What? Bernando Sorj on digital activism in South America

When? 23 May at 11:00 hours

Where?  in Elab, BG1 room 0.16 (Turfdraagsterpad 9)

We will discuss the main conclusions of the book “Political Activism in the Era of Internet”, in which we analyse experiences from six South American countries, presenting a broad range of innovative experiences and their impacts on the ways in which civil society, political parties and governments are organized and act. The cases of cyberactivism analyzed indicate that none of them represents a “silver bullet” — an experience capable of resolving the multiple challenges faced in constructing higher quality, more robust democratic institutions. But they all indicate new possibilities and new challenges for the development of virtuous relations between the traditional forms of participation (both in civil society organizations and in political parties) and activism in the virtual space.

Bio

Bernardo Sorj was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. He is a naturalized Brazilian, living in Brazil since 1976. He studied anthropology, philosophy and history and received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Manchester in England. Sorj is the director of the Edelstein Center for Social Research in Rio de Janeiro, and Plataforma Democrática project. He was professor of Sociology (ret.) at the University of Rio de Janeiro, visiting professor and chair at many European, d North American and Latin American universities. The author of 28 books and more than 100 articles on international relations, the social impact of new technologies and Latin America political development, he is member of the board of several academic journals, and consultant to NGOs, governments and international organizations.