Future of Change

Ray Brescia

Description

In The Future of Change, Ray Brescia identifies a series of "social innovation moments" in American history. Through these moments-during which social movements have embraced advances in communications technologies-he illuminates the complicated, dangerous, innovative, and exciting relationship between these technologies, social movements, and social change. Brescia shows that, almost without fail, developments in how we communicate shape social movements, just as those movements change the very technologies themselves.From the printing press to the television, social movements have leveraged communications technologies to advance change. In this moment of rapidly evolving communications, it's imperative to assess the role that the Internet, mobile devices, and social media can play in promoting social justice. But first we must look to the past, to examples of movements throughout American history that successfully harnessed communications technology, thus facilitating positive social change. Such movements embraced new communications technologies to help organize their communities; to form grassroots networks in order to facilitate face-to-face interactions; and to promote positive, inclusive messaging that stressed their participants' shared dignity and humanity. Using the past as prologue, The Future of Change provides effective lessons in the use of communications technology so that we can have the best communicative tools at our disposal-both now and in the future.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique
• USA
• Media studies
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 15 avril 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781501748134
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

THE FUTURE OF CHANGE

THEFUTURE OFCHANGE How Technology Shapes Social Revolutions

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS

Ray Brescia

ITHACA AND LONDON

Copyright © 2020 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. Visit our website at cornellpress. cornell.edu.

First published 2020 by Cornell University Press

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Names: Brescia, Ray, author. Title: The future of change : how technology shapes social  revolutions / Ray Brescia. Description: Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2020. | Includes  bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2019029567 (print) | LCCN 2019029568 (ebook) |  ISBN 9781501748110 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781501748127 (epub) |  ISBN 9781501748134 (pdf) Subjects: LCSH: Technological innovations—Social aspects—United  States—History. | Social change—United States—History. | Social  movements—United States—History. | Equality—United States—History. |  United States—Social conditions—1945 Classification: LCC HM846 .B745 2020 (print) | LCC HM846 (ebook) | DDC  303.40973—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019029567 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019029568

To Amy and Leo My Love and My Life

Thus the most democratic country on earth is found to be, above all, the one where men in our day have most perfected the art of pursuing the object of their common desires in common and have applied this new science to the most objects. Does this result from an accident or could it be that there in fact exists a necessary relation between associations and equality? Alexis de Tocqueville

Contents

Preface List of Abbreviations

Introduction 1.  Medium 2.  Network 3.  Message 4.  The Great Divide 5.  Digital Organizing 6.  Amending the Violence Against Women Act 7.  Marriage Equality in Maine 8.  A Living Wage in Long Beach 9.  Putting the Matrix to Work

Notes Bibliography Index

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1 13 37 58 77 94 112 129 146 157

187 203 219

Preface

In many ways, the ideas in this book began to emerge in my early days as a lawyer for tenant organizing groups in Harlem and Washington Heights in New York City, while I was working at the Legal Aid Society of New York in the early 1990s. During my years there, the leaders of the tenant associations I represented—Daryl Edwards, Byron Utley, Reina Lendor, Gyreain Privette, Frankie Clark, and count less others—taught me almost everything I know about community organizing and social change. Later, community leaders like Wing Lam and Mary Dailey helped educate me even further. I have had the distinct pleasure and honor to work with a large number of community leaders over the years, but there are sim ply too many to name here. I also have the good fortune to call many colleagues my friends, mentors, and allies. Although I regret I cannot name them all here either, I want to mention Molly Biklen, Harvey Epstein, April Herms, Carmen HuertasNoble, Doug Lasdon, Megan Lewis, Tony Lu, Andrew Kashyap, Gowri Krishna, Annie Lai, Serge Martinez, Laine RomeroAlston, Anika Singh Lemar, Saba Waheed, David Weinraub, John Whitlow, John Wright, and Haeyoung Yoon. This book is a reflection of and testament to much of our work together. The support I received from Albany Law School was central to this project. The law school’s president and dean, Alicia Ouellette, has been supportive both professionally and personally. In addition, treasured colleagues offered helpful guidance by reading drafts of excerpts, including Andrew Ayers, Ted DeBarb ieri, Steve Gottlieb, Keith Hirokawa, and Sarah Rogerson. My former colleague and law school classmate Tim Lytton offered an incredible degree of support and guidance, from the earliest days of the writing process and even after leav ing the school to join the faculty at Georgia State University School of Law. His friendship and advice were critical to the book’s creation. In addition, research assistants Lindsey Dodd, Heather Hage, Mary Ann Krisa, and Lauren McCluskey provided significant help in countless ways, for which I am grateful. My legal assistant at Albany Law, Sherri Meyer, was tireless and always of good cheer, no matter how much work I threw her way. The leadership and staff of the Albany Law School library, especially David Walker and Pegeen Lorusso and students AlexMarie Baez, Claire Burke, and Victoria Soracco, were all tremendously help ful throughout this process, providing support and assistance whenever it was needed. Similarly, the school's Department of Information Technology Services met my technological needs with good cheer and tremendous patience. The staff

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