Technologies within
Transnational Social Activist Communities
An Ethnographic Study of the European Social Forum
Saqib Saeed, Markus Rohde, Volker Wulf
Department of Information Systems and New Media
University of Siegen, Hölderlinstr 3, 57076 Siegen, Germany
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Organizational Field of Application
Transnational networks of civil society organizations
(CSOs), groups, movements and activists
Loosely connected
Volunteer-based
Cultural and language diversity
Limited financial and human resources
Adhoc-setup, lacking well-organized and institutionalized
structures
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

R&D Objective
Help to design appropriate technological support for
transnational CSO networks
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Research Questions
What requirements do CSO networks address to
technological support?
How do transnational CSO networks interact with
technology?
How is their technological infrastructure developed
and appropriated?
What are the main problems that transnational CSO
networks face with regard to computer-mediated
communication/cooperation?
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Research Program
Understand the social practice of transnational CSO
networking
Understand the state of the art of technological
infrastructure
Derive design requirements
Develop prototypes
Evaluate use of prototypes in the social practice
Re-design if necessary
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Research Program
Understand the social practice of transnational CSO
networking
Understand the state of the art of technological
infrastructure
Derive design requirements
Develop prototypes
Evaluate use of prototypes in the social practice
Re-design if necessary
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Social Forums
World Social Forum (WSF) process:
initiated in 2001 as a counterpart to the World Economic
Forum
The largest communication space for the alter-globalization
movement (for global justice)
„Another world is possible!“
Local, national, regional, global forums with independent
organizing processes
networks of NGOs, labour organizations, trade unions, social
movements and grass-roots activists
Non-hierarchical structures, absence of central leadership and
well-organized institutions
Decision-making by consensus
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

History of Social Forums
9 Annual World Social Forum (WSF) Events
Central locations, policentric events, global call for action
Between 12,000 to 155,000 attendees, thousands
organizations, more than 130 countries
5 (Bi-) Annual European Social Forum (ESF) Events since 2002
Central locations st
1 European Social Forum
Up to 60,000 attendees, Florence, Italy 2002
hundreds of participating nd
2 European Social Forum
Paris, France 2003
organizations
5th European Social Forum, rd
3 European Social Forum
London, UK 2004
17th-21st September 2008
(ESF 2008) in Malmo, Sweden th
4 European Social Forum
Athens, Greece 2006
13,000 participants
5th European Social Forum
Malmo, Sweden 2008
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Social Forums: Field of Application
Social Forums: Events and Organizations/Committees
World Social Regional SF: National SF: City/District
Forum Social Forums
European, German, Italian,
African, Asian, Indian, United State/Provincial
American etc. States etc. Social Forums
Social Forums Social Forums
Thematic
Social Forums
Self-organize and participate
Activists
local
and Individuals Groups Organizations Networks Movements
regional
Networks national
international
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Social Forums: Field of Application
Social Forums: Events and Organizations
World Social Regional SF: National SF: City/District
Forum Social Forums
European, German, Italian,
African, Asian, Indian, United State/Provincial
American etc. States etc. Social Forums
Social Forums Social Forums
Thematic
Social Forums
Self-organize and participate
Activists
local
and Individuals Groups Organizations Networks Movements
regional
Networks national
international
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Social Forums: Field of Application
Social Forums: Events and Organizations
World Social Regional SF: National SF: City/District
Forum Social Forums
European, German, Italian,
African, Asian, Indian, United State/Provincial
American etc. States etc. Social Forums
Social Forums Social Forums
Thematic
Social Forums
Self-organize and participate
Activists
local
and Individuals Groups Organizations Networks Movements
regional
Networks national
international
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Organizing Structure of ESF 2008
•European Preparatory Assembley (EPA)
•Babels(volunteering interpreters)
•Web-Team (volunteers for IT mangement)
•Networks (specialized thematic groups)
•Nordic Organizing Committe (NOC)
•139 member organizations
•11 Working Groups
•Board (financial matters)
•Office
•Coordination Group
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Organizing Structure of ESF 2008
NOC
Babels
EPA
139 Member Organizations
Coor-
Board Office dination
Group
Experts
Net-
ALIS
Program works
Fundraising
11 Working Groups Demonstration
Information Web-
Culture Team
Logistics
Mobilization
Volunteers
Interpretations
Contact Group for
Europe & the World
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Technological Infrastructure
Central Website (official information)
Event Website (event information)
OpenESF Website (Collaborative tool, Project Workspaces,
Wikis, Mailing lists)
Mailing lists (communication at the European level)
Self-organized resources (volunteers/activists/participants):
MySpace
Facebook
Youtube
Twitter
… etc.
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

ESF Website
Central Website
(official information)
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Event Website ESF 2008
Event Website
(official information on
the recent ESF event)
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Open ESF platform
Open ESF
(communication platform)
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Research Methods
Participant Observations at EPA/NOC meetings
(Berlin, Malmo)
Online Skype Meetings (3)
Semi-structured interviews (14)
4 members of the organizing committee (NOC)
4 members of the “web-team”
4 social activists who organized workshops
2 social activists who attended the event
Analysis of Websites and Mailing Lists
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Development of the Event Website
2008 Event Website (Registration of activities, Merging,
Event information, Publishing the Program, Storing outcomes)
Company volunteering to develop the website
Previous website (2006 event) was developed using Plone
and the company developers were not familiar with Plone, so
they started from the scratch
Problems with the software company
Communication problems, requirements, limited resources
Thus, the 2008 Event Website was developed by extending
the previous forum (2006) website by a hired developer from
the web-team
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Selection of Themes
From Sept. to Nov. 2007 there were collected 70
suggestions for thematic initiatives through the event
website
NOC combined these suggestions in 7 thematic
clusters/categories
EPA meeting in November 2007 in Istanbul (Turkey)
rejected these categories
Discussion at the EPA meeting in January 2008 in
Paris and February 2008 in Berlin
Nine themes finalized
In April 2008 a 10th category was added as a residual
category
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Activities Merging Process
800 activities were proposed on the event website until
June 2008, each was given a code number
Merging to 200 in order to reduce the coordination
complexity and due to limited resources
Each theme having 1 coordinator and volunteers
supporting the merging process
Users were given options/suggestions for merging based on
similarities in proposed activities
Communication by phone, fax, e-mail, lists, skype etc.
Data extracted in excel files
Merging through the event website, new code numbers for
merged activities, activities got lost
Mismatch between actual web-database and excel files
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Mobilization
Proposed target: 20,000 attendees
2 Mobilization Groups
Contact Group for Europe and the World (European mobilization)
Mobilization Group (Swedish)
Communication
Physical Meeting
Telephone Conferences
Mailing lists
Facebook group
Mobilization resulted in 13,000 attendees
Financial problems
Misunderstandings with the Athens 2006 mobilization group
Free-rider problem
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Preparing Activities
One activity, many organizers (due to merging)
Some workshops used OpenESF to plan, others did
not, using e-mail or telcos instead
Difficulties in using the OpenESF platform
Difficulties in access (e.g., due to the war in Georgia)
Deficiency of IT skills
Language barriers
Manyfold negotiation processes
Existing network structures and alternative communication
infrastructures and habits/practices
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Documenting Outcomes
Lacking official outcomes (general reader,
proceedings etc.)
Objective for ESF: open space for networking and
planning on common actions for the future
Event website used to record outcomes very
unstructured (some initiatives, some networks
started, some statements agreed with other
organizations)
Web-based form to report (43 initiatives published a
form)
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Discussion
Highly complex interaction processes
Heterogeneous infrastructure and communication/use habits
Diversity of skills, languages and cultures, expectations and
experiences
Diversity of organizational structures
Knowledge Transfer/Expertise Sharing
From one event to the next
Between EPA and event committee (NOC)
Between ESF and other local, national and regional SFs and the
WSF
Between working groups, participants etc. in general
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Discussion
Perception of Technology
Scepticism: technocracy, replacing physical interaction
Digital divide
Needs for technological infrastructure
Standardization of technology
Sustainability
Decentralized web sources, platforms, mailing lists etc.
Search & Find problem
Lacking integration concept
Common culture of information sharing and usage of
ICT infrastructure
Limited resources and training facilities
(e.g. provided by peers)
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Conclusion and Future Work
Need for a better understanding of the social practice
of transnational CSO networks
Body of knowledge on technology support for this
specific kind of ad-hoc communities
Definition of design requirements
Participatory design of prototypical systems
Evaluation in practice
Ongoing research with respect to ESF, DSF, WSF
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf

Thanks for your attention!
Markus Rohde
markus.rohde@uni-siegen.de
http://www.wineme.uni-siegen.de
Information Systems and New Media C&T2009, July 25
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf