized around altogether eight topics. Each day we have a morning session of keynote lecture by a lead researcher, we have three sessions of academic discourse, where distinguished researchers can present their work and have four panels in the afternoon with academic researchers, activists, artist who work in the field to share their values, evaluations, findings and proposals to each other.

The aim of the conference is to open up an open field of communication between academics and practitioners, eastern and western, European and North-American, groups and individuals all immersed in the field of activism.

About the Conference
CALL FOR PAPERS

http://www.re-activism.net/