SLIS faculty member Noriko Hara and SLIS Ph.D. student Zilia Estrada co-authored an article in the December issue of the Journal of Information Science: "Analyzing the Mobilization of Grassroots Activities Via the Internet: A Case Study" (Vol. 31, No. 6, 503-514).
Noriko Hara stated, "This article was a result of our collaboration that started in 2003 when Zilia Estrada took L702 [SLIS Doctoral Research Practicum] with me. We have presented the paper at a conference called the Society for Social Studies of Science ["4S", Atlanta, GA, 2003], revised many times, and now published in the Journal of Information Science."
Abstract:
What part does the Internet play in socio-political mobilization? The Internet has influenced the ways that we interact with each other and has been hailed as a great potential force to enrich civil society. In order to understand the extent of the Internet's influence on social activists' activities, we examined newspaper and journal articles to identify indicators of that influence. Combining these indicators with elements drawn from theories of resource mobilization and participation, we focused our analysis on two distinct grassroots activities online and examined the roles of the Internet for each. This analysis helps us conceptualize the mobilization of grassroots activities via the Internet. The results may help inform social scientists as well as practitioners who are involved in grassroots activities, and provide a baseline for comparison with future research that examines mobilization of such activities with the use of the Internet over time.
Posted December 05, 2005