Steve Wright, Information and Telecommunications Needs Research Group, Monash University
Recent years have seen considerable interest paid to the use of information and communication technology (ICT) by social movements. In particular, attention has been drawn to the use of ICT within the organisation and publicity of large-scale street actions against global capital, from Seattle and Prague to Melbourne and Genoa. On the other hand, comparatively little research has focused upon the less glamorous, but no less essential, use of ICT within the day-to-day operations of social movement organisations and networks. This paper will explore issues such as the relationship between ICT and democratic processes within social movements, and approaches to the risk of information overload, drawing in a critical manner upon both existing literature and fieldwork currently being undertaken together with two other Monash researchers, Peter Lentini and Anita Lacey.