Community Networks Go Viertual: Tracing the Evolution of ICT in Buenos Aires and montevideo

FINQUELIEVICH SUSANA

Shaping the Network Society: The New Role of Civil Society in Cyberspace

The MIT Press

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2004; p. 137 - 158

This chapter draws on the results of research carried out by a bi-national team (the Research Institute Gino Germani, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Buenos Aires and the Career of Sociology, Universidad de la República, Montevideo) in order to evaluate the social impact of ICT uses in the practices of civic networks and their potential for increasing citizen participation in public issues. This was achieved through an investigation of the operational incorporation of ICTs by community organizations in the cities of Buenos Aires and Montevideo and their initial impact. Primary and secondary data were used, including: electronic surveys, face-to-face and electronic interviews, project analysis, in both municipalities, of ICT incorporation and current implementation. Data from both studies will be presented in this chapter and a comparison of commonalities and differences made. This will inform a discussion of how the Internet is impacting on civil society, the public sphere and democracy in general in South America. The chapter concludes with a consideration of some of the most salient point raised and how these might affect the future.