Includes bibliographical references (pages 225-248) and index.
Contents:
Introduction -- 1. Why Civil Society Again: The Return of an Intellectual Jedi -- 2. Media Landscapes, Digital Infrastructure and Social Imaginary -- 3. Digital Media and the Variable Modes of Participation -- 4. Digital Media and the Variable Modes of Civic Engagement -- 5. Digital Media and the Meanings of Activism -- 6. Facing the Institutions: The Challenges of Transactional Activism -- 7. Uncivil Society Digitized: Expanding Media Repertoires, Mainstreaming Illiberalism -- Conclusion.
Summary:
Digital Media and the Dynamics of Civil Society adds to existing knowledge of the democratizing role of digital media in communication studies by carefully tracing the trajectory of the emergent communicative and representational practices of civil society in a pair of new European democracies--Estonia and Bulgaria--facing distinctive socio-cultural and political challenges. The book combines macro and micro perspectives to illuminate the activities of civic activist and civil society organizations in the new media environment, taking into account the social and cultural developments characteristic of each country. Have digital media contributed to the constitution of a new public space fostering the vitality and democratic potency of civil society in countries where it has suffered historical obstacles? This book addresses this question by traversing the range of personal, group, and societal beliefs, lived experiences and actions unfolding in a concrete region at a time when civic activists around the world are grappling to understand and harness the power of digital communication--back cover.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.