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251. Taliban Propaganda: Winning the War of Words?

Publication Date:
07-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The Taliban has created a sophisticated communications apparatus that projects an increasingly confident movement. Using the full range of media, it is successfully tapping into strains of Afghan nationalism and exploiting policy failures by the Kabul government and its international backers. The result is weakening public support for nation-building, even though few actively support the Taliban. The Karzai government and its allies must make greater efforts, through word and deed, to address sources of alienation exploited in Taliban propaganda, particularly by ending arbitrary detentions and curtailing civilian casualties from aerial bombing.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Government, and Communications
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Asia, and Taliban

252. Censoring and Destroying Information in the Information Age

Author:
J. R. Clark and Dwight R. Lee
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Cato Journal
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Almost everyone knows the importance of information and communication to economic progress. The more information we have the more productive we can be, both individually and collectively. The easier it is for us to communicate our information to others and to receive their information, the more likely we will make production and consumption choices that serve the interests of all. No wonder people are so impressed with the recent breakthroughs in information and communication technology that have moved us into what has become known as the “information age.” Who could possibly condone, much less recommend, policies that destroy and distort valuable information by censoring its communication? Far more than you might think!
Topic:
Communications

253. Architecture and Biopolitics at Les Halles

Author:
Meredith TenHoor
Publication Date:
08-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
French Politics, Culture Society
Institution:
Conference Group on French Politics Society
Abstract:
Until 1969, when Paris's wholesale food markets were moved to the Parisian suburb of Rungis, Les Halles, the market district in the center of Paris, fed much of the city's urban population. Les Halles was not simply a place where food was bought and sold, but also a highly visible and symbolically charged node of communication between the countryside, the state, and the bodies of Parisian citizens. Due to its centrality and visibility, Les Halles came under enormous pressure to physically symbolize the state's relationship to the “market.” In turn, the architecture of the markets at Les Halles came to stand in for the powers of the state to organize a flow of goods from farm to body. From the 1763 construction of the Halle au blé, to the 1851 ground-breaking on Victor Baltard's iron and glass market pavilions, to the construction of the Centre Pompidou and the Forum des Halles in the 1970s and 1980s, the markets at Les Halles were regularly redesigned and rebuilt to accommodate and/or produce shifting notions of architectural, social, and financial order.
Topic:
Communications
Political Geography:
Paris

254. Downloading Democracy? Potential and Limitations of the Internet for Advancing Citizens' Rights in Latin America

Author:
Bert Hoffmann
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
This paper analyses the use of internet in Latin America, how it is perceived and by which means it was allowed for public access. Internet is perceived as threatening by the socialist regimes of Latin America. Latin American countries which cannot resist improvements in means of communications with the developments in media technologies, have been spreading the access to internet within limited democratization. However, states maintain their control over internet by following different ways. The ones escaping from the established filters, like Zapatistas, call attention to potential of the internet as much as they made their voices heard.
Topic:
Communications
Political Geography:
Latin America

255. How We Talk about the "War on Terrorism"

Author:
Daniel Heradstveit, G. Matthew Bonham, Michiko Nakano, and Victor M.Sergeev
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
This paper focuses on how leaders in Western countries talk about the “war on terrorism.” The paper discusses the difficulties of defining “terrorism,” because, unlike Marxism or capitalism, “terrorism” is not an ideology. Instead the term may be used to designate actions that are used by members of non-governmental organizations against civilian targets. In the case of the “war on terrorism,” the signifier, “terrorism,” is used widely. However, the signified, the perpetrators and what they do, are quite different. Because the designation of the signified depends upon the speaker, the concept of terrorism seems to be subjective and fluid. The signified switches radically both by context and over time, while the only aspect that is stable is the signifier, “terrorism.” The paper goes on to analyze the “war on terrorism” as an ontological metaphor. The paper concludes by arguing that although figures of speech contribute to the cognitive dimension of meaning by helping us to recognize the equivalence to which we are committed and suggesting new equivalences, metaphors like the “war on terrorism” raise problems and do little to increase our understanding. Considering different cultural codes and world views, this type of metaphor is highly counterproductive for communication on the global level.
Topic:
Civil Society, Terrorism, War, Communications, and Governance
Political Geography:
Europe

256. Unmassing America: Ethnic Media and the New Advertising Marketplace

Author:
Amy Korzick Garmer
Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
Fundamental changes are taking place in the advertising marketplace. Audiences are moving away from big media and adopting niche media, with indisputable trends toward fragmentation, disintermediation and greater consumer control affecting the media sector. Consumers have expressed preferences for more personalized, relevant forms of media that speak directly to their needs and interests. Advertisers are experimenting with new ways of communicating with customers and searching for new ways of reaggregating audiences. In this new environment, new media expert Jeff Jarvis has observed, “the economies of scale must compete with the economies of small.”
Topic:
Civil Society and Communications
Political Geography:
United States and America

257. Technology Transfer: Bringing Innovation to NASA and the Nation

Publication Date:
11-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA)
Abstract:
For the last half of the twentieth century, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was among the most successful organizations in hi story in developing new technology and making it available to both the private sector and other government organizations. Small computers; cellular communications; lightweight, heat resistant materials; telemedicine, and a broad spectrum of everyday products have all benefited from NASA research and development.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Communications, and Reform

258. Iraq’s Reconstruction Contracts: Telecommunications

Publication Date:
09-2003
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
In late July 2003, Iraq’s Coalition Provisional Authority announced a tender to provide wireless telecommunications services for two years to Iraq. Expanding telephone access is a critical step toward improving Iraqis’ lives. Telecommunications contracts also provide lucrative opportunities for providers. If the United States is to succeed in its goal of building a capable and transparent public administration in Iraq, it is important that Iraqis are included in the contracting process and that the terms of the tender are not designed to preference U.S. companies. This report from the Iraq Revenue Watch project of the Open Society Central Eurasia Project describes some concerns with the mobile phone tender, and provides recommendations on how to improve the transparency and inclusiveness of subsequent tenders.
Topic:
Communications, Iraq War, and Revenue Management
Political Geography:
Iraq